UN Drug Report Favors Shift from Mass Arrests
June 29th, 2009 by Russ
The blogosphere is all atwitter after a first perusal of the UN’s World Drug Report 2009 (warning: PDF). Usually playing the role of a global cheerleader for interdiction and incarceration efforts, this year’s report strongly indicts lazy low-level incarceration policies that have done nothing but increase the world’s relative prison population.
Released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the report presents a highly wonky, statistics-driven approach to tracking drug production around the world, as well as assessing some of the more popular drug policies around the international sphere. One major conclusion of the report was that enforcement policies of blindly increasing arrests, incarcerations, and seizures is a dead end:
Resources that could have been focused on these individuals are often wasted on the opportunistic arrest and incarceration of large volumes of petty offenders. In the case of casual users, the sanction of imprisonment is excessive.
The report rightly notes that the addicts themselves are not the enemy in the War on Drugs, and that police and prison systems are ill-equipped to deal with them. It continues:
In the end, the criminal justice system is a very blunt instrument for dealing with drug markets. As necessary as the deterrent threat remains, the arrest, prosecution, and incarceration of individuals is an extremely slow, expensive, and labour intensive process.
Any shift in the UN’s position is surprising, given that World Drug Czar, Antonio Maria Costa, an old-world drug warrior, has been in office since 2002. This also explains why the report at no point attempts to make any real distinctions between the different types of drugs, and their relative levels of harm. Not a single thought is given to actually developing different policies based on what type of substance a country is dealing with. This is because, in the eyes of Costa, drugs are a scourge, and the question is never whether to control them, but simply how to control them most effectively. From such a myopic perspective, it’s very surprising to see any innovative suggestions at all.
The fun in all of this is watching the War on Drugs’ right wingers as they are violently dragged back towards the center by the ever-mounting evidence of a reality that doesn’t meet with their ancient world views.
CDC Shows Progress Curbing Tobacco Usage
November 21st, 2008 by Perry
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control showed fewer Americans are smoking cigarettes than ever before.
The number of legal-aged residents smoking dropped below 20 percent of the population for the first time in more than 200 years of crusty lungs and smoky lounges.
The CDC actually points out the significant of its accomplishment thusly; in the past 40 years tens of millions of Americans have voluntarily quit smoking a legal, yet highly addictive intoxicant. They took a measured, informative approach that worked.
Comparatively, the government’s campaign against marijuana is failing. There are an estimated 2.5 million new users every year…
You’d think the incoming administration would notice the trend that truth sways people more affectively than scare tactic propaganda and adjust accordingly. Or, legalize and tax the damn plant so we can get some availability for adults and revenue for our economy.
Rx Drugs Aren’t All Fun & Games
October 22nd, 2008 by Alex
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has issued a report about the increasing dangers of reactions to prescription drugs.
In the first three months of 2008, a record number of serious problems and deaths linked to medications has been reported to the government.
The FDA has received reports of around 21,000 serious drug reactions, that number includes over 4,800 deaths. The total of 20,745 cases, from January ‘08 to March ‘08, is a full 38% higher than the same period of 2007. Scary.
Thomas J. Moore, a senior scientist with ISMP, had this to say:
We believe that one of the most important tools to promote is to monitor trends on a regular basis. Knowing which drugs are causing injuries and how many people are being hurt is the raw material we need to fashion sound measures to promote patient safety.
As someone who recently went to a 24 year old girl’s funeral, with evidence of medication as the cause of death, please be careful about what prescriptions you take.
Always let your doctor know what you’re currently taking before something new is prescribed, and if you feel funky, don’t hesitate to head on down to emergency care.
Be safe people.
