tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/drug-reform-2725/articlesDrug reform – The Conversation2023-10-22T23:03:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2157912023-10-22T23:03:19Z2023-10-22T23:03:19ZNovel drugs are leading to rising overdose deaths in Victoria – drug checking services could help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554906/original/file-20231019-22-zbi79a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C6000%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mans-hand-holds-two-transparent-plastic-2268792263">Farion_O/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of the harms people experience from using illegal drugs are a result of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871622001648">unregulated supply</a>. Drugs may be contaminated, or completely substituted with something unexpected. They may also be of variable and unknown dosage or strength. </p>
<p>Any of these factors can and do lead to overdoses. That’s why <a href="https://www.vaada.org.au/aod-advocacy/drug-checking-and-early-warning-systems-knowing-the-harms-can-prevent-the-harms/">77 health and community organisations</a> are urging the Victorian government to implement drug checking services. These could reduce overdose deaths, and provide an early warning system to flag any unusually dangerous substances in circulation. </p>
<p>The Victorian statement adds to similar calls in other Australian jurisdictions. Notably, in New South Wales, a <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-labor-mp-speaks-out-in-support-over-pill-testing-20231019-p5edgw.html">Labor MP last week broke rank</a> with his party to voice his support for the implementation of drug checking services.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drug-checking-and-an-early-warning-network-in-victoria-could-save-lives-new-coroners-report-157684">Drug checking and an early warning network in Victoria could save lives: new coroner's report</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s the problem?</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/res/WDR-2023/WDR23_Exsum_fin_DP.pdf">past 15 years</a>, the number of new psychoactive substances detected in drug markets has increased dramatically around the world. It’s easier for suppliers to circumvent laws that prohibit more traditional drugs (such as cocaine, heroin, MDMA or methamphetamine) by producing newer synthetic drugs. These drugs are also often cheaper to produce. </p>
<p>They then get added to or sold as other more established drugs. This means people don’t always know what they’re taking, or how strong it is.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/">Coroners Court of Victoria</a>, novel substances were detected in three deaths in 2017-18. This figure has risen significantly over the past five years, to 47 deaths in 2021-22.</p>
<p>Escalating deaths involving novel substances are being identified nationally. For example, there have been 40 deaths involving <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.111140">novel benzodiazepines</a> in Australia since 2015.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A number of round, white pills on a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554912/original/file-20231020-25-akslzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal drugs can be contaminated with unexpected substances.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/backlit-white-pills-opioid-prescription-medication-694514731">Tomas Nevesely/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While harder to track, unexpectedly strong substances have been implicated in further deaths. In 2019, the <a href="https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/coroners-court/download.html/documents/findings/2019/Music_Festival_Redacted_findings_in_the_joint_inquest_into_deaths_arising_at_music_festivals_.pdf">NSW Coroner’s Court</a> investigated six deaths at music festivals resulting from consumption of unusually high-dose MDMA capsules. Last month, <a href="https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/highly-potent-mdma-pill-prompts-call-drug-testing-services">Victoria’s coroner</a> investigated a death that similarly followed consumption of an unexpectedly high-dose MDMA tablet. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, synthetic opioid drugs are causing an epidemic of <a href="https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates">drug fatalities</a> in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667193X2300011X?via%3Dihub">North America</a>. Some of these novel opioids have recently been detected in Australia, including a new class called <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35983900/">nitazenes</a>, which have been identified in <a href="https://www.health.act.gov.au/public-health-alert/public-health-alert-dangerous-drug-warning-canberrans">the ACT</a>, <a href="https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/aod/public-drug-alerts/Pages/heroin-found-to-contain-nitazenes.aspx">NSW</a>, <a href="https://www.health.vic.gov.au/drug-alerts/yellow-powder-containing-protonitazene-may-be-sold-as-ketamine">Victoria</a>, and <a href="https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/public+health/alerts/health+alerts/protonitazene+cases+in+south+australia">South Australia</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nitazenes-synthetic-opioids-more-deadly-than-fentanyl-are-starting-to-turn-up-in-overdose-cases-212589">Nitazenes: synthetic opioids more deadly than fentanyl are starting to turn up in overdose cases</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is drug checking?</h2>
<p>Often called “pill testing” in Australia, the term drug checking reflects that these services are inclusive of multiple drug forms (for example, powders and liquids in addition to pills) as well as multiple drug types (for example, cocaine, ketamine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA). </p>
<p><a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/DHS-01-2022-0007/full/html">Drug checking services</a> can be at a permanent location or mobile (for example, on-site at venues and festivals). People visit these facilities to find out the content and strength of drugs they plan to use, including whether they contain unexpected substances or higher-than-usual doses.</p>
<p>Service users also have the opportunity to discuss the test results in a meeting with a health-care worker, in a conversation about their broader drug use and health.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-drug-checking-and-why-do-we-need-it-in-australia-51578">What is 'drug checking' and why do we need it in Australia?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How does it help?</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.15734">systematic review</a> analysing 90 studies found that drug checking services positively influenced the behaviour of people who use drugs. </p>
<p>In two recent studies conducted in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395921001675">the UK</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687637.2022.2072187">Portugal</a>, most service users (86% in Portugal, 69% in the UK) who received test results indicating that the drug was different than expected didn’t consume the substance. About half of service users (50% in Portugal, 59% in the UK) whose test results indicated that their drugs were stronger than expected took a smaller dose.</p>
<p>Drug checking service data also provides real-time information about the status of local drug markets. Alerts can be published to rapidly warn people if an unusually dangerous substance is circulating. For example, the ACT drug checking service CanTEST has so far published <a href="https://directionshealth.com/cantest-health-drug-checking-service/">six community alerts</a> alongside monthly drug market snapshot reports.</p>
<h2>Responding to critiques</h2>
<p>One argument levelled against drug checking is that such services provide a “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2001.96811397.x">shine of safety</a>” to drug use. But, as noted by an established drug checking service in <a href="https://www.trimbos.nl/aanbod/webwinkel/product/af1677-the-drugs-information-and-monitoring-system-dims">The Netherlands</a>, services never provide an endorsement of quality. Instead, they warn people how unpredictable drug markets can be by providing credible and relevant information.</p>
<p>Similarly, evidence doesn’t support claims that the availability of drug checking services leads to increased drug use. A recent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dar.13259">Australian study</a> that surveyed festival-goers about drug checking scenarios found the existence of a drug checking service wouldn’t increase intention to use ecstasy.</p>
<h2>What’s happening elsewhere?</h2>
<p>Drug checking services are now operating in <a href="https://hri.global/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/HRI_GSHR-2022_Full-Report_Final.pdf">at least 28 countries</a>, having expanded significantly around the world in recent years.</p>
<p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/drug-checking">New Zealand</a> passed legislation to make drug checking services fully legal.</p>
<p>Australia’s experience so far with government-sanctioned drug checking has included fixed-site and mobile <a href="https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-022-00708-3">drug checking trials in Canberra</a>, and recently-announced approval for drug checking services to <a href="https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/97250">commence in Queensland</a>. An <a href="https://www.health.act.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/Interim%20Report%20Submitted%2019_12-22.pdf">interim report</a> on a pilot in Canberra’s city centre supports the continuation and development of the service.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three young people socialising at a festival." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554911/original/file-20231020-21-zkg0oy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drug checking services could be set up at music festivals and other events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-young-friends-sitting-on-ground-1563349978">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Support is growing</h2>
<p>In Australia, the implementation of drug checking services has been recommended by numerous <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/the-cabinet-office/resources/special-commissions-of-inquiry/drug-ice">government inquiries</a> and <a href="https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/highly-potent-mdma-pill-prompts-call-drug-testing-services">coronial inquests</a>, including the 2018 Parliament of Victoria <a href="https://new.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/inquiries/inquiry-into-drug-law-reform/">Inquiry into Drug Law Reform</a> and the <a href="https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/coroners-court/download.html/documents/findings/2019/Music_Festival_Redacted_findings_in_the_joint_inquest_into_deaths_arising_at_music_festivals_.pdf">2019 inquest</a> into the death of six patrons at NSW music festivals.</p>
<p>In terms of public support, a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/dar.13211">nationally representative survey</a> found that in 2019, 63% of Australians supported drug checking. Some 22% were opposed while 15% were unsure or didn’t answer.</p>
<p>The Victorian statement <a href="https://www.vaada.org.au/aod-advocacy/drug-checking-and-early-warning-systems-knowing-the-harms-can-prevent-the-harms/">released today</a> demonstrates support from a wide range of social and community organisations. These include professional societies representing medical and pharmaceutical sectors, such as the <a href="https://www.racgp.org.au/">Royal Australian College of General Practitioners</a> and the <a href="https://www.psa.org.au/">Pharmaceutical Society of Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Implementing drug checking will help prevent further overdose deaths that result from unregulated drug supplies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In the last 5 years, Monica Barratt has received funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Centre for Clinical Research into Emerging Drugs, the Criminology Research Council, New Zealand’s Marsden Fund and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. In addition to her academic role, she also serves as the Executive Director of Bluelight.org, a global drug harm reduction community, and leads research activities for The Loop Australia, a charity aiming to conduct drug checking interventions both at festivals and in the community.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Isabelle Volpe receives PhD stipends from the Australian Government Research Training Program and UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, and has previously received funding from the National Centre for Clinical Research into Emerging Drugs. She volunteers with The Loop Australia (overseeing the communication of information about drug checking and drug alerts) and DanceWize NSW (providing care and education to music event attendees).</span></em></p>Drug checking services could also provide an early warning system to flag any unusually dangerous substances in circulation.Monica Barratt, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, Social Equity Research Centre and Digital Ethnography Research Centre, RMIT UniversityIsabelle Volpe, PhD Candidate, Drug Policy Modelling Program, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1500732020-11-16T02:25:42Z2020-11-16T02:25:42ZThe numbers suggest the campaign for cannabis reform in NZ will outlive the generations that voted against it<p>Reactions to the result of the <a href="https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2020/referendums-results.html">cannabis referendum</a> were highly polarised. Some argued the majority verdict must be accepted. Others pointed to the narrow margin — 50.7% to 48.4% — as evidence that the issue is still alive politically.</p>
<p>The government, however, has seemingly signalled a desire to move on. Before the announcement of the special vote count that narrowed the election night margin considerably, the then justice minister, Andrew Little, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/123253543/referendum-result-cannabis-legalisation-abandoned-by-government-greens-wont-concede-defeat">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The electorate has spoken, they are uncomfortable with greater legalisation and […] decriminalisation of recreational cannabis. The New Zealand electorate is not ready for that, and I think we have to respect that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/cannabis-referendum-new-zealanders-decide-and-they-have-jacinda-ardern-says">echoed</a> those sentiments:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When it comes to a referendum, a majority is a majority and so it hasn’t tipped the balance in terms of what we as a government will do. We gave our commitment to New Zealanders if it won the majority, we would progress legislation. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the short term, such judgments are understandable. Legalising recreational cannabis use is not an issue a government might need on its policy agenda right now. But in the medium to long term, the wisdom of pushing the matter aside is questionable.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1324529007992340481"}"></div></p>
<h2>The age factor</h2>
<p>Referendums are crude devices and the idea of a “New Zealand electorate” that has collectively spoken is simplistic.</p>
<p>In reality, the electorate is made up of individuals with opinions on cannabis that are far more complex than voting yes or no could adequately express. In particular, the <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/index.html">referendum question</a> did not allow a decriminalisation option. There is no basis for interpreting the result as ruling that out.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-reducing-harm-to-society-is-the-goal-a-cost-benefit-analysis-shows-cannabis-prohibition-has-failed-145688">If reducing harm to society is the goal, a cost-benefit analysis shows cannabis prohibition has failed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As with the vote on Brexit in Britain, which the <a href="https://time.com/4381878/brexit-generation-gap-older-younger-voters/">old strongly supported</a> and the young strongly opposed, New Zealand’s cannabis referendum results were defined by age. </p>
<p>Post-election survey data provided by <a href="https://voxpoplabs.com/about/">Vox Pop Labs</a> for <a href="https://votecompass.tvnz.co.nz/">Vote Compass</a> suggest a majority of those over 50 voted against legalisation. A majority of those under 50 voted for it.</p>
<p>Given the narrowness of the margin, assuming preferences remain roughly the same by age and these data are reasonably accurate, it will not be long before generational replacement within the electorate produces a majority for legalisation and control.</p>
<p><iframe id="JYjSn" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JYjSn/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Calls for a second vote</h2>
<p>Nor do referendums necessarily produce outcomes that are permanently binding. In 1993, New Zealanders voted for MMP, but there was a second (also successful) MMP referendum in 2011 — to “<a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2982044/First-MMP-referendum-in-2011">kick the tyres</a>”, as the then prime minister, John Key, put it.</p>
<p>The Brexit vote was also close, and there was a strong campaign for a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-labour-referendum/uks-labour-says-it-will-back-call-for-second-brexit-referendum-idUSKCN1QE25U">second referendum</a> once the full implications of Britain withdrawing from the European Union became more apparent than they had been at the time of voting.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealands-new-parliament-turns-red-final-2020-election-results-at-a-glance-147757">New Zealand's new parliament turns red: final 2020 election results at a glance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A second referendum would likely have reversed the outcome, as more young people would have entered the electorate while many older people would have died in the interim.</p>
<p>The poor quality of debate and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/final-say-brexit-referendum-lies-boris-johnson-leave-campaign-remain-a8466751.html">widely publicised lies</a> leading up to the decisive vote also fuelled demands for a second Brexit referendum.</p>
<p>The cannabis debate never descended to Brexit levels, although there were <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cannabis-referendum/123239460/did-misinformation-sway-cannabis-referendum-votes">accusations</a> the anti-legalisation camp used misinformation to support its cause. But there was also another contentious referendum topic (assisted dying), not to mention a general election, consuming media attention and crowding out informed debate.</p>
<h2>Another chance for change</h2>
<p>As well, the campaign in favour of change was ill-organised and ineffective, if not naive. The proposed legislation involved two concepts: legalisation and control. The most important of these was control, but the issue in many people’s minds came down to legalisation of what they believed to be a harmful and dangerous drug.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-law-gives-nz-police-discretion-not-to-prosecute-drug-users-but-to-offer-addiction-support-instead-122323">New law gives NZ police discretion not to prosecute drug users, but to offer addiction support instead</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such a belief can only have been based on two implicit assumptions: that the existing law is effective in reducing harm and damage, and legalisation would increase the odds of harm and damage.</p>
<p>Neither of those assumptions has any basis in <a href="https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/topics/cannabis/">evidence</a>. The real debate should have been about controlling various aspects of existing use: criminality, strength of product, age thresholds, taxation and health education.</p>
<p>Given that another referendum in the not-too-distant future could well have a different outcome, there are good reasons to continue the campaign for change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Vowles receives funding from Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Electoral Commission. He acted as an academic advisor during the preparation and administration of Vote Compass 2020.</span></em></p>Like Brexit in the UK, cannabis reform in New Zealand fell into an age gap — given time, a second referendum would probably succeed.Jack Vowles, Professor of Political Science, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463992020-10-01T02:53:20Z2020-10-01T02:53:20ZUndecided on the cannabis referendum: 10 pros and cons of legalising the drug<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360227/original/file-20200928-22-1q8dtrc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C71%2C5389%2C3781&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/real content</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/1-news-colmar-brunton-poll-support-cannabis-legalisation-dropping-end-life-choice-remains-steady-v1">latest poll</a> shows a drop in support by New Zealanders for the recreational use of cannabis ahead of next month’s <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/index.html">referendum</a> on the issue.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://static.colmarbrunton.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/17-21-September-2020_1-NEWS-Colmar-Brunton-Poll-report-.pdf">1 NEWS Colmar Brunton Poll</a> found only 35% of people polled said they supported the bill, down from 40% in June’s poll. Those who said they did not support the bill were at 53%, up from 49% in June. Another 11% either did not know or refused to answer. </p>
<p>Other polls had earlier shown a close vote, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122628576/cannabis-referendum-new-poll-shows-dead-heat-in-legalise-dope-vote">neck and neck</a>, <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/09/cannabis-referendum-too-close-to-call-poll.html">too close to call</a>.</p>
<p>National leader Judith Collins says the party caucus will <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/423287/national-caucus-to-vote-against-cannabis-at-referendum-judith-collins">vote no in the referendum</a>. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has maintained a strict “no comment” on her voting intentions, despite <a href="https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/leaders-debate-jacinda-ardern-admits-smoking-cannabis-long-time-ago-but-wont-reveal-referendum-vote">admitting</a> she once smoked cannabis “a long time ago”. </p>
<p>So with less than a month to go to the vote, if you’re undecided, here’s a list of the pros and cons of what the consequences could be. </p>
<h2>Pros: taking control</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A yes vote" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360405/original/file-20200928-20-1tzzkln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Branding Pot/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1. Economic growth</strong></p>
<p>Establishing a legal cannabis industry creates a range of skilled and unskilled jobs. It could generate more than <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12363248">NZ$640 million</a> in tax revenue for the NZ government. </p>
<p>The cannabis industry is one of the fastest-growing job markets in the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurphy/2019/05/20/cannabis-is-becoming-a-huge-job-creator/">United States</a>. In one year, cannabis retailers netted the state of Massachusetts <a href="https://mass-cannabis-control.com/first-year-of-adult-use-marijuana-retail-operations-in-massachusetts-tallies-393-7-million-in-gross-sales-sets-benchmarks-for-growth/">US$393 million</a> in gross sales.</p>
<p>Two years after launching a legal cannabis market, California has surpassed <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2020/03/10/california-passes-1-billion-in-cannabis-tax-revenue-two-years-after-launching-legal-market/">US$1 billion</a> in tax revenue.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-reducing-harm-to-society-is-the-goal-a-cost-benefit-analysis-shows-cannabis-prohibition-has-failed-145688">If reducing harm to society is the goal, a cost-benefit analysis shows cannabis prohibition has failed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>2. Health not handcuffs</strong></p>
<p>Prohibition has not stopped New Zealanders from using cannabis. <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/cannabis-use-2012-13-new-zealand-health-survey">Research</a> shows 15% of men and 8% of women in NZ used cannabis over a 12-month period in 2012-13. </p>
<p>Legalising cannabis could save the NZ justice system a staggering <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12363248">NZ$11.4 million</a> a year. Not to mention the social benefit of no longer incarcerating non-violent, otherwise law-abiding citizens who then have to cope with a <a href="https://www.healthnothandcuffs.nz/">life-long criminal record</a>. </p>
<p>Māori have higher rates of cannabis use than non-Māori. Even accounting for higher usage rates, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1177083X.2020.1760897" title="Cannabis, the cannabis referendum and Māori youth: a review from a lifecourse perspective">research</a> found Māori are more likely to be convicted on cannabis charges then non-Māori. </p>
<p>By legalising cannabis, use becomes an issue of health and social welfare rather than a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dar.13087" title="Facing the option for the legalisation of cannabis use and supply in New Zealand: An overview of relevant evidence, concepts and considerations">criminal one</a>. </p>
<p><strong>3. Improves access for health patients</strong></p>
<p>Cannabis is used as therapy for a number of health applications. It has been legally available for <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/medicinal-cannabis-agency/about-medicinal-cannabis-scheme">medical use</a> in NZ since April 2020.</p>
<p>Cannabis is used to <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/medical-marijuana-2018011513085" title="Medical marijuana">treat</a> nausea and vomiting, the common side effects of cancer treatment. It may be a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29511052/">therapy</a> to treat epileptic seizures. </p>
<p>It has been used to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23008748/" title="The therapeutic potential of cannabis and cannabinoids">treat</a> muscle spasms among those with multiple sclerosis. It has also helped people alleviate <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3998228/" title="Therapeutic Benefits of Cannabis: A Patient Survey">chronic pain</a>, headaches and anxiety.</p>
<p>If cannabis is legalised for recreational use, those using it for medical purposes will have <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cannabis-referendum/122247529/cannabis-referendum-how-legalisation-could-change-access-for-medicinal-cannabis-patients">greater access</a> at a more affordable price. </p>
<p><strong>4. Regulated for consumer safety</strong></p>
<p>A standard requirement for legalised cannabis markets includes <a href="https://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/marijuana-legalization-and-regulation">product testing</a>, which means consumers know more about the products they are using.</p>
<p>Cannabis bought off the street can contain fungus, harmful substances, mould and pesticides. Mandatory testing ensures the cannabis is free of <a href="https://sfist.com/2017/08/31/80_percent_of_medical_marijuana_tes/" title="80 Percent Of Medical Marijuana Tested At Recent NorCal Conference Is Tainted With Mold, Other Toxins">toxins</a>. </p>
<p>To protect children in the United States from exposure to cannabis, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington all passed <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2534480" title="Unintentional Pediatric Exposures to Marijuana in Colorado, 2009-2015">child-resistant packaging</a> regulations.</p>
<p>Under New Zealand’s referendum, any retailers who sell cannabis to people aged under 20 would face serious penalties. To further deter youth, the NZ Drug Foundation, which is leading a yes vote, unequivocally supports the referendum’s inclusion of advertising bans.</p>
<p><strong>5. Takes money away from street gangs</strong></p>
<p>Over the past two-and-half years, street gangs in New Zealand have grown by more than <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/415956/gang-numbers-on-the-rise-but-a-slight-drop-in-gang-crime-comes-with-a-warning">30%</a>. The illegal cannabis market, estimated to be worth <a href="https://www.drugfoundation.org.nz/matters-of-substance/may-2008/pot-black-market-forces/">NZ$1–3 billion</a>, potentially funds these gangs to some extent.</p>
<p>In Colorado in the US, <a href="http://www.agfseries2.com/_literature_144032/The_Economic_Impact_of_Marijuana_Legalization_in_Colorado">90%</a> of the cannabis market is supplied under regulation. Over the past decade there, cannabis seizures by border control are at their lowest levels and their value has reduced by <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USBP%20Stats%20FY2015%20sector%20profile.pdf">millions of dollars</a>.</p>
<p>Legalising cannabis places control of the market in the hands of the government rather then criminals.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-question-from-new-zealands-cannabis-debate-what-about-personal-freedom-and-individual-rights-146304">The missing question from New Zealand's cannabis debate: what about personal freedom and individual rights?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A traffic light showing a red stop cannabis leaf and a green go cannabis leaf." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360411/original/file-20200928-16-1gdf6wg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Overseas eyes are watching the referendum, which could go either way.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Maxx Studio</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cons: social and fiscal</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A no vote." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360406/original/file-20200928-22-1iq1nb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Branding Pot/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>1. Unknown costs for society and taxpayers</strong></p>
<p>The long-term health effects are not fully understood. Similar to tobacco, the negative health consequences of cannabis might not be realised for decades. Again, in Colorado, for every cannabis tax dollar raised, its citizens spend <a href="http://www.ccu.edu/centennial/policy-briefs/marijuana-costs/">US$4.50</a> to offset the negative effects of legalisation. </p>
<p><strong>2. It will turn NZ’s youth to other drugs</strong></p>
<p>A Christchurch Health and Development <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01322.x" title="Cannabis use and other illicit drug use: testing the cannabis gateway hypothesis">study</a> shows adolescent weekly users of cannabis were 100 times more likely to use other illicit drugs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nzs-cannabis-bill-needs-to-stop-industry-from-influencing-policy-128530">Why NZ's cannabis bill needs to stop industry from influencing policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Concerns have been raised about the level of <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/cannabis-industrys-lobbying-on-track-to-hit-a-new-record-2019-07-25">influence</a> the cannabis industry has over the drafting of legislation since its motivation is profit maximisation, <a href="https://saynopetodope.org.nz/2019/03/12/its-changed-my-home-us-anti-cannabis-lobbyists-warning-to-nz/">not public health</a>.</p>
<p><strong>3. Workplace safety and productivity</strong></p>
<p>A 25-year <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739012/" title="The Role of Study and Work in Cannabis Use and Dependence Trajectories among Young Adult Frequent Cannabis Users">study</a> in Norway shows workers who use cannabis are less dedicated to their work than those who don’t.</p>
<p>In the US, <a href="https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/fall2019/pages/marijuana-and-the-workplace-its-complicated.aspx">cannabis use by employees</a> leads to increases in absenteeism, accidents, job turnover and worker compensation claims.</p>
<p><strong>4. Bad for the environment</strong></p>
<p>Cannabis plants require <a href="https://marijuana.procon.org">double</a> the water needed to grow grapes for wine. Growing cannabis may cause deforestation, habitat destruction, river diversion and soil erosion.</p>
<p>When grown hydroponically, yearly greenhouse gas emissions in the US equal that of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/27/marijuana-industry-huge-energy-footprint">3 million</a> cars.</p>
<p><strong>5. Property prices could rise, or fall</strong></p>
<p>Once again in Colorado in the US, legalising cannabis was <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecin.12556" title="THE EFFECT OF LEGALIZING RETAIL MARIJUANA ON HOUSING VALUES: EVIDENCE FROM COLORADO">found</a> to increase the value of property prices by up to 6%.</p>
<p>A separate <a href="https://www.cato.org/publications/research-briefs-economic-policy/contact-high-external-effects-retail-marijuana">study</a> in Colorado found house prices could increase by up to 8.4% if they were within 160m of a retail outlet selling cannabis.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.zoocasa.com/blog/cannabis-report-2018/">42%</a> of Canadians believe a cannabis retailer will negatively affect their home values.</p>
<p>The median housing market price in NZ recently rose by <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2020/01/housing-market-heating-up-what-can-we-expect.html">12%</a> in one year. Further sharp growth could price <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-property-prices-linked-to-income-inequality-study-68664">many</a> out of the market. </p>
<h2>Still undecided?</h2>
<p>There are just over two weeks to go now before New Zealanders vote on the <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/index.html">cannabis referendum</a>. If you still can’t decide, then head to the Prime Minister’s Science Adviser <a href="https://www.pmcsa.ac.nz/topics/cannabis/">website</a> for more information, or watch the video below.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reforming-cannabis-laws-is-a-complex-challenge-but-new-zealands-history-of-drug-reform-holds-important-lessons-141113">Reforming cannabis laws is a complex challenge, but New Zealand's history of drug reform holds important lessons</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/428234739" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Science and the Cannabis Referendum.</span></figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Can’t make up your mind in the recreational cannabis referendum? You’re not alone, so here’s some tips from both sides of the debate to help you decide.Patrick van Esch, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, AUT Business School, Auckland University of TechnologyMichelle O'Shea, Senior Lecturer Management, Western Sydney UniversitySarah Duffy, Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463042020-09-23T19:58:14Z2020-09-23T19:58:14ZThe missing question from New Zealand’s cannabis debate: what about personal freedom and individual rights?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358783/original/file-20200918-20-1eglei2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C399%2C5198%2C4040&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/alexreynolds</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much of the debate on New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/summary.html">referendum</a> on recreational cannabis legalisation has focused on <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cannabis-referendum/122772132/cannabis-the-science-is-still-far-from-settled">health</a>, the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/424365/cnmi-looks-to-cannabis-industry-to-boost-economy">economy</a>, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122743271/criminals-may-target-children-if-cannabis-is-legalised--national-candidate">criminal justice</a> and the uncertainties about the impact on <a href="https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2009/S00203/cannabis-youth-use-would-increase-if-legalised-australian-study.htm">youth</a> and <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12352685">adult</a> use.</p>
<p>But one argument is oddly missing from the debate — personal freedom, autonomy and individual rights. </p>
<p>This is striking, because the issue of personal liberties has traditionally been at the forefront of cannabis reform activism. At the heart of all <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2004.tb00624.x" title="Law and ethics in population health">public health laws</a> is the conflict between the powers of the state and the individual’s liberty, privacy and autonomy. </p>
<p>In the past two years, constitutional courts <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/news/2019/cannabis-control-and-the-right-to-privacy_en">in several countries</a> have ruled the prohibition of use, possession and private cultivation of cannabis interferes with an individual’s right to privacy. They’ve said protecting public health and security does not justify state punishment.</p>
<p>It may come as a surprise, but <a href="https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/topic-overviews/content/drug-law-penalties-at-a-glance_en">about half of the countries in Europe</a> do not prohibit the use of drugs (as New Zealand does). Instead, they choose only to ban their possession. </p>
<p>The difference is more than academic. Prohibition of consumption may give police extraordinary powers, such as taking biological samples from people as evidence. Drug testing is <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/research/explore-privacy-research/archived/02_05_12/">intrusive</a> and should only be done if there is a significant public interest to protect.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-reducing-harm-to-society-is-the-goal-a-cost-benefit-analysis-shows-cannabis-prohibition-has-failed-145688">If reducing harm to society is the goal, a cost-benefit analysis shows cannabis prohibition has failed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some countries go even further. They ban possession and use of drugs, but only in public spaces, on the understanding that drug laws exist to prevent public nuisance. </p>
<p>In Spain, the distinction between use in public and private led to the so-called “<a href="https://www.tni.org/en/publications/legislative-reform-series/item/1095-cannabis-social-clubs-in-spain">cannabis social clubs</a>”. Users grow and share cannabis among club members in private settings.</p>
<h2>The rights and the risks</h2>
<p>The fundamental personal right to ingest a substance that has little impact on others has long been argued by cannabis activists such as <a href="https://norml.org.nz/">NORML</a> (National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).</p>
<p>With this argument largely absent from current debate in New Zealand (as well as many other jurisdictions contemplating reform), debate focuses instead on the potential to create jobs and tax revenue (<a href="https://cclponline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/amendment_64_analysis_final.pdf">Colorado</a>), reduce arrests and discrimination (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wps.20741?af=R">Illinois</a>), address public security and drug-related violence (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.14523" title="Why Uruguay legalized marijuana? The open window of public insecurity">Uruguay</a>) and restrict youth access to cannabis and enhance public health (<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/laws-regulations/task-force-cannabis-legalization-regulation/framework-legalization-regulation-cannabis-in-canada.html#a2.1">Canada</a>).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-could-take-10-years-to-measure-the-impact-of-legalising-weed-should-new-zealands-proposed-law-be-even-stronger-144271">It could take 10 years to measure the impact of legalising weed – should New Zealand's proposed law be even stronger?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The aim of New Zealand’s proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill is to apply market controls to reduce harms associated with cannabis and restrict access by young people. But, as we have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.15144" title="Assessing New Zealand’s Cannabis Legalization and Control Bill: prospects and challenges">argued before</a>, the goal of reducing overall use over time will be hard to achieve via a commercial market.</p>
<p>The personal rights argument can struggle to win over people concerned about the health and social implications of legalisation, especially given their experience of other public health debates. </p>
<p>The alcohol industry, for example, <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-630" title="The illusion of righteousness: corporate social responsibility practices of the alcohol industry">pushed</a> individual rights and consumer responsibility to undermine effective public health measures such as higher taxes and bans on advertising. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZB8vqwN-sG4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Former prime minister Helen Clark supports the legalisation and regulation of recreational cannabis use.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Personal choice vs public health</h2>
<p>The assumption all adults can make responsible choices about using psychoactive drugs is also challenged. There are risks of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871610003753" title="Probability and predictors of transition from first use to dependence on nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine: Results of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions">dependency</a> that could interfere with personal autonomy, and the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/2/148" title="The Effects of Digital Marketing of Unhealthy Commodities on Young People: A Systematic Review">psychological influence</a> of marketing that targets vulnerable groups such as the young and poor.</p>
<p>There is a fine line between respecting people’s right to choose and facilitating the normalisation and commercialisation of something that could lead to poor public health. </p>
<p>The use of any psychoactive substance <a href="https://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/projectAvailableFormats/NZLC%20R122.pdf">carries the potential</a> to harm personal and family relationships, and cause unsafe driving or workplace accidents. This reinforces the argument that some degree of regulation and state intervention will always be necessary.</p>
<p>The age-old question is how best to balance the powers of the state with individual rights to privacy and autonomy, while protecting public health and vulnerable groups.</p>
<h2>The absence of recreational users’ voices</h2>
<p>Society <a href="https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/attitudes-towards-cannabis-and-cannabis-law-change-in-a-new-zealand-birth-cohort">appears more receptive</a> to the personal right to use <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/medicinal-cannabis-agency/about-medicinal-cannabis-scheme">medicinal cannabis</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the (as yet) limited scientific evidence for the effectiveness of <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2338251" title="Cannabinoids for Medical Use: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis">cannabis in medical treatment</a>, greater legal availability of medicinal cannabis <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12093960">attracts good public support</a>. This is largely based on respecting a person’s decisions about how to treat their illness. </p>
<p>The right to use cannabis recreationally requires decision makers to consider the benefits people get from its use, such as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17728122/" title="Erasing pleasure from public discourse on illicit drugs: on the creation and reproduction of an absence">pleasure or relaxation</a>. But this is often forgotten or avoided in drug reform debates.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reforming-cannabis-laws-is-a-complex-challenge-but-new-zealands-history-of-drug-reform-holds-important-lessons-141113">Reforming cannabis laws is a complex challenge, but New Zealand's history of drug reform holds important lessons</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Medicinal cannabis users have been actively <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/06/opinion-why-medicinal-cannabis-patients-are-desperate-for-a-yes-vote-in-the-referendum.html">involved</a> in the cannabis law reform debate, with a representative on the <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/medicinal-cannabis-agency/medicinal-cannabis-agency-background-information#advgroup">Medicinal Cannabis Advisory Group</a>. But recreational cannabis users seem to be <a href="https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/07/09/the-trouble-with-the-cannabis-referendum-too-many-pointy-heads-not-enough-cones/">largely absent</a> from the public debate. </p>
<p>Including more voices from recreational cannabis users could provide new ways of thinking about balancing the powers of the state with individual rights.</p>
<p>Given the current uncertainties about the long-term health and social impacts of legalisation, the individual rights issue may actually be among the more convincing arguments for reform.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Q: What do you think? Do people have a right to use cannabis for recreational purposes, in public or private? Post your comment below and be part of The Conversation.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marta Rychert receives funding from Marsden Royal Society of New Zealand and Health Research Council of New Zealand.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Wilkins receives external contestable research funding from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund and Health Research Council (HRC) of New Zealand. </span></em></p>The voices of recreational cannabis users are curiously missing from the official debate about legalisation.Marta Rychert, Senior Researcher in Drug Policy, Massey UniversityChris Wilkins, Associate Professor of illegal drug research, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411132020-06-29T05:23:19Z2020-06-29T05:23:19ZReforming cannabis laws is a complex challenge, but New Zealand’s history of drug reform holds important lessons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343926/original/file-20200625-33533-1t6nsqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C163%2C5200%2C3292&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Soru Epotok/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In less than three months, New Zealanders will vote in the world’s first <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/cannabis/index.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiIDKqNib6gIViH4rCh2PRwtvEAAYASAAEgKCpfD_BwE">national referendum</a> on a comprehensive proposal to legalise the recreational use of cannabis.</p>
<p>Unlike cannabis ballots in several US states in which the public only voted on the general proposition of whether cannabis should be legalised or not, New Zealanders have access to the detailed <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/materials/Cannabis-Legalisation-and-Control-Bill-Exposure-Draft-for-Referendum.pdf">Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill</a>. It outlines how the government <a href="https://www.referendums.govt.nz/materials/Cabinet-paper-Summary-of-policies-Cabinet-minutes-Exposure-draft-Cannabis-Legalisation-and-Control-Bill.pdf">proposes to establish</a> a “controlled and tightly regulated” legal cannabis market. </p>
<p>The approach is not like the Brexit referendum, which had no detailed plan of action for a yes vote. Neither is it like New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/25/new-zealand-referendum-same-flag-what-was-that-about">much maligned 2016 flag referendum</a>, in which people <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/interactive/2016-flag-referendum-long-list">knew exactly what they were voting for</a>. In this case, New Zealanders are voting on a proposed law reform, but even following a yes vote, the cannabis regime will have to go through select committees and public consultation. And a legal cannabis market will require monitoring and enforcement. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687637.2017.1282422?scroll=top&needAccess=true">research</a> on an earlier law reform, aiming to regulate the manufacture of “<a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/psychoactive-substances-regulation">low risk</a>” psychoactive products, shows New Zealand has a history of ambitious ideas that ultimately suffer from poor execution. </p>
<h2>Even the best law does not guarantee compliance</h2>
<p>The cannabis legislation bill sets out how the government would control and regulate a legal cannabis market, including the following measures: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>licensing of cannabis industry operators</p></li>
<li><p>limits on the maximum potency of different cannabis products</p></li>
<li><p>a ban on advertising</p></li>
<li><p>sales via licensed specialised premises only (no online sales)</p></li>
<li><p>a minimum buyer’s age of 20 or older</p></li>
<li><p>the government’s ability to control both the price (via excise taxes on the psychoactive ingredient THC and weight) and limit on the total amount in the market (via annual production caps). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The bill envisions a commercial industry that will manufacture and sell cannabis. But there are provisions for not-for-profit and community-oriented operators. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/the-governments-proposal-to-legalise-cannabis-in-new-zealand-10-key-questions">key issues remain unresolved</a> (price, tax rate, role of local governments), but these could be addressed through further legislation and public consultation following the referendum.</p>
<p>But executing the plan for a tightly regulated legal cannabis regime is another story. </p>
<p>First, the referendum is not binding. Even if New Zealanders vote yes, the incoming government can decide not to proceed or make significant changes.</p>
<p>Second, how the law looks on paper is rarely how it is in practice. Some laws, by design, are difficult to enforce. For example, the ban on all advertising sounds good, but it is not clear how covert promotion, celebrity endorsements and other sophisticated social media promotion techniques (product reviews, blog posts) would be controlled. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nzs-cannabis-bill-needs-to-stop-industry-from-influencing-policy-128530">Why NZ's cannabis bill needs to stop industry from influencing policy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Similarly, it sounds reasonable to limit the maximum daily purchase to 14 grams, but it is hard to imagine effective enforcement without a real-time tracking system of purchases by individual customers. The same questions arise when considering the stated maximum limit of growing two plants at home or the ban on “dangerous” production methods to produce extracts at home.</p>
<p>It is reasonable to assume some New Zealanders will be growing more than the legal cannabis plant limit (as they already do) and will be able to purchase more than 14 grams a day (if they wish to). We can also be certain the cannabis industry will develop creative ways of online promotion (<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.12835">as alcohol and tobacco industries have done</a>) and will actively lobby behind the scenes against public health measures and regulatory restrictions.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/potential-cost-to-patient-safety-as-nz-debates-access-to-medicinal-cannabis-120750">Potential cost to patient safety as NZ debates access to medicinal cannabis</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Preparing for challenges</h2>
<p>The success of a legal cannabis regime under the proposed law will depend on who oversees the implementation and regulation plans. This task will primarily be up to a new cannabis regulatory authority, but it remains unclear whether this will sit within the portfolio of health, justice or business (with their respective cultures and values). </p>
<p>The new authority will have a lot on its plate. Licensing producers and retailers, developing production standards, regulating labelling, approving products, administering cannabis taxes, revising maximum potency limits, and developing local licensed premises policies for all 67 local councils are just some of the tasks. The sheer volume of work required before a legal cannabis market can operate creates risks. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teen-use-of-cannabis-has-dropped-in-new-zealand-but-legalisation-could-make-access-easier-132165">Teen use of cannabis has dropped in New Zealand, but legalisation could make access easier</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>New Zealand has recent history of poorly implementing drug policy reform. Agencies were overwhelmed by the immense regulatory workload when New Zealand attempted to establish a regulated legal market for “low risk” <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/regulation-health-and-disability-system/psychoactive-substances-regulation">psychoactive products</a> under the <a href="http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0053/latest/DLM5042921.html">Psychoactive Substances Act</a> in 2013.</p>
<p>There were significant gaps in the law, including regulating opening hours, lack of excise tax and poor engagement with key stakeholders. As one key official interviewed in our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687637.2017.1282422?scroll=top&needAccess=true">research on that reform</a> said: the law “got lost in translation”. As a result, political and community support for the reforms evaporated and the regime remains unused. </p>
<p>We need to learn from that experience.</p>
<p>This is not to say a vote against cannabis legalisation will result in better outcomes. But it is important to have realistic expectations, accept the complexity of implemention, know the risks (including lobbying from the commercial industry) and develop plans to best mitigate those. </p>
<p>In the cannabis referendum, New Zealanders will be voting on a new idea and a draft plan on how to get there. There is no guarantee the lofty vision will match reality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141113/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marta Rychert receives funding from Marsden Royal Society of New Zealand and Health Research Council of New Zealand. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Wilkins currently receives research funding from the New Zealand Royal Society Marsden Fund and Health Research Council of New Zealand. He has previously received research funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Health, New Zealand Police and New Zealand Customs Service.</span></em></p>New Zealand will hold the world’s first national referendum on legalising recreational use of cannabis in September. It must learn from mistakes in implementing earlier drug law reforms.Marta Rychert, Senior Researcher in Drug Policy, Massey UniversityChris Wilkins, Associate Professor of illegal drug research, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/977712018-06-06T14:33:00Z2018-06-06T14:33:00ZMedical cannabis and the challenge for regulation of medicines<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222017/original/file-20180606-137318-lqfc31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/733038691?size=huge_jpg&src=lb-59856941&sort=newestFirst&offset=4">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://yougov.co.uk/news/2018/05/30/majority-now-support-liberalising-policy-towards-c">Three-quarters</a> of the British public think doctors should be able to prescribe cannabis for medical purposes. Wider interest has followed recent media reports about children such as six-year-old Alfie Dingley, whose seizures have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/19/war-on-drugs-medical-cannabis-children-alfie-dingley">dramatically reduced</a> after being given cannabis products – often by travelling abroad for treatment, or illegally sourcing or importing from countries such as the Netherlands. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/939834/Alfie-Dingley-PCDH19-epilepsy-Theresa-May-pledges-support-medical-cannabis">Senior politicians</a> have expressed a desire to help children with serious illnesses, but provision of individual cannabis licenses and legal exemptions on a case-by-case basis does not help the many thousands of other people across the UK who also say that cannabis helps them.</p>
<p>The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on <a href="https://www.drugpolicyreform.net/">Drug Policy Reform</a> <a href="http://volteface.me/uk-medicinal-cannabis-report/">recommended improving access</a> to medical cannabis through a dedicated regulatory body. However, a new system that would licence and regulate herbal medical cannabis products would require a rethink of how medicines are approved in the UK.</p>
<h2>How the system works</h2>
<p>There are currently only four cannabis-based medicines in Europe that have been approved by the <a href="http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/about_us/document_listing/document_listing_000426.jsp&mid=">European Medicines Agency</a> (EMA). All are pharmaceutical products, such as oral sprays, containing defined active components such as <a href="https://www.leafscience.com/2017/11/09/what-is-thc-tetrahydrocannabinol/">tetrahydrocannabinol</a> (THC) and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/28/what-is-cbd-cannabidiol-cannabis-medical-uses">cannabidiol</a> (CBD) in specific amounts – they are not herbal cannabis preparations.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=880&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=880&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221975/original/file-20180606-137298-1i67lz4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=880&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alfie Dingley’s parents say cannabis oil treatment in the Netherlands has reduced the number, severity and duration of the seizures caused by a rare form of epilepsy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/alfieshope/photos/a.188734344937170.1073741829.180342199109718/362645047546098/?type=3&theater">Hannah Deacon</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To receive marketing authorisation, manufacturers are required to present evidence of efficacy and safety, and offer well-defined products for specific conditions that are produced, processed and packaged to high standards. This is an expensive and lengthy process that can cost millions of pounds.</p>
<p>Although the <a href="https://bedrocan.com/products-services/healthcare/prescribing-cannabis/">Bedrocan</a> company in the Netherlands has received certification for the quality of production of its herbal cannabis materials, none have received marketing authorisation as medical products because they have not been submitted for review in accordance with licensing criteria. </p>
<h2>The problems in testing medical cannabis</h2>
<p>Medical cannabis challenges scientific norms and the regulation of medicines. The evidence-based medicine approach, where medicines and practices are evaluated and recommended on the basis of high-quality experimental and economic evidence – rather than anecdote and industry marketing – has led to the identification and availability of many important medical treatments.</p>
<p>When medical cannabis is tested against traditional evidence-based principles, it does not fare as well as might be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/15/medical-marijuana-does-it-work-miracle-drug-evidence">popularly believed</a>. Reviews of scientific evidence show promising findings for some, but not all, conditions for which cannabis is considered a treatment – and this evidence is difficult to untangle.</p>
<p>Cannabis products show general success in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29511052">reducing seizures</a>, for example, but the <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)30136-3/fulltext">best evidence</a> is from studies of pharmaceutical-grade CBD in the treatment of rare forms of childhood epilepsy – and not the whole plant itself. Studies of whole plant products are difficult to interpret because of differences in product composition, dose and administration regimes, and the lack of long-term follow up.</p>
<p>Most medical cannabis patients in the UK are not using pharmaceutical grade products, but are instead smoking, vaping or consuming illicitly grown herbal cannabis products to self-treat a wide variety of conditions, many of which will not have been formally diagnosed. It is therefore difficult to know how to translate scientific findings into practice.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZZIzb5p6BRg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, there is a clear support from patients, the public and some <a href="https://www.rcn.org.uk/magazines/congress%20daily%20bulletin/2018/decriminalising-cannabis">professional healthcare bodies</a>for medical cannabis. Advocates point to benefits reported by patients, and the long history of folk medicine to argue for its safety and efficacy.</p>
<p>Campaigners argue that herbal cannabis is denied to patients because of the laws prohibiting recreational use and the inflexibility of medicines regulations that are set up to evaluate tightly defined pharmaceutical products.</p>
<p>The evidence-based medicine “brand” has also been <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3725">criticised</a> as being too focused on large randomised controlled trials to generate evidence and discounting professional expertise, to the detriment of individualised responses to patient needs.</p>
<h2>An exceptional product?</h2>
<p>Suggesting that cannabis should not be subject to the same standards of evidence as other medicines and should bypass current regulatory processes is a radical move that positions cannabis as an exceptional product. An evidence-based approach is particularly valued in publicly funded healthcare systems such as the NHS where the majority of the financial burden is borne by taxpayers.</p>
<p>In England and Wales, the <a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/about">National Institute for Health and Care Excellence</a> (NICE) reviews clinical and economic evidence on new pharmaceuticals in order to decide which should be recommended for use in the NHS. Changing the law to allow healthcare providers to prescribe herbal cannabis products to patients would respond to patient demand – but without a new regulatory system those treatments would not subject to the same level of scrutiny as other medicines prescribed in their practice. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221988/original/file-20180606-137306-19k2r18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cannabis is now grown commercially in countries such as the US.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/marijuana-morning-light-asia-landscape-photo-511352467">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>International regulators have tried to address this. Herbal cannabis products are available on prescription in several countries. But regulatory models are internationally <a href="http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/topic-overviews/cannabis-policy/html_en">diverse</a> and many systems are not easily translated to the UK because of differences in healthcare funding and access to medicines.</p>
<p>In Germany, doctors are only allowed to prescribe government-approved cannabis products on a compassionate basis to severely ill patients with specific illnesses who have not benefited from other treatments. In contrast to more tightly regulated systems, in the USA the boundaries between medical and recreational cannabis have been blurred and cannabis has been presented as a panacea for many diverse conditions and “well-being” needs. </p>
<p>Medical cannabis is both an emotional issue and technical challenge. A plausible case can be made for changing the law and allowing patients access to medical products. However, this requires more than an act of Parliament and presents a fundamentally different way of thinking about what a medicine is, and how patients should get access.</p>
<p>For now, the UK government is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/01/alfie-dingley-home-office-considers-medical-cannabis-trial-to-help-boy-with-epilepsy">considering</a> the option of a cannabis oil trial for epilepsy sufferer Alfie Dingley, who currently has to travel 450 miles to the Netherlands for the treatment. </p>
<p>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97771/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Sumnall receives and has received funding from grant awarding bodies for drug and alcohol research. He is an unpaid member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), an unpaid trustee of the drug and alcohol prevention charity Mentor UK, an unpaid Board Member of the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR), and an unpaid scientific adviser to the MIND Foundation. He received travel and accommodation costs to speak at the Cannabis Europa conference in London in May 2018.This article represents his personal opinions only.
</span></em></p>Medical cannabis challenges scientific norms and the usual regulation of medicines.Harry Sumnall, Professor in Substance Use, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945612018-04-18T10:42:52Z2018-04-18T10:42:52ZAmericans support legal marijuana – but states don’t agree on how to regulate it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215209/original/file-20180417-163986-juezzk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Marijuana varieties on display in a California dispensary. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/California-Marijuana-Open-for-Business/33dd95de1fb845e6b314d493f39353fe/7/1">AP Photo/Mathew Sumner</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On 4/20, many across the U.S. gather to celebrate their love and appreciation for marijuana. </p>
<p>Polls show that <a href="http://news.gallup.com/poll/221018/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx">64 percent</a> of Americans favor legalizing marijuana. But, despite the majority support, there’s no clear consensus on how it should be regulated. As a researcher who has studied the impact of drugs in the U.S. and Mexico, it’s been captivating to watch states adapt as they attempt to regulate this illicit and stigmatized substance.</p>
<p>Many states permit medical marijuana, but there’s a wide variety of approaches. Today, 29 states currently permit medical marijuana and have an established system for regulating it.</p>
<p>Another 17 states have limited medical programs. These programs provide access to products with low levels of <a href="https://www.livescience.com/24553-what-is-thc.html">tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)</a> and high levels of cannabidiol (CBD), with the goal of eliminating the “high” and maximizing medical benefits. Beyond that, the conditions doctors and patients can treat with cannabis vary from state to state.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/?id=311&doctype=Chapter&type=0&year=2014">Minnesota</a>, <a href="https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/regulations.htm">New York</a> and <a href="http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=SB386%20SUB1%20enr.htm&yr=2017&sesstype=RS&billtype=B&houseorig=S&i=386">West Virginia</a> don’t permit marijuana smoking as part of their medical programs. West Virginia, however, allows patients to vaporize marijuana plant matter, while Minnesota only permits consumption of marijuana in liquid extract form. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/medicalmarijuana">Colorado</a>, where I am based, has a much more expansive medical program. Patients can access an array of products, from extracts to strains of raw plant material. While <a href="https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/regulations.htm">New York</a> caps the amount of THC that a product dose may contain, Colorado and other states have no such limit on their medical marijuana products. </p>
<p><iframe id="16j0H" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/16j0H/3/" height="600px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Meanwhile, recreational marijuana use has been approved for adults 21 and over by nine states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia. </p>
<p>However, once again, states haven’t implemented their policies uniformly. <a href="https://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2018/Docs/BILLS/H-0511/H-0511%20Senate%20Proposal%20of%20Amendment%20Unofficial.pdf">Vermont</a>, for example, does not currently have a system for commercial sale and distribution, and only allows individuals to cultivate two plants. <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/enforcement/marijuanaenforcement">Colorado</a>, on the other hand, has developed a robust commercial system, allows individuals to grow up to six plants, and limits the amount of marijuana products an individual can possess. </p>
<p>Most states have struggled with how to navigate the public consumption of cannabis, which remains illegal. As states continue to debate and implement marijuana policies, the American public will begin to recognize what works (and what doesn’t). </p>
<p>While these policy inconsistencies may raise concerns for some constituents, these state experiments are a valuable way to figure out how this substance works and how it affects society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94561/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Santiago Guerra is affiliated with Colorado Springs Medical Marijuana Working Group as a content expert. </span></em></p>Medical marijuana? Recreational marijuana? Both or neither? Here’s a quick guide to the topsy-turvy landscape for marijuana regulation in the US.Santiago Guerra, Assistant Professor of Southwest Studies, Colorado CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/733432017-02-22T04:29:56Z2017-02-22T04:29:56ZYes, we can do on-the-spot drug testing quickly and safely<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157623/original/image-20170221-18627-1q1ya9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The not-for-profit UK group The Loop said it tested the drug ecstasy with 'loop lasers' at a festival in July 2016. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/WeAreTheLoopUK/photos/a.476925732388189.1073741829.454797594601003/1080182912062465/?type=3&theater">The Loop UK/Facebook</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton’s recent claim that it’s not practical to conduct on-the-spot drug tests “<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-19/electric-parade-festival-more-than-20-overdose-hospital/8283828">safely and quickly</a>” is, at best, misinformed. These tests have been taking place successfully in Europe for more than a decade.</p>
<p>Ashton’s statement came in response to renewed calls for on-the-spot drug testing in Victoria after more than 20 people were hospitalised as a result of a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/more-than-20-drug-overdoses-at-electric-parade-dance-party-20170218-gug5as.html">mass overdose</a> at a dance party in Melbourne on Saturday night. The incident occurred just weeks after <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jan/16/three-dead-after-overdosing-on-bad-batch-of-ecstasy-in-melbourne-court-told">three people died</a> after taking a “bad batch” of MDMA in Chapel Street nightclubs. </p>
<p>In response to the calls, Ashton <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2016/s4623002.htm">appeared to question</a> the availability of the systems required for on-the-spot drug tests.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That’s a bit of a myth really, that there is a proper testing regime that can suddenly test on-the-spot what quality drugs [are]. We take quite a long time to test drugs when we seize them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ashton <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-19/electric-parade-festival-more-than-20-overdose-hospital/8283828">told the ABC</a> it takes laboratories days to determine what is in a pill.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>So to do that, at those sort of events, to do it safely and quickly is not really a practical option.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Years of experience in numerous countries around the world tell us this is factually incorrect.</p>
<p>On-the-spot drug analysis has been taking place in Europe for more than a decade, with the support of <a href="http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2016/07/28/how-patch-grass-uk-first-decriminalised-drugs-space">law enforcement</a>, associated forensic toxicologists, analytical chemists and academics. A wide variety of drug testing systems using laboratory technologies are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/24/secret-garden-party-pioneers-drugs-testing-for-festival-goers">successfully deployed</a> at events across Europe. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://idpc.net/profile/trans-european-drug-information-project">Trans European Drug Information (TEDI) project</a> combined the data collected in drug testing systems used in Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands. The TEDI project <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dta.1954/full">analysed just over 45,000 drug samples</a> taken from public events in those countries between 2008 and 2013. Most of those 45,000 tests, conducted using forensic equipment, were completed in seven to 25 minutes.</p>
<p>Many on-site drug checking systems use a variety of techniques to chemically analyse the composition and dose of the drugs presented. The technology used includes <a href="http://hiq.linde-gas.com/en/analytical_methods/liquid_chromatography/high_performance_liquid_chromatography.html">high-performance liquid chromatography</a> (HPLC), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_chromatography%E2%80%93mass_spectrometry">liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry</a> (LCMS), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chromatography%E2%80%93mass_spectrometry">gas chromatography–mass spectrometry</a> (GCMS), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin-layer_chromatography">thin-layer chromatography</a> (TLC), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_transform_infrared_spectroscopy">fourier transform infrared spectroscopy</a> (FTIR) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandem_mass_spectrometry">quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry</a> (Q-TOF). </p>
<p><a href="http://www.checkyourdrugs.at/">Checkit!</a> in Vienna have a mobile van from which they run a range of analytical tests more commonly found in a laboratory. These tests are conducted in seven minutes. <a href="http://www.saferparty.ch/allgemein.html">SaferParty</a> in Zurich uses HPLC and GCMS technology, and these tests take 15 minutes. <a href="https://energycontrol.org/noticias/528-international.html">EnergyControl</a> on the Iberian Peninsula uses TLC and GCMS technology, and provides a result in under 20 minutes.</p>
<p>Professor Fiona Measham of <a href="http://wearetheloop.co.uk/">The Loop</a> in the UK uses a new sampling tool that takes 20 minutes. Professor Measham’s <a href="https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=23079">methodology</a> is supported by the <a href="http://www.tictac.org.uk/">TICTAC database</a>, one of the largest forensic drug databases in the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_reagent">Reagent tests</a> – the easily available kits that change colour when they come in contact with a drug – are advocated and used by many in the Australian music festival scene. But this is only because there is nothing else to offer.</p>
<p>Reagent tests only identify one substance in a sample, even when many substances are present. With 750 different drugs now on the market, and often used in conjunction with each other, these simple tests are not adequate. Drug testing is also best done by professionals.</p>
<p>This information is widely available. Drug testers are happy to <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/event/2015-national-drug-trends-conference">discuss</a> their methodology; they are proud of it. They’ve also published it. In Europe, there are publicly available <a href="http://newip.safernightlife.org/digital-library">good practice guidelines</a>. And the technology is already in Australia. By my calculations, there are in excess of 10,000 GCMS machines in laboratories across Australia. </p>
<p>So why the disbelief from the Victorian Police Chief Commissioner?</p>
<p>It could be because the majority of illicit drug samples in Australia are processed by forensic laboratories at the request of law enforcement, and do take some time. The tests run for use in trials are often run multiple times, and analysts take days to return their results. This is entirely appropriate in a legal setting. But we don’t do that in medicine.</p>
<p>We don’t get 10 chest X-rays to confirm a chest infection. We use the appropriate equipment, ensure that it’s well calibrated, and act on the results that we are confident are real.</p>
<p>It is important to acknowledge the role law enforcement plays in stemming the flow of drugs in the community. But it is not the only, or even the best, way to prevent the harm and deaths caused by bad batches of drugs and drug overdoses. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.lapresse.ca/videos/actualites/201309/12/46-1-faire-tester-sa-drogue-en-vingt-minutes.php/c2e6226bdc9c4b828f029c8f9f123800">Drug testing at music festivals</a> is very much about intervention and encouraging behavioural changes, rather than just drily delivering a result. We know from <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395906001058">research</a> that the majority of consumers would not take a pill if test results indicated the substance wasn’t what they thought it was.</p>
<p>My own work in South Australia between 2002 and 2007 showed clearly that two thirds of consumers chose to do something other than take their pills when they found they contained a substance other than what they expected. The modern generation is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/will-sylvia-chois-stereosonic-death-change-pill-testing-policy/6991736">far more interested</a> in having their pills tested than when this practice started.</p>
<p>In addition to changing people’s behaviour, drug testing provides us with information about the specifics of the drugs available. This is an ever changing market. Drug testing can identify substances that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/drug-dogs-cost-nsw-9-million-per-year/7444908">sniffer dogs</a> are not yet trained to detect.</p>
<p>In the past year a consortium of scientists, nongovernmental organisations and doctors (including myself) has reached out to the Victorian Department of Health, the Office of the Commissioner and the Victoria Police Forensic Services Department to offer them the opportunity to review our methodology and discuss collaborating in this space. Both have declined.</p>
<p>Should they ever change their minds, our door remains open.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Caldicott is a member of Harm Reduction Australia and ATODA, and is the Clinical Lead in the Australian Drug Observatory. He has offered bipartisan academic advice in the development of medical cannabis legislation and drug early warning systems in Australia and overseas. He has no political affiliations or financial disclosures to make.</span></em></p>Victorian Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said conducting on-site drug tests at public events “safely and quickly is not really a practical option”. But the technology is available.David Caldicott, Emergency Medicine Consultant, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/725062017-02-14T05:38:41Z2017-02-14T05:38:41ZFactCheck: it’s true – Western Australia has the nation’s highest rate of methamphetamine use<blockquote>
<p>We have the worst rate of methamphetamine usage in the country. – <strong>West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan, <a href="https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-election-2017/crime-spike-gave-labor-weapon-hurt-liberals-ng-b88371752z">quoted</a> in The West Australian, February 6, 2017.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The illicit drug methamphetamine, commonly known as “speed”, “crystal meth” and “ice”, continues to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-25/adelaides-methamphetamine-use-climbs-sewage-analysis-shows/8210188">make</a> <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/tom-carroll-on-his-recovery-from-addiction-and-taking-part-in-the-new-abc-doco-ice-wars-20170202-gu4n35.html">headlines</a> in Australia as communities grapple with its <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-we-in-the-midst-of-an-ice-epidemic-a-snapshot-of-meth-use-in-australia-39697">destructive effects</a>. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://thewest.com.au/politics/state-election-2017/crime-spike-gave-labor-weapon-hurt-liberals-ng-b88371752z">news report</a> outlining the Liberal and Labor party’s strategies for tackling drug-related crime in Western Australia, state Labor leader Mark McGowan was quoted as saying “we have the worst rate of methamphetamine usage in the country”.</p>
<p>Is that right?</p>
<h2>Checking the source</h2>
<p>When asked for sources to support his statement, a spokesperson for Mark McGowan referred The Conversation to the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129549848">2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey</a>, particularly page 11 of the report, which says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Meth/amphetamine use was higher in Western Australia (3.8%) than any other jurisdiction. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The spokesperson also referred The Conversation to the state government’s <a href="https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/MediaDocuments/WA%20Meth%20Strategy%202016.pdf">Western Australian Meth Strategy 2016</a> report, which states on page seven that meth use in Western Australia is higher than the national average.</p>
<p>And the spokesperson cited Western Australia’s Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan, who was <a href="http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wa-speaks-meth-drug-issue-voted-states-top-crime-problem/news-story/8274d9ef179070d27a93818c0c39b1eb">reported</a> as saying the state continues to have the highest methamphetamine use per capita in Australia. </p>
<p>You can read the full response from McGowan’s office <a href="http://theconversation.com/full-response-from-mark-mcgowan-72723">here</a>.</p>
<h2>Does Western Australia have the highest rate of methamphetamine use?</h2>
<p>Yes. The latest available Australian data, published in the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/ndshs-2013/">2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey</a>, show that 3.8% of the West Australian population had used methamphetamine in the 12 months prior to the survey. That’s nearly double the Australian average of 2.1%.</p>
<p>This isn’t a recent phenomenon. The rate of methamphetamine use in Western Australia has been higher than the rest of the nation since at least the 1990s.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156711/original/image-20170214-25962-1msla1b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=948&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156688/original/image-20170213-25987-1vk4i6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The rate of methamphetamine use across Australia has been declining since 1998 – including in Western Australia. But over that time, the rate of use in the state has remained consistently higher than the Australian average.</p>
<p>The rate of use of many other drugs, including binge drinking, cannabis and pharmaceuticals for non-medical purposes, is also <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/ndshs-2013/ch7/">higher in Western Australia</a> than the Australian average. </p>
<h2>How do we know?</h2>
<p>The data in the charts above come from the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/about-ndshs/">National Drug Strategy Household Survey</a>. It’s a reliable data set that’s been collected every three years since the 1990s.</p>
<p>It’s the only population level data we have that shows drug use trends. That means it collects data from the general population, including people who don’t use drugs at all, not just among specific groups of people who use drugs.</p>
<p>It’s not perfect; no dataset is. The survey has been criticised because it’s likely to underestimate drug use. But it is likely to underestimate usage of all drug types in all locations and relatively consistently over time, so it can give us a good sense of trends over time and differences between states.</p>
<p>All the other reliable data available is collected among people in <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/aodts-nmds-2014-15/aodts-nmds/">treatment</a>, people in the <a href="http://aic.gov.au/about_aic/research_programs/nmp/duma.html">justice system</a>, or populations of people who <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/project/illicit-drug-reporting-system-idrs-d1">regularly use</a> drugs. The rates of use among these groups is much higher than the general population, so the data doesn’t reflect drug use in the general community.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/2016-national-drug-strategy-household-survey/">2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey</a> is due to be released shortly. In general, drug use shows relatively small increases and decreases over time (typically less than half to one percentage point change between years), so it’s unlikely that the 2016 data will buck the long term trend too much.</p>
<h2>People are using more potent forms of methamphetamine</h2>
<p>Although the rate of methamphetamine use across Australia has stabilised at <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129549848">2.1%</a> of the population between 2010 and 2013, we have seen a major shift in the <em>type</em> of methamphetamine people are using. Western Australia has seen the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129549643">same shift</a> as the rest of the country.</p>
<p>In 2010, most people who used methamphetamine preferred to use the less potent powder form, known as “speed”. But by 2013 around half the people surveyed preferred to use the stronger crystal form, known as “ice”. Speed and ice have the same chemical makeup, but ice is a lot stronger.</p>
<p><strong>Changes in methamphetamine use among Australian users aged 14 or older, 2007 to 2013</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156305/original/image-20170210-8655-1hmoiv7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This shows the main forms of methamphetamine used by recent users (meaning within the last 12 months) aged 14 or older, 2007 to 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/ndshs-2013/ch5/#t5_4">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The majority of people who use methamphetamine use a small amount, very occasionally, for a short period in their life, and never experience any major problems with it. Around 70% of people who used a methamphetamine in the last year used it <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=60129549848">fewer than 12 times</a>, and many of those used it only once or twice.</p>
<p>But for the small percentage who do experience problems, it is a drug that can cause significant <a href="https://theconversation.com/crystal-meth-harms-on-the-rise-in-australia-18190">harm</a>.</p>
<p>Even though there hasn’t been a significant increase in the number of people using methamphetamine, the shift to the stronger form means that the risks – which include <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2016/204/4/estimating-number-regular-and-dependent-methamphetamine-users-australia-2002-2014">drug dependence</a>, <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/news/methamphetamine-deaths-increase-across-australia-and-ice-use-jumps-52-cent-among-people-who">overdose</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12474/abstract">aggression</a> and <a href="https://www.promises.com/articles/abused-drugs/meth-causes-psychosis-study-finds/">mental health</a> problems – are amplified. As a result, we have seen a big increase in people who use methamphetamine regularly coming to <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2007/186/7/hospital-separations-cannabis-and-methamphetamine-related-psychotic-episodes?inline=true">hospital</a>, needing an <a href="http://apo.org.au/node/56610">ambulance</a>, seeking <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/alcohol-and-other-drugs/data-sources/aodts-nmds-2014-15/clients/age-profile/">drug treatment</a> and being <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-15/drug-data-shows-ice-arrests-nearly-double-in-five-years/6471024">arrested</a>.</p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Mark McGowan’s statement is correct. Western Australia has the highest rate of methamphetamine use in Australia – and has since records of the use of this drug began. Western Australia has a higher rate of other drug use as well. <strong>– Nicole Lee</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This is appears to be a fair representation of the available population data. As the author notes, no data set is perfect. When you look at groups of people who regularly use drugs, the jurisdictional trends differ from general population trends.</p>
<p>In addition we’d note the heading would more accurately read “It’s true – Western Australia has the nation’s highest rate of methamphetamine use according to available population data”. <strong>– Courtney Breen and Amanda Roxburgh</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Lee works as a paid consultant to public, private and not for profit services to support treatment and policy implementation. She has previously been awarded grants by the state and federal government, NHMRC and other public funding bodies for alcohol and other drug research. She is a member of AOD Media Watch, a site that monitors reporting on alcohol and other drug issues in the media. Nicole was interviewed for the program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Roxburgh receives funding from the federal government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Courtney Breen receives funding from the federal government. </span></em></p>West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan said his state has the “worst rate of methamphetamine usage in the country”. We asked the experts to check the evidence.Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/553072016-02-29T02:54:01Z2016-02-29T02:54:01ZFactCheck: does Australia spend $1.5 billion a year on drug law enforcement, with 70% due to cannabis?<blockquote>
<p>Of the A$1.5 billion spent annually on drug law enforcement, 70% is attributable to cannabis. – <strong>Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm, speaking in parliament in support of the passage of the <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2Faf5e9bce-9bd9-45dc-bd87-c1d5218a5d66%2F0067%22">Narcotic Drugs Amendment Bill 2016</a>, on February 24, 2016.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Estimating Australia’s annual drug law enforcement expenditure is a difficult and inexact science. </p>
<p>Drug law enforcement may be involved with other crime fighting. For example, it’s hard to know exactly what proportion of the money spent tackling organised crime entails drug law enforcement, given that illicit drugs may be just one source of income for these groups.</p>
<p>Some arrests are also categorised as illicit drug offences, even when the primary focus of the police may be a different issue. For example, a person arrested for being drunk and disorderly may be found to be in possession of a small quantity of cannabis. This is still counted as an illicit drug offence even though the primary focus of police was dealing with the unruly behaviour and enhancing community safety.</p>
<p>Against this background, we sought to test against the evidence a statement by Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm that A$1.5 billion is spent annually on drug law enforcement in Australia and that 70% is attributable to cannabis.</p>
<h2>Does Australia spend A$1.5b a year on drug law enforcement?</h2>
<p>When asked for a source to support his statement, a spokesman for Senator Leyonhjelm referred The Conversation to a page on the <a href="http://www.druglawreform.com.au/australian_drug_law_enforcement_the_cost">Drug Law Reform Australia</a> website. The webpage states: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most of Australian drug arrests were for cannabis around 61,011, or 65% of drug arrests. Around 80% of those were for possession… The total cost of drug law enforcement is around $1.1 billion, not counting drug related crime which is unquantifiable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is a discrepancy between Drug Law Reform Australia’s reporting of the cost of drug law enforcement ($1.1 billion) and Senator Leyonhjelm’s estimation ($1.5 billion). </p>
<p>The Drug Law Reform Australia webpage, in turn, cites a report by the team at the <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/ndarc/resources/24%20Government%20drug%20policy%20expenditure%20in%20Australia%20-%202009_10.pdf">Drug Policy Modelling Program</a> at the University of New South Wales. </p>
<p>That research team estimated that in 2009-10, Australian drug law enforcement activities cost between A$1.03 billion and A$1.07 billion. That estimate included police services, judicial resources, legal expenses, corrective services, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (now the Australian Border Force).</p>
<p>Taking the mid-point of this amount ($1.05 billion) and adjusting for inflation using the Reserve Bank of Australia’s <a href="http://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualDecimal.html">inflation calculator</a> (for the period 2010-2015) gives the approximate cost for 2015 of $1.18 billion, well short of Senator Leyonhjelm’s estimation of $1.5 billion. </p>
<p>So we found no evidence to support Senator Leyonhjelm’s assertion that A$1.5 billion is spent annually on drug law enforcement in Australia. That figure is not in the source he used.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, given the difficulties associated with accurately costing drug law enforcement, this discrepancy is not a major flaw.</p>
<h2>Is 70% of Australia’s annual drug law enforcement spend due to cannabis?</h2>
<p>It is unclear how the senator derived this figure of 70%.</p>
<p>The Drug Law Reform Australia webpage correctly cites the Australian Crime Commission’s 2011-12 <a href="http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/IDDR-2011-12-FINAL-HR-020513.pdf">Illicit Drug Data Report</a> in stating that 61,011, or 65%, of drug arrests (including expiation offences) were cannabis-related. </p>
<p>It may be the case that Senator Leyonhjelm has assumed that because 65% (or 70% as he stated) of arrests were cannabis-related then 65% of drug law enforcement costs are related to cannabis. </p>
<p>If so, this is unlikely to be correct for a number of reasons, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Contemporary Australian policing policy approaches aim to reduce the chances that someone arrested for minor cannabis offences (like use and possession) will end up in the criminal justice system. <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/expiation">Expiation</a> (atonement) and diversion schemes are common, which drives down the cost of cannabis law enforcement. Cannabis arrests are cheap, because they typically do not involve court or prison (which cost taxpayers a lot of money).</li>
<li>The vast majority of cannabis offences are for simple possession, which do not generally stem from expensive and complex investigations. So the average cost would be substantially lower than many other drug-related cases. Cannabis is also bulky, pungent and requires land or hydroponic facilities to grow, so it is easier for police to find than, say, a methamphetamine lab. Destroying a commercial cannabis crop is also far easier and less costly than dismantling a methamphetamine laboratory.</li>
<li>Trafficking cannabis into Australia is largely unnecessary, as the overwhelming majority of the cannabis available in Australia is grown locally. That said, there were four large seizures at the border in 2013-14. Most seizures are for cannabis seed coming through the post. Therefore, it is unlikely that a large proportion of Australian Border Force resources are applied to cannabis. </li>
<li>Similarly, the Australian Federal Police’s expenditure on the detection of cannabis possession offences is likely to be low.<br></li>
</ul>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>We found no evidence to support Senator Leyonhjelm assertion that A$1.5 billion is spent annually on drug law enforcement.</p>
<p>While approximately 70% of all illicit drug offences are cannabis-related, there is no definitive evidence to suggest that 70% of drug law enforcement costs are attributable to cannabis. – <strong>Roger Nicholas and Ann Roche</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This is a sound analysis, and I concur with the verdict. That is not to say that spending on drug law enforcement is small, nor that it should not be subject to greater scrutiny. Having better and more recent data (the last drug budgets was 2009-10) will improve Australia’s capacity to have sensible debate about spending priorities. <strong>– Alison Ritter</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research centre which employs Roger Nicholas, NCETA, receives regular government funding for a range of alcohol and drug related issues including examinations of policy and their effectiveness. Full details are available in their annual reports and further detail can be provided on request.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann Roche's research centre, NCETA, receives regular government funding for a range of alcohol and drug related issues including examinations of policy and their effectiveness. Full details are available in their annual reports and further detail can be provided on request.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Ritter receives funding from the NHMRC, ARC, federal government research funding and state governments research funding. the drug budgets work was funded by the Colonial Foundation Trust (philanthropy).</span></em></p>Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm told parliament that of the $1.5 billion spent annually on drug law enforcement, 70% is attributable to cannabis. Are those numbers correct?Roger Nicholas, Senior Project Manager and Senior Researcher, National Centre for Education & Training on Addiction, Flinders UniversityAnn Roche, Professor and Director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/491832015-10-22T14:44:34Z2015-10-22T14:44:34ZCould Iran be the next country to legalise cannabis and opium?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99207/original/image-20151021-15451-ihgm51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Iran burns drugs in an annual ritual – but levels of use remain high.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/crime-law-and-justice-photos/crime-photos/incineration-of-some-100-tons-of-illicit-drugs-in-tehran-photos-50889890">Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After Uruguay courageously legalised the use of cannabis under a new drug policy, could Iran be the next country to make it legal? From the outside, the image of Iran as retrograde and inherently conservative hardly fits with the reality of a more dynamic domestic political debate within. But drug policy is one of the areas of debate in which the Islamic Republic <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paradox-of-irans-war-on-drugs-and-its-progressive-treatment-of-addiction-28701">has produced</a> some interesting, yet paradoxical, policies. </p>
<p>Iran has a conspicuous drug addiction problem – which officially accounts for more than 2m addicts (though unofficial figures put this <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/01/iran-drug-addiction.html">as high as 5-6m</a>). Drug traffickers risk harsh punishments that include the death penalty. Yet Iran also has <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paradox-of-irans-war-on-drugs-and-its-progressive-treatment-of-addiction-28701">very progressive policies</a> towards drug addiction, which include distribution of clean needles to injecting drug users, methadone substitution programmes (also in prisons) and a vast system of addiction treatment.</p>
<p>Iran remains a country that is hard to explain. However, a new approach of drug control could build on what is already a progressive model, but one that actually stems the level of drug abuse in the country. The country is currently paying twice the price: of militarised anti-narcotics strategies and increasing medical problems related to drug use.</p>
<h2>The council of expediency</h2>
<p>During a recent <a href="http://ascongress.ir/">conference on addiction</a> held in Tehran, Saeed Sefatian, a prominent Iranian official and head of the working group on drug demand reduction in the Council for the Discernment of the Expediency of the State (also known as the Expediency Council), illustrated what could become a potential alternative to Iran’s current drug policy – including a move which that could include measures towards legalisation of cannabis and opium. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99329/original/image-20151022-8010-1hy8fvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recovered addict shows support for addicts in southern Tehran.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maziyar Ghiabi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Expediency Council is an institutional body that was established in 1987 by then Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and its main objectives are to identify major political challenges, institutional strategies and long-term policies of the country. The council acts as the advisory body to Iran’s highest political authorities.</p>
<p>The Expediency Council also plays a critical role in national drug policy: all Iranian legislation is discussed and voted for in the parliament, except for drug laws, <a href="http://maslahat.ir/Commissions/AntiDrug/default.aspx">which are both discussed and legislated in the council</a>. </p>
<p>Already in the early 2000s, Iranian legislators managed to get the council’s approval for the controversial and progressive set of <a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/iran/events/ReportRegionalHRSeminar.pdf">harm reduction measures</a>. These included the implementation of nationwide distribution of clean syringes to injecting drug users and methadone substitution treatment both inside and outside prisons, measures which were unthinkable to implement in other Muslim countries as well as in many Western states.</p>
<p>After ten years of harm reduction policies, Iran accounts for more than 6,000 methadone clinics and numerous <a href="http://dchq.ir/en/images/portal-e/reports/dc2014.pdf">programmes of support and assistance to drug users</a>.</p>
<p>The harm reduction policy allowed the Iranian authorities to tackle <a href="http://bit.ly/1KoeE7J">the crisis embodied by HIV epidemics</a> caused by widespread injecting drug use (through shared needles, for exampe), a phenomenon which <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4441940/">today is said to be under control</a>, and had gained Iran the praise and recognition of international observers, including the <a href="http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/idu/idu_emro_iran_2004.pdf">World Health Organisation</a>.</p>
<h2>An indigenous Iranian model</h2>
<p>Yet, Iran’s drug addiction problem persists. Time is ripe for a shift in focus on a new subject, which has remained largely undiscussed over the past decade: drug use (as opposed to addiction) among the general population. <a href="http://adna.ir/news/547/%D8%AA%D8%A6%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%87-%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%BA%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%DA%AF%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%B4%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%DA%AF%D8%B0%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D9%87-%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%87-">As Sefatian has said</a>, the state needs to manage all areas of drug policy: cultivation, production, supply and consumption. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99218/original/image-20151021-15414-16w7ggg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poppy pods – homegrown not imported?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_in_Iran#/media/File:Mohn_z06.jpg">Zyance</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, rather than implying a swift liberalisation of illicit drugs, Sefatian suggested another direction: re-introducing the cultivation of plants such as poppy and cannabis under state supervision; legalisation of cannabis and opium use under specific circumstances outlined by ad hoc laws, for instance, only in private places and for opium – as he told me – only for people above a certain age. The latter, in particular, is reminiscent of pre-1979 revolution drug laws where opium vouchers were distributed to all registered opium users above the age of 50. The current regime already envisages <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3693538/">the prescription of opium tincture</a> to drug abusers registered at state addiction centres, therefore the ground for selective legalisation is in part paved.</p>
<p>Given that cannabis and opium are both indigenous plants that have had a historical presence in Iran, they are also a good place to start a new indigenous approach to drug control. The way this new strategy towards drug use is taking shape is that of a comprehensive discussion among Iran’s drug policy, addiction, anti-narcotics and social policy experts through the Expediency Council, which is the institution that has the power to carry out this change. </p>
<p>This is no smooth process or fast-track plan and, indeed, the obstacles and critics to a potential redirection in drug policy are many. Conservative politicians emphasise that drug use is fundamentally criminal and must be repressed - a very similar argument made by prohibitionist advocates in the US. Many in the medical community think that drugs should be illegal because of the potential for harm and that the current policy is sufficient to keep the risk of HIV and addiction disorder under control. Notwithstanding this, the advantages of a new legalisation process outweigh its risks.</p>
<h2>A more radical model</h2>
<p>If Iran were able to reform its drug policy, the prison population would drop remarkably (given that in the current condition, about 60-70% of inmates are <a href="http://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1394/04/02/778605/70-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF-%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%87%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AF">charged with drug-related offences</a>). The state would access new economic resources - through the production and selling of previously illegal drugs - which are today the turf of large criminal networks. The agricultural sector would benefit greatly from the cultivation of cannabis and poppy and the land is suitability for these crops. </p>
<p>New financial resources could enhance public awareness campaigns. Use of harder drugs, such as heroin and <em>shisheh</em> (methamphetamine), has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/13/breaking-bad-tehran-iran-crystal-meth-methamphetamine">surged in the past decade</a> and represent a more s issue. As the Iron Law of prohibition has it, “<a href="http://search.proquest.com/openview/145c17f0a42608c36a49f64593706bcb/1?pq-origsite=gscholar">the harder the enforcement, the harder the drugs</a>”. And new reforms around cannabis and opium could <a href="http://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening">disincentivise use of harder ones</a>.</p>
<p>Eventually, along the legalisation process, Iran’s high number of death sentences, which is a principle side-effect of the country’s <a href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/10/iran-afghan-drugs.html#">war on drugs</a>, would be almost nullified. New resources could be invested into the development of infrastructures, creation of employment and tourism of those regions which have been paying the high price of drug use and drug trafficking, especially border regions.</p>
<p>What is perhaps more important in this debate is the opportunity for the political class and the public to address the phenomenon of drug use beyond the all-embracing stereotype of addiction and the addict. By doing so, there is also a chance for a nuanced policy in which recreational use – which is regardless of prohibition, rampant – is not criminalised and punished. This won’t solve all of Iran’s problems with drugs and addiction, but would potentially open up a venue for comprehensive and open-ended discussions about the objectives and means of drug control. </p>
<p>If successful, Iran could become a model for other countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, which given the current levels of trauma and distress, <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/drug-abuse-is-on-the-rise-in-iraq-after-years-of-instability">are having</a> or will probably <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/07/prweb12859514.htm">witness increasing levels of drug use</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maziyar Ghiabi receives funding from Wellcome Trust</span></em></p>Penalties for drug traffickers in Iran are harsh but it also has progressive policies for addicts. Is it time to go further?Maziyar Ghiabi, DPhil Candidate in Politics and Wellcome Trust Scholar in Society & Ethics, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/381812015-03-09T06:14:06Z2015-03-09T06:14:06ZQ&A: could Portugal’s drug reforms work in the UK?<p>The Liberal Democrats <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/the-time-for-action-on-drugs-reform-is-now">have confirmed</a> that their 2015 manifesto will contain radical proposals for drug policy reform. Many of the measures echo the approach taken in Portugal, where a policy of decriminalisation was put into practice in 2001. </p>
<p>Drugs policy expert Susanne MacGregor from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine explains what reforms like these would mean for the UK. </p>
<h2>What is Portugal’s drugs policy?</h2>
<p>In 2001, Portugal reformed its <a href="http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drug-policy-profiles/portugal">drug policies</a> to address public concern around problematic drug use, especially intravenous heroin use. A government-appointed expert commission proposed decriminalising possession of any illicit drug for personal use, which is defined as the amount an average user would consume in a ten-day period. </p>
<p>Responsibility for the drugs strategy switched from the Justice Ministry to the Ministry of Health, and policy was refocused to address users’ needs for treatment. Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction were set up, consisting of a lawyer, a doctor and a social worker operating outside the criminal justice system, who make decisions on a case-by-case basis about how to assist the drug users who are referred to them. Criminal sanctions were abolished, and penalties became either administrative – for example, a fine – or a referral to treatment.</p>
<h2>What has the outcome been?</h2>
<p>There are a number of rough indicators which can be used to assess the outcome of the Portuguese approach, including the number of drug-related deaths, the number of people using a drug, the number of people using a drug harmfully, the number of young people using drugs, the use of services, or the rate of HIV or hepatitis infection. Based on these indicators, Portugal’s problems diminished between 2001 and 2007, and <a href="http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index214059EN.html">evidence suggests</a> there has been a fall in the most problematic forms of drug use. </p>
<p>The main advantage of this approach is that users are not criminalised for possessing small quantities of drugs. Although taking drugs is still illegal, users do not get a criminal record, which could affect their opportunities for work or travel, and are not so stigmatised. The approach has also <a href="http://reformdrugpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/paper_06.pdf">saved Portugal’s government money</a>, mainly due to lower costs on the criminal justice and prison systems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74082/original/image-20150306-13567-re001l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Caught smoking a spliff? It’s not on the record …</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://images.pressassociation.com/meta/2.22418619.html">Matthew Fearn/PA Wire</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But, as Alex Stevens has pointed out, it is <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/12/10/portuguese-drug-policy-alex-stevens/">not possible to say</a> whether these positive outcomes were caused by this particular change in policy. Decriminalisation was accompanied by an expansion of drug treatment services and improvements in social security support. It is quite possible that it was <a href="http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/6/999.abstract">these features which led to improvements</a>, rather than decriminalisation per se. </p>
<p>Since 2008, there has been a severe recession in Portugal, leading to cuts in services and a <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/portugal/unemployment-rate">rise in unemployment</a>. Improvements to the health of problematic drug users are threatened. But a key conclusion is that the policy change <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368489/DrugsInternationalComparators.pdf">did not make things worse</a>: according to the UK Home Office, “there has not been a lasting and significant increase in drug use in Portugal since 2001”. </p>
<h2>What’s different in Britain?</h2>
<p>As is shown by <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415474702/">evidence in the book I edited</a>, many features of the Portuguese system already exist in UK as a legacy of the New Labour reforms, including harm reduction services, a network of drug treatment services and supportive social assistance. The diversion of offenders from the justice system into treatment programs has been a feature of UK policy for over ten years.</p>
<p>Some recent changes threatened to undermine these services, including cuts to social expenditure, punitive Department of Work and Pensions policies, <a href="http://www.nta.nhs.uk/nta-join-phs-jul10.aspx">abolition of the National Treatment Agency</a>, restructuring of the NHS, and changes to the commissioning of services and the abstinence/recovery agenda. But not all of these have had the <a href="http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/Policy/SOS2013_Main.pdf">adverse impacts some feared</a>. </p>
<h2>How hard is it to implement?</h2>
<p>The main difficulty would be getting agreement to decriminalise personal possession of any drug. Support for decriminalising cannabis reached its <a href="http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/virtuallibrary/runcimanreport.pdf">high point around 2000</a>, and since then the mood has changed with the arrival of skunk, more attention to the links between cannabis use and mental illness, change of fashions in drug-taking as well perhaps as of successful anti-tobacco smoking campaigns. Policymakers would have to face <a href="http://www.flatearthnews.net/footnotes-book/page-28-heroin/whats-wrong-war-against-drugs">hostile opposition</a> from the media. </p>
<p>Change in less centralised states like Switzerland or USA has come about via use of referendums, where they are used frequently to decide on controversial social issues. In the UK, referendums are used much less and mainly on big questions like Scottish independence or membership of the EU. </p>
<p>In the UK, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368489/DrugsInternationalComparators.pdf">20% of cannabis cases</a> still go through a court procedure. It was as much concerns about the cost of its criminal justice system (especially excessive rates of imprisonment) that led to changes in marijuana legislation in US states, so perhaps more cuts to government expenditures will change the outlook in the UK. </p>
<h2>Could Portugal’s drug policy be exported?</h2>
<p>Both the Portuguese and UK approaches can deal effectively with the harms relating to intravenous drug use. But we need to go back a step here – not all drugs, and not all drug use, cause harm. There are more and less harmful ways of using drugs, and some drugs are more likely to cause harm than others. </p>
<p>Where you take what drugs, with whom and how are all important factors. Injecting drugs clearly carries particular dangers, as does using unknown and untested white tablets, even <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11418426/News-anchor-Jon-Snow-describes-his-time-high-on-skunk.html">taking skunk while in an MRI scanner</a>. And there are differences in the relative harms of different substances as the <a href="http://www.antoniocasella.eu/archila/NUTT_2007.pdf">Nutt harm index</a> has indicated. Policy has to distinguish between these.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rpwy9BSXs3s?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Jon Snow feeling the effects of smoking skunk on Channel 4’s Drugs Live.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Decriminalising the possession of small quantities of any drug for personal use would reduce the harms caused to individuals by involvement in the criminal justice system. Currently, possessing small amounts of a controlled drug is treated as a criminal offence in UK. And the way it is dealt with depends on a classification system which <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/nov/03/david-nutt-drugs-policy">is not fit for purpose</a>.</p>
<p>The issue is more complex and nuanced than legislation and enforcement alone. Simply transferring a policy from one country to another is not the way to go – we have to recognise different political, cultural, social, economic and historical contexts. But these are precisely the features which are ignored by the current international drug control system. We need more localised policies and more experimentation to find out what suits different shapes of drug problem, at what time, in what country or region rather than simply swap one “one-size-fits-all” policy for another.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38181/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In the past, Susanne MacGregor received funding from the Department of Health, Home Office, ESRC, Leverhulme Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation for research on drugs. She is an individual member of DrugScope and a Fellow of the RSA.</span></em></p>Our drugs policy expert sheds some light on the Liberal Democrats’ radical new proposals.Susanne MacGregor, Professor of Social Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/63212012-04-12T01:11:07Z2012-04-12T01:11:07ZDecriminalisation or legalisation: injecting evidence in the drug law reform debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9502/original/6qhk2zfk-1334191342.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One argument for legalisation is it will move the problem away from police and the criminal justice system, where it currently dominates resources.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Simon Mossman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We should all be concerned about our laws on illegal drugs because they affect all of us – people who use drugs; who have family members using drugs; health professionals seeing people for drug-related problems; ambulance and police officers in the front line of drug harms; and all of us who pay high insurance premiums because drug-related crime is extensive.</p>
<p>Drug-related offences also take up the lion’s share of the work of police, courts and prisons. But what can we do? Some people feel that we should legalise drugs – treat them like alcohol and tobacco, as regulated products. And legalisation doesn’t necessarily need to apply for every illegal drug.</p>
<h2>Why legalise?</h2>
<p>One of the arguments for legalisation is that it would eliminate (or at least significantly reduce) the illegal black market and criminal networks associated with the drug trade. Other arguments include moving the problem away from police and the criminal justice system and concentrating responses within health. </p>
<p>Governments could accrue taxation revenue from illegal drugs as they currently do from gambling, alcohol and tobacco. A regulated government monopoly could secure direct income; our <a href="http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/MicroEco/downloads/SHANAHANCannabis%20CBA%20Melbourne%20Nov%20vers%20Sunday.pdf">research suggests</a> this may be as high as $600 million a year for a regulated cannabis market in New South Wales.</p>
<p>The strongest argument against legalisation is that it would result in significant increases in drug use. We know that currently legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, are widely consumed and associated with an extensive economic burden to society – including hospital admissions, alcoholism treatment programs and public nuisance. So why create an environment where this may also come to pass for currently illegal drugs? </p>
<p>The moral argument against legalisation suggests the use of illegal drugs is amoral, anti-social and otherwise not acceptable in today’s society. The concern is that legalisation would “send the wrong message”.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there’s no direct research evidence on legalisation because no country has legalised drugs yet. But suppositions can be made about the extent of cost-savings to society. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9501/original/jd7s859d-1334190735.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The moral argument against legalisation is that it would send the wrong message.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">acidpix/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, some of our <a href="http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/MicroEco/downloads/SHANAHANCannabis%20CBA%20Melbourne%20Nov%20vers%20Sunday.pdf">research</a> on a regulated legal cannabis market suggests that there may not be the significant savings under a legalisation regime that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2009/04/heroin_and_cocaine_cost_britai.html">some commentators</a> have argued. But these are hypothetical exercises. </p>
<h2>Decriminalisation</h2>
<p>An alternative to legalisation is decriminalisation. Experts don’t agree on the terminology and there’s much confusion. But, in essence, decriminalisation refers to a reduction of legal penalties. This can be done either by changing them to civil penalties, such as fines, or by diverting drug use offenders away from a criminal conviction and into education or treatment options (also known as “diversion”). </p>
<p>Decriminalisation largely applies to drug use and possession offences, not to the sale or supply of drugs. Arguments in favour of decriminalisation include its focus on drug users rather than drug suppliers. The idea is to provide users with a more humane and sensible response to their drug use. </p>
<p>Decriminalisation has the potential to reduce the burden on police and the criminal justice system. It also removes the negative consequences (including stigma) associated with criminal convictions for drug use. </p>
<p>One argument against decriminalisation is that it doesn’t address the black market and criminal networks of drug selling. There are also concerns that it may lead to increased drug use but this assumes that current criminal penalties operate as a deterrent for some people. </p>
<p>The moral arguments noted above also apply to decriminalisation – lesser penalties may suggest that society approves of drug use. </p>
<p>Many countries, including Australia, have decriminalised cannabis use: measures include providing diversion programs (all Australian states and territories), and moving from criminal penalties to civil penalties (such as fines in South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory).</p>
<p>Our team’s research on <a href="http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/6/999.full">Portugal</a> suggests that drug use rates don’t rise under decriminalisation, and there are measurable savings to the criminal justice system.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9500/original/v8rf8fg5-1334190304.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The moral argument against decriminalisation is that it suggests society approves of drug use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">floresyplantas.net/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia also, there hasn’t been a rise in cannabis use rates despite states and territories introducing civil penalties for users. And research on diverting drug use offenders away from a criminal conviction and into treatment has shown that these individuals are just as likely to succeed in treatment as those who attend voluntarily.</p>
<p>At the same time, research has also noted a negative side effect to the way in which decriminalisation currently operates in Australia – “net widening” - whereby more people are swept up into the criminal justice system than would have occurred otherwise under full prohibition because discretion by police is less likely and/or they do not fulfil their obligations.</p>
<p>Despite the largely supportive evidence base, politicians appear reluctant to proceed along the decriminalisation path. Some commentators have speculated that this is because of public opinion – decriminalisation is regarded as an <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/pm-rejects-call-for-decriminalisation-20120403-1wav8.html">unpopular policy choice</a>. </p>
<p>But public opinion is largely in support of decriminalisation, where it concerns cannabis (though not decriminalisation for other illegal drugs). In the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=32212254712">last national survey</a>, more than 80% of Australians supported decriminalisation options for cannabis. The other reason for equivocal policy support, I believe, is a lack of clarity about the issues. </p>
<p>There’s poor understanding about the different models of decriminalisation and some basic confusion exists. Many people equate decriminalisation with legalisation, but as detailed above, they are very different in policy, intent and action. </p>
<p>Decriminalisation is also sometimes incorrectly confused with harm reduction services, such as injecting centres or prescribed heroin programs. </p>
<p>The Australia21 Report released last week to stimulate informed public debate is an important step foward. In order for the debate to progress, we need clarity of terms, and dispassionate presentation of what evidence we have. Every policy has both risks and benefits and we need to talk about these. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/6321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Ritter receives funding from the NHMRC, the ARC and The Colonial Foundation Trust.
She was a participant in the Australia 21 Roundtable held in January, 2012.</span></em></p>We should all be concerned about our laws on illegal drugs because they affect all of us – people who use drugs; who have family members using drugs; health professionals seeing people for drug-related…Alison Ritter, Professor & Specialist in Drug Policy, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/63042012-04-05T04:51:31Z2012-04-05T04:51:31ZA moral argument against the war on drugs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9375/original/9rxfzxp3-1333598422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brazilian police patrol a favela in Rio De Janiero.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Marcelo Sayao</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Former Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/06/brazil-cardoso-war-drugs-decriminalisation">argued</a> that the war on drugs has failed and cannabis should be decriminalised. He argued that the hardline approach has brought “disastrous” consequences for Latin America. Having just returned from Rio, we can only agree.</p>
<p>One of us was staying with an eminent professor of philosophy. We were returning to her house with her 11-year-old daughter, only to have our way blocked by police with machine guns. They were hunting a drug lord in the local favela – this road was the only escape route and they were preparing for possible altercation.</p>
<p>Cardoso highlights the practical failure of a zero-tolerance approach. A zero-tolerance approach to a crime like taking drugs must always fail, in the same way as a zero-tolerance approach to alcohol, prostitution or drugs in sport will always fail. Paradoxically, the worst thing you could do to the drug lords in Rio is not to wage a war on them, but to decriminalise cocaine and marijuana. They would be out of business in one day. Supplies could be monitored, controlled and regulated, the harm to users and third parties significantly reduced.</p>
<p>The case for legalising drugs has been made often, most recently by Australia’s foreign minister, Bob Carr, who this week <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/carr-urges-drug-reform-20120402-1w8vg.html">co-signed a report</a> declaring “the war on drugs has failed”. The argument is nearly always put forward in terms of the burdens that the drug war has imposed on us in terms of crime and public health. And it is true that these things give us good reason to abandon Richard Nixon’s war on drugs. But we so rarely hear a moral argument in favour of liberalising drug laws. This is a mistake. </p>
<p>Although experts have told us time and time again that things would be better without the drug war, politicians have ignored the expert advice because voters do not want drugs laws to be loosened. And voters feel this way not because they think they know better than the experts, but because they have moral objections to drug use. There is a hidden moral debate driving the war on drugs that we never seem to bring out in the open.</p>
<p>The original drug prohibitions had a moral rationale rather than a practical one. It began with the American prohibition of opium, which was <a href="http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cu6.htm#Anchor-44867">primarily motivated</a> by a moral objection to white people smoking in Chinese-run opium dens. This began a prohibition movement in the United States. In 1913, marijuana — which was used almost exclusively by Mexican and Indian immigrants — was prohibited for the first time by the state of California.</p>
<p>Today, when new drugs are added to the long list of illegal substances, it is because they are judged to be “addictive”, not because they are harmful. The United States’ <a href="http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/legislation/ucm148726.htm">Controlled Substances Act</a> calls for a drug to be prohibited if it has “a high potential for abuse” and if it “may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence”. </p>
<p>The drug does not have to be harmful in any other sense. According to US government statistics, paracetamol (acetaminophen) is involved in nearly five times as many emergency room visits as MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine, often referred to as “ecstasy”), and it remains available in supermarkets around the world.</p>
<p>So the main reason that drugs like alcohol and caffeine are legal, but cocaine and MDMA are not, is that the latter are judged to be “addictive”. (Suspend for a moment the true belief that alcohol and caffeine are addictive.) </p>
<p>Addiction does harm the addict, to be sure. But self-harm cannot provide grounds for prohibiting a substance. As philosopher John Stuart Mill famously put it, the sole legitimate reason for interfering with a person’s liberty is when he risks harming others. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9372/original/t77cphvk-1333598403.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bolivian soldiers on a mission to eradicate coca plantations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Martin Alipaz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And while it is sometimes argued that the “drug problem” makes us all worse off, most of these harms flow directly from the zero-tolerance approach — drug prohibitions harm others when they are robbed, beaten or killed by those who run the black market of drugs.</p>
<p>It is sometimes argued by liberal-minded people that addictions warrant state interference because they render the addict incompetent, powerless to make an autonomous decision to take drugs. The addict becomes like a child in need of parental protection — or in this case the protection of the state. In this way “addiction” becomes a moral concept, not a form of harm. It is a condition that robs us of our moral status.</p>
<p>We have argued in a number of articles that such a view of addiction is false. People who take drugs are not suffering from a disease and they do not necessarily have some pathological failing of will power. They may be imprudent or irrational in taking drugs, but then again, we all are, nearly every day, in various ways when we eat unhealthily, engage in risky sports, smoke, drink or gamble. </p>
<p>Addicts may place to greater value on pleasure, or on excitement, or escape from reality, but their addictions are not different in kind to desires for other pleasurable activities. People become “addicted” to gambling, videogames, internet use, exercise, sex, carrots, sugar and water. These substances or activities do not “hijack” the brain — they provide pleasure utilising the same brain pathways as drugs. Every pleasurable activity is “addictive”.</p>
<p>The public discourse on drugs includes liberty, health, and crime, but it so rarely includes the value of pleasure. We do not have to be hedonists to believe that pleasure is one of the important goods in a person’s life. A liberal society should be neutral with regard to which pleasures people may pursue; it should not force people to conform to a particular conception of “good” and “bad” pleasures. </p>
<p>But more importantly, if every pleasurable behaviour can be addictive, then there can be no reason to believe that the pleasures of drug use are less important than the pleasures of good food and wine, of rock-climbing and football, or of browsing the internet. Each of these things is pleasurable, and hence each is addictive, and each can be harmful if done to excess. But we all have a right to pursue the pleasures we find valuable, even though each of these pleasures puts us at risk of addictions or addiction-like problems: alcoholism, pathological internet use, sex addiction, binge eating disorders, and so on.</p>
<p>The right to pursue pleasure gives us reason to legalise drugs, while addiction and self-harm fail to give us good reason to prohibit them. That is the essence of a strong moral argument against the war on drugs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/9373/original/3hs7c9bn-1333598414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teenagers arrested in Sydney for being intoxicated in public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/NSW Police</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There remains one possible ground for interfering in liberty and retaining the ban on drugs. That ground is the public interest. If society were to be severely impaired by liberalisation of drug laws, that might be an extreme case that warrants a ban on drugs. </p>
<p>But our (admittedly limited) experience suggests the opposite — <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1966437">the Netherlands appears to have reduced its drug problem</a>, without increasing its overall rate of drug use, by enacting relatively liberal drug laws for “soft” drugs like marijuana. And as Cardoso argues, a complete ban seems to be strongly against the public interest, keeping drug lords in business and the user and others in a position of severe vulnerability.</p>
<p>In the future, perhaps we will give up our squeamishness about drugs which provide pleasure. We could use modern pharmacological science to select or even design drugs which give us the pleasure or experiences we seek, but cheaply and without serious acute or chronic health risks. For the present, the drug which we can most freely obtain is one of the most addictive, one which contributes to violent behaviour, one which produces terrible chronic health effects and the worst withdrawal syndrome of all drugs. Alcohol.</p>
<p>The time has come to take a rational approach to drugs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/6304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Former Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has argued that the war on drugs has failed and cannabis should be decriminalised. He argued that the hardline approach has brought “disastrous” consequences…Julian Savulescu, Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Visiting Professor, Monash UniversityBennett Foddy, Junior research fellow, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/62292012-04-03T04:10:36Z2012-04-03T04:10:36ZRap sheet: does Bob Carr’s record on drug reform stand up?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9234/original/btyvhm57-1333421040.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=75%2C109%2C5439%2C3631&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's worth taking another look at Bob Carr's record on decriminalising drugs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Lukas Coch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australia21 thinktank has today <a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/pm-opposed-to-decriminalising-drugs-20120403-1w981.html">released a report</a> describing the war on drugs as a failure.</p>
<p>Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr, part of the working group that developed the report, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-03/eminent-group-calls-for-end-to-drug-prohibition/3928706">today told the ABC</a> he supported decriminalisation of small amounts of drugs.</p>
<p>Carr said: “We wouldn’t have armies of police patrolling outside nightclubs and pubs hoping to snatch someone who’s got an ecstasy tablet in his or her pocket of purse. And we wouldn’t be having police chasing individual users of marijuana.”</p>
<p>Carr went on to say he had effectively decriminalised small amounts of cannabis for personal use during his time as NSW premier. But Carr also introduced the very drug sniffer dogs he now laments.</p>
<p>The Conversation spoke with UNSW Associate Professor Alex Steel to discover just how much Bob Carr lived up to the ideals he now espouses when he wielded power.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Is Bob Carr rewriting history by claiming he is concerned about police conducting major efforts to apprehend people carrying small amounts of drugs, like marijuana, for personal use, because this happened under his watch?</strong></p>
<p>Well, he is correct to say the drug summit happened while he was premier, that the <a href="http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/drugs/cannabis_cautioning_scheme">Cannabis Cautioning Scheme</a> came in under his premiership, and it is also correct to say the (one) drug injecting room came in under his premiership. But it’s also undeniable that at the same time he was relentlessly banging the drum on law and order. Those two approaches work against each other in many ways. </p>
<p>He introduced drug sniffer dogs to NSW and so it is a bit strange that he is now complaining about the use of sniffer dogs by police to hassle people outside nightclubs. That is, in large measure, what sniffer dogs were introduced to do.
But if his comments signal a change of heart that should be applauded.</p>
<p><strong>It is clear that drug use and drug crime are a significant factors in the steep rise in imprisonment rates in the last few decades. NSW has the nations highest prison population and that is <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/chockablock-states-jails-bursting-at-seams/2008/12/06/1228257383087.html">as a result</a> of policies fostered under the Carr and successor Labor governments. How did they create that culture where law and order became such a prominent political issue?</strong></p>
<p>One strategy that seems to have been taken was for Labor to be harder on law and order than the Liberals. That strategy meant Labor kept moving further and further to the right with the Liberals trying to follow. It meant there wasn’t really any space left in the politics for a considered discussion of the best way to deal with issues underlying crime. Whenever a problem came up, there had to be a new offence created instantly.</p>
<p>In lots of ways it is easiest for politicians to create a new law to deal with an issue. Laws don’t cost anything to make. It costs a lot more to develop and fund comprehensive treatment plans and diversion programs for people caught up in drugs. The difficulty is the political cycle is short term and many of these solutions are long term. You are not likely to see any clear results for a large number of years - after the next election. </p>
<p>But on the other hand, if you say we are going to double the number of police on the street looking for a particular type of behaviour and we are going to throw them all in jail then you will very quickly get a spike in arrests, a spike in convictions and a rise in prison populations. </p>
<p>It is a very simple message to be able to spread through the media about your ability to create some sort of solution. The long term cost of such approaches can be glossed over or ignored.</p>
<p>The real problem with law and order political strategies is that they are a losing battle. If you create a sense in the community that there is a lot of crime and you are going to be doing something about it, then you increase the level of fear of crime, which can be used to get support for your measures. </p>
<p>You need to keep creating crime problems to keep being tough on crime. But that means you don’t ever produce an environment when crime is not a community concern. The more you talk about crime the harder it is to prove that you have effectively dealt with crime, so it then forces this constant, escalating process of finding new forms of crime and dealing with them in an electioneering sort of way.</p>
<p><strong>Is the prospect of decriminalisation, as recommended, realistic? Portugal did it in a one fell swoop but in an Australian context is it realistic that it could happen at a state or nationwide level?</strong></p>
<p>There is a problem at the moment in the sense that we have both federal and state laws dealing with possession of illegal drugs. If a state decided to legalise possession of drugs, there would still be commonwealth offences prohibiting possession of drugs, so we are now at a point where we need a coordinated approach at both state and federal level if we are to change the laws comprehensively. On the other hand the real issue is not only about the laws, but about the policing of those laws. </p>
<p>If, despite these laws on the books, NSW police decided they were not going to lay charges for people in possession of small amounts of drugs, it would be in effect a de facto de-criminalisation. Commonwealth laws wouldn’t affect this because the AFP don’t involve themselves in street policing. It really comes down to the signals the government gives to the police as to how it should enforce these laws, and police decisions as to resources they put into enforcing these laws. </p>
<p>And you can see that the existence of the Cannabis Cautioning Scheme goes some way towards that but police retain the discretion to charge someone or to give a caution. So there’s an issue of whether there is some net widening there because rather than letting somebody go they now have the option of giving them a formal caution.</p>
<p><strong>Is it likely today Australia21 recommendations will simply disappear off the agenda?</strong></p>
<p>There is a sense that the issue has been around for too long and it is time to do something about it. If it was a report that came out of the blue and on its own then it probably would disappear. But there is a growing momentum internationally to recognise the failures and to change our approach. </p>
<p>It’s unlikely that politicians are likely to turn around immediately and change their approach but if the issues get discussed in the media and that starts a broader community conversation then there could be a change of climate and politicians might be a little bit braver about what they are saying.</p>
<p>The statement Bob Carr made this morning is an indication of a politician who is cautiously saying, look we do need to change. He says this is change “at the margins” but at least he is suggesting there is some need change and he supports it.<br>
If a momentum for change builds then we might be able to effect some significant changes. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/6229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Steel is a member of the Australian Drug Law Reform Initative based at the UNSW Law School <a href="http://www.cjrn.unsw.edu.au/australian-drug-law-reform-initiative">http://www.cjrn.unsw.edu.au/australian-drug-law-reform-initiative</a> </span></em></p>The Australia21 thinktank has today released a report describing the war on drugs as a failure. Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr, part of the working group that developed the report, today told the ABC…Alex Steel, Professor, UNSW Scientia Education Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.