Decriminalize all drugs, including heroin, cocaine and meth, B.C. think-tank urges

I wonder if there would be as much fuss about allegations Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may have smoked crack cocaine if the recommendations of a new drug policy report were in effect.

The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition says calls current policies to combat illegal drugs a failure and recommends decriminalizing drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in order to focus on harm reduction.

According to Postmedia News, the report argues allowing personal use of such drugs would result in money better spent on strategies to deal with drug abuse than on the so-called war on drugs.

While countries all around the world are adopting forward-thinking, evidence-based drug policies, Canada is taking a step backwards and strengthening punitive policies that have been proven to fail, says the executive summary of the report by the coalition, which is based at Simon Fraser Universitys Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction.

The report is likely to get a chilly reception from Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government. It's stiffened Criminal Code sanctions against drug use and trafficking, with mandatory minimum sentences. Ottawa has rejected more broadly-supported calls to decriminalize marijuana.

Postmedia News said the report accused federal and provincial governments of a "stunning display of unimaginative thinking," which has not reduced the flow of drugs into the country while making it harder to tackle the health effects of drug use.

[ Related: Harpers anti-drug strategy gets a little less compassionate ]

The coalition recommends legalizing, regulating and taxing pot sales to adults but also urges Ottawa to "decriminalize all drugs for personal use as the first steps towards creating a drug strategy based on a public health and human rights approach to addressing substance use."

The report points out Portugal and the Czech Republic decriminalized all drugs in the last decade with no significant ill effects, Postmedia News said.

After decriminalization and similar to Portugal, drug use [among Czechs] has not increased significantly but the social harms of drug use have declined, the report stated.

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Decriminalize all drugs, including heroin, cocaine and meth, B.C. think-tank urges