As many of you know Taylor and I wrote a piece on what we termed neo-progressivism in last September’s Literary Review of Canada.
Since then we’ve keep our eye out for other discussions where we think neo-progressives are gaining traction in the public discourse. Some of the indicators we looking for are policies where:
- The conversation is deadlocked and going nowhere
- The conversation isn’t possible because alternatives to the status quo are considered taboo
- Areas where the gap between ideology and research or evidence is significant
- Debates where their are real divisions within either the left or right
- Debates which unite odd factions from within the left and right
- Policy areas where individual freedom is curtailed
- Places where the impact on the public in general is growing
This list isn’t exhaustive nor is it a scientific – they are just a couple of triggers wer look our for.
Well, if you are looking at this list you may have noticed that last month a potential candidate emerged far on the horizon. It was a surprising one for me since I do some volunteering around this issue here in Vancouver and I really didn’t see it coming.
I’m talking of drug prohibition.
The aha moment was seeing the (very) conservative Cato Institute publish a report by Glen Greenwald (a case study neo-pragmatists) in which he analyzed the impact of drug decriminalization in Portugal. As the report’s summary states:
For over seven years, drugs have been decriminalized in Portugal. This new study examines the Portuguese model and the data concerning drug-related trends in Portugal, and argues that, “judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success.”
Then consider drug prohibition against the list I outlined above. This topic should not have snuck up on me:
- Deadlocked conversation: The “War on Drugs” vs. “Marijuana activists” increasingly leaves the public turned off. The war on drugs industry and its militarization of the police is costly, dangerous to civil liberties and has failed to address the problem for 30 years. Indeed, as the RCMP now admits, reducing the flow of drugs actually renders the situation more dangerous for citizens. Conversely, the counter-culture movement around pot activists is equally alienating. It is hard to attract middle class support when every middle class parent fears that this counter-culture will become the norm and their children will be destined life as a pot-head.
- Alternatives to the status quo are taboo: For most politicians talking about ending drug prohibition is absolutely taboo, although this is shifting. Vancouver’s mayor recently stated that the sate should “regulate, control and tax marijuana,” and that “the prohibition approach to it is not working.” The Liberals under Martin considered decriminalizing marijuana. Even in the US there is movement. The legislatures of New York State, California and Massachusetts have begun to reconsider overly punitive drug laws. Senators Jim Webb and Arlen Specter recently proposed Congress create a national commission to explore prison reform and drug-sentencing policy.
- Large gap between ideology and research or evidence: Here the Cato report, along with the data coming out of the Downtown Eastside around Insite and NAOMI trials is most devastating. The rhetoric around law & order does not stack up against the results. Consider that in Portugal after decriminalization (pulled from this Time Magazine article on the report)
- lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. (a 33% drop!!!)
- lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8% (although there was a slight increase in marijuana use in that age group). (a 25% drop!)
- new HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half.
- the number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and money saved on enforcement allowed for increased funding of drug-free treatment as well. (150% increase in people seeking treatment!)
- Divides the left or right: Check out this Western Standard blog (possible the most conservative publication in Canada) in which a conservative columnist argues with a conservative reader about the evidence around ending prohibition. I never thought I’d see the day where a Western Standard columnist would explore the possibility of ending prohibition. Could endorsing harm reduction strategies be far behind?
- Unite odd factions from within the left and right: Could possible unite traditional left wing progressives with right-wing libertarians.
- Individual freedom is curtailed: Check. The literature of the impact of the “war on drugs” on civil liberties in the United States is vast.
- Growing impact on the public: drug violence in the US and Canada appears to be on the rise and a bordering country, Mexico, is becoming unstable. Much like alchohol prohibition in the 30’s at some point the public is going to connect gang violence with drugs – at which point a wider debate may become possible.
Do I think drug prohibition is going to end tomorrow? Absolutely not. But I won’t be surprised if we see movement at the local and state/provincial level this issue. Indeed, I believe it has been gaining traction for some time.
Follow the link to get a free copy of the Cato Institute’s study “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies.”
eaves.ca 
David, you also can include the issue of the enormous cost of maintaining a courts and prison system which spends an inordinate amount of time and money processing relatively minor possession and dealing charges. In 2003, Madame Justice Southin (BC Court of Appeal, now retired) remarked: “I have not yet abandoned my conviction that Parliament has a constitutional right to be hoodwinked, as it was in the 1920s and 1930s by the propaganda against marijuana, and to remain hoodwinked,” she said.Southin noted the enforcement and prosecution of marijuana laws had created a good deal of work for police, lawyers and judges.”Whether that work contributes to peace, order and good government is another matter,” she said.”
MLH – couldn't agree more. There is a whole industry and economy built around drug enforcement. Mark Haden of Vancouver Coastal Health put together a brief where he pulled government published numbers related to drugs and addiction. This included a note that:”Canada spends $2.3 billion on enforcement (police, courts and corrections), and 1.1 billion in direct health care costs every year, dealing with illegal drugs. Source: J. Rehm, et al. (2006). The Costs of Substance Abuse in Canada-2002. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.”
THE R.A.A.S.T.A. MANIFESTO RECOVERING ADDICTS AGAINST SUPPORTING TERMINAL ADDICTION WE BELIEVE THAT THE MANY RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE DTES TODAY DO NOTHING MORE THAN SUPPORT ADDICTION IF THAT WERE NOT TRUE THAN WHY DO YOU HAVE MORE SUPPORT FOR ADDICTION FINANCALLY THAN RECOVERY WHY IS THERE NO SUPPORT FOR DETOX SERVICES WHEN THE ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF ADDICTS IN THE DTES IS SOME TEN THOUSAND AND THERE ARE ONLY 200HUNDRED BEDS AVAILABLE THE CARNEGIE HAS THE LARGEST OPEN DRUG FACILITY IN NORTHAMERICA AND IS SUPPORTED BY MANY DIFFERENT FOUNDATIONS THERE ARE OVER 200HUNDRED CARNEGIE CENTRES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND NOT ONE OF THEM HAS THE REPUTATION AS OUR VERY OWN IT'S BEEN ESTIMATED THAT OVER 2000 DRUG TRANSACTIONS TAKE PLACE ON THE VERY DOORSTEP OF THIS BUILDING DAILY.WHO CARES WE DO WE ARE A GROUP OF RECOVERED ADDICTS THAT WANT TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE CITY THE POLICE THE GOVERMENT TO PUT A STOP TO THIS BUILDING AND IT'S FLAGRANT ABUSE OF THE CARNEGIE FOUNDATION AND LEGACY NEXT WE HAVE UNITED WE CAN THIS BUILDING IS PROBABLY THE WORST EXAMPLE OF ABUSE OF ANY IV'E SEEN EVERYDAY MEN WOMEN WILL SCOUR THE BINS GARBAGE CANS ETC OF EASTVAN ONLY TO END UP BACK ON THE HASTING STREET LOCALE TO EXCHANGE BOTTLES FOR CASH WALK OUT THE BACK DOOR AND BE MET BY A DRUG DEALER TO SPEND WHAT TAKES HOURS AND HOURS OF DIGGING THROUGH GARBAGE TO EARN THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF THESE MEN WOMAN IS BANKRUPT THEYARE ONLY STEPS AWAY FROM DEATH THERE HEALTH IS POOR THEY ARE BEING MOTIVATED BY ADDICTION NOT THE ECOSYSTEM AND I HAVE SEEN THE LINEUPS THEY CAN BE QUITE FESTIVE AS FRIENDS GATHER TOGETHER TO TELL STORIES OF A NIGHTS WORK MOST OF THESE POOR LOST SOULS EARN 20 T0 40 DOLLARS FOR THERE LABOUR THEY ARE INFECTED AND DISEASE RIDDEN WHAT A SAD STATE TO ME THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE THE UNITED WE CAN FOUNDATION AND ALL IT'S SUPPORTERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED SUPPORTING TERMINAL ADDICTION IS NOT A GOOD CAUSE INSITE IS NEXT ON THE LIST THE MONEY THAT SPENT TO KEEP THESE DOORS OPEN IS JUSTIFIED I'LL AGREE ON THE POINT OF SAVING LIVES BUT IN THE END HOW MANY TIMES WOULD THEY ALLOW AN OVERDOSE IN THERE FACILITY TO HAPPEN FOR A REPEAT OFFENDER THE FIRE AND AMBULANCE SERVICE IS STRESSED TO THE MAX IN GENERAL THIS BUILDING KEEPS THEM BUSY I'M SURE THE ONE REAL QUESTION I HAVE FOR THE CITY THE POLICE THE CARNEGIE THE GOVERMENT THE INSITE SUPPORTERS THE UNITED WE CAN STORE IS WHY ARE YOU SUPPORTING NOT ONLY ADDICTION BUT WHY ARE YOU SUPPORTING DRUG DEALERS THE ONES THAT MAKE THERE TRADE IN FRONT OF THESE SERVICES ARE RUTHLESS THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GREEN LIGHT BY EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU AND YOUR SPONSERS THEY SEEM TO BE DOING QUITE WELL THEY HAVE GENERATED 10.000 CUSTOMERS RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSES AND NO ONE SEEMS TO CARE SUPPORTING TERMINAL ADDICTION IS ALIVE AND WELL IN VANCOUVER AND I.M SICK OF IT.THE METHADONE PROGRAM IS AS WE SPEAK CREATING A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF OPIATE DEPENDENCY THE GOVERMENT JUNKIES SLASH METHADONE ZOMBIES ARE JUST STARTING TO AMASS THE SUPPORT OF THIS FORM OF TERMINAL ADDICTION IS THE WORST OF IT'S KIND THE OVERALL PROGRAM IS CORRUPT THE KICKBACKS THE PHARMACIES THEMSELVES CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT THEY ARE OUT OF CONTROL IF YOU THINK THAT THESE SEVICES ARE HELPFULL THEN JUST ASK ANY TWENTY YEAR VETERAN OF THE DTES HOW HE OR SHE FEELS ABOUT THEM SELVES TODAY AND THE ANSWER WILL BE UNIVERSAL THEY WISH THEY HAD A BETTER CHANCE AT LIFE BUT NOW THEY ARE ADDICTED TILL DEATH THUS TERMINAL ADDICTION THIS IS WHAT YOU SERVED THEM A HUGE PLATE OF ENABLEMENT AND YOU BETTER HOPE YOUR CHILDREN OR GRANDCHILDREN DON'T GET A TASTE BECAUSE THE SYSTEM OR THE MACHINE IS WELL OILED AND ORGANIZED AND ALIVE AND IT'S EATING MOTHERS FATHERS BROTHERS SISTERS ETC. AS FAST AS IT CAN .WE AT RAASTA ARE JUST BEGINING TO ORGANIZE YOU WILL HEAR FROM US AGAIN I PROMISE YOU THE RESOURCES WE HAVE AVALIABLE ARE THE SAME AS YOURS BUT WE ARE COMING FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE NOT TERMINAL ADDICTION BUT A LIFE FREE FROM ADDICTION OF ANY KIND IF WHAT WE DO ON BEHALF OF THESE OUR BROTHERES AND SISTERS IN THE DTES WILL SAVE JUST ONE FROM TERMINAL ADDICTION ARE CAUSE IS JUST AND WE CAN SLEEP ONE MORE NIGHT BUT WE ARE NOT GOING TO STAND BY AND ALLOW THIS SLAUGHTER TO HAPPEN UNDER OUR NOSES ANY LONGER THE KILLING FIELDS OR DEATHSENTENCE AS WE KNOW IT THE EXISTENCE AND SUPPORT OF TERMINAL ADDICTION HAS TO BE STOPPED WE FEEL THE PLACE TO START IS WITH DETOX ON DEMAND NOT WAITING A WEEK IF WE ACCOMPLISH THIS ONE GOAL WE WILL FEEL WE HAVE MADE A SMALL DENT INTO THE WORST ADDICTION PROBLEM IN NORTHAMERICA
In the latest issue of Foreign Policy, Moises Naim labels the US the worlds leading exporter of bad drug policy.http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?stor…
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Drugs will always make a taboo subject. Same for the former drug addicts who usually avoid talking about their experience in a drug rehab treatment center. It's not their fault… It's the society we're living in, that makes hard for anyone to be sincere and have an open opinion on a subject…
I totally agree with you Ada, and i think it's really stupid what is going on… People that passed over their addiction period should try and talk with other people; like this they make can let other people know how hard a drug addicts life is and what its like being in a drug rehab center and getting fixed
This is silly! Usually people do talk about their experience in drug rehab centers. The taboo subject is the actual drug prohibition. Some people want it's legalization because of it's medical benefits… some other people think we shouldn't legalize it because of addiction problems. And this is why no one can find a middle solution that satisfies everyone.