EDITORIAL: Beyond Just Saying No: Rehab For Canada's Drug Laws
The opioid crisis has taken North America by storm, and Canada is no exception; in a recent
national report, it was found that, in 2016, over 2,800 Canadians were killed in opioid-related
incidents, and that number is only increasing this year. The solution? Decriminalizing all drugs.
The existence of addicts is a sad truth in our society, but it's important to remember that they usually pose next to no threat; it is much more common for an alcoholic to commit a violent crime than it is for a drug addict. Most of the time, the only person a drug user is a danger to is himself. They are simply victims to circumstance, and the best way to help them would be to remove the criminality from their actions.
It may seem counter-intuitive at first, but making illicit drug abuse a medical concern instead of a criminal one actually has its benefits. This was proven in 2001, when Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs.
Twenty years ago, Portugal had a crisis of its own. In 1999, 100 thousand of its citizens were addicted to hard drugs. Drug overdoses were not only existent, they were common.
In 2001, the Portuguese government passed a law decriminalizing drugs. Drugs are still illegal, but when users are caught, they get sent to rehabilitation centers instead of prisons.
Since the law was passed, drug usage in Portugal has decreased drastically. HIV infections contracted through drug use have dropped by over 90%. In 13 years, the number of Portuguese drug addicts getting treatment jumped by 60%.
If these numbers are anything to go by, it is obvious that drug decriminalization is a necessary step that needs to be taken in order to properly combat the opioid crisis.
Addiction is an illness, not a crime, and it should be treated as thus. What kind of society punishes its sick instead of treating them? Doing so is inhumane, as well as ineffective: drug addicts don't get better in cells, they get better in rehabilitation centers.
As a nation, for every $5 we spend on drug rehabilitation services, we spend $95 on imprisoning drug users. And as a result of this system, 47 thousand of our citizens die due to substance abuse every year.
So what are we waiting for?
By Bridget Griffin
The existence of addicts is a sad truth in our society, but it's important to remember that they usually pose next to no threat; it is much more common for an alcoholic to commit a violent crime than it is for a drug addict. Most of the time, the only person a drug user is a danger to is himself. They are simply victims to circumstance, and the best way to help them would be to remove the criminality from their actions.
It may seem counter-intuitive at first, but making illicit drug abuse a medical concern instead of a criminal one actually has its benefits. This was proven in 2001, when Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs.
Twenty years ago, Portugal had a crisis of its own. In 1999, 100 thousand of its citizens were addicted to hard drugs. Drug overdoses were not only existent, they were common.
In 2001, the Portuguese government passed a law decriminalizing drugs. Drugs are still illegal, but when users are caught, they get sent to rehabilitation centers instead of prisons.
Since the law was passed, drug usage in Portugal has decreased drastically. HIV infections contracted through drug use have dropped by over 90%. In 13 years, the number of Portuguese drug addicts getting treatment jumped by 60%.
If these numbers are anything to go by, it is obvious that drug decriminalization is a necessary step that needs to be taken in order to properly combat the opioid crisis.
Addiction is an illness, not a crime, and it should be treated as thus. What kind of society punishes its sick instead of treating them? Doing so is inhumane, as well as ineffective: drug addicts don't get better in cells, they get better in rehabilitation centers.
As a nation, for every $5 we spend on drug rehabilitation services, we spend $95 on imprisoning drug users. And as a result of this system, 47 thousand of our citizens die due to substance abuse every year.
So what are we waiting for?
By Bridget Griffin
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