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Drugs & Crime: Implications for Prevention
Crim 321John Anderson
Canadian Drug Policy
What’s in a name?– From “Canada’s Drug Strategy” (2003) to
“National Anti-Drug Strategy” (2007) under federal Conservative government
Removes any mention of “harm reduction” and focuses on treatment, prevention and enforcement
Prevention $30 million
Treatment $100m over 5 years
Enforcement $167m over 5 years
Focus of our Drug PolicyCanada’s drug strategy continues to concentrate investments in enforcement activities. – http://www.nationalantidrugstrategy.gc.ca/nads-sna.html
– Proportion of funding allocated to enforcement has decreased from 95% in 2001 to 73% in 2005
– Strategy is slow to respond to the scientific evidence indicating that many of the harms associated psychoactive drugs are due to enforcement based policies and practices.
– Investment in supply reduction runs counter to evidence indicating that such approaches had been consistently ineffective in reducing drug supplies
Source: Kora, D., Evan, W., Julio, M., & Thomas, K. (2009). Canada's new federal ‘National Anti-Drug Strategy’: An informal audit of reported funding allocation. International Journal of Drug Policy, 20(2), 188-191. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2008.04.004
Continuing emphasis on supply-side expenditures
Unintended Consequences Enforcement strategies destabilize drug markets and disperse concentrated drug scenes into surrounding areas. – Separates drug users from health and prevention
services (needle exchanges & treatment programsDestabilized drug markets result in more violence, increased theft and property crime
Users shift from smoking to injecting illicit drugs; high risk injecting been repeatedly linked to enforcement practices (Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, 2006)
BEFORE CRACKDOWNDowntown Eastside November 2001
Open Drug Market at Main and Hastings, 2001
Photo © John Anderson
AFTER CRACKDOWNDowntown Eastside August, 2003
Where did all the drug dealers go?
Photo © John Anderson
Busting Street People Uniformed and undercover policemen on right in blue sweatshirt
Photo © John Anderson
Drug markets move from downtown to Oppenhemier Park & elsewhere
Photo © John Anderson
THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM
“Many, especially the young, are not dissuaded by the bullets that fly so freely in disputes between competing drug dealers—bullets that fly only because dealing drugs is illegal. Al Capone epitomizes our earlier attempt at Prohibition; the Crips and Bloods epitomize this one.”
Milton Freidman
Most drug offences are for cannabis
While 17% of BC residents have used hallucinogens in their lifetime, only 1% used the drug in the previous 12 months. Similarly, 16% of residents have used cocaine sometime in their lifetime, and only 3% used the drug in the previous 12 months (n=129,000).
Source: Centre for Addictions Research, University of Victoria (http://carbc.ca/)
Approximately 52% of BC residents have used cannabis in their lifetime, and 17% used the drug at least once in the previous 12 months.
Source: Centre for Addictions Research, University of Victoria (http://carbc.ca/)
Source: Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. (2009). Adolescent Substance Use and Related Harms in British Columbia. CARBC Bulletin 5 (October 2009). Retrieved from http://carbc.ca/portals/0/resources/0910AdolescentBulletin.pdf
Five year trends in adolescent drug consumption in BC
Source: CARB, 2009. See Reference Page at end of slides
COST OF DRUGSBritish Columbia
Source: Centre for Addictions Research, University of Victoria (http://carbc.ca/)
Total costs for substance-related harms are estimated at $6.058 billion (or $1,463 per BC resident). About 75% of the total burden is related to harms from tobacco and alcohol: tobacco $2.331 billion (38%), alcohol $2.219 billion (37%), illicit drugs $1.508 billion (25%).
OVERALL HARM ESTIMATESLicit and Illicit Drugs
“A comparison of these findings reveals that hospitalizations for illness related to alcohol and tobacco are much higher than for illicit drugs. In fact, illness attributable to alcohol and tobacco are each approximately five times that of illnesses attributable to illicit drugs.”
Source: Centre for Addictions Research, University of Victoria (http://carbc.ca/)
“You’re talking about a profession where people accept a risk of being murdered, execution-style, as an occupational hazard. How is a mandatory minimum sentence going to deter a person who already accepts the risk of being shot and having their body dumped in a car?”
David Bratzer Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
HEROIN ESTIMATESThe news is not promising…
White House, Feb 2006 http://www.usdoj.gov/olp/pdf/ndcs06.pdf
The percentages of retail purity of South American and Mexican heroin have nearly converged. They now show only 6.1% difference in purity.
Heroin - National Drug Threat Assessment 2008http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs25/25921/heroin.htm#Overview
Source: National Drug Threat Assessment, 2008http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs25/25921/25921p.pdf
http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs22/22539/22539p.pdf
Traffickers are using new routes for trafficking heroin through South America
COCAINE
National Drug Intelligence Centre, US Dept of Justicehttp://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs25/25921/25921p.pdf
Source: Walsh, J. M. (October 15, 2009).
Market TrendsHeroin prices decline while purity increases, despite enforcement efforts
Common Images
Vancouver Downtown Eastside
Photo © John Anderson
Photo © John Anderson
Photo © John Anderson
WHO ELSE USES DRUGS?Answer depends on whether we include alcohol as a ‘drug’…
UCR DATAPolice data on drugs is related to enforcement activity
Interpretation of data? Exercise caution… note time lines
CANNABIS
Cannabis…
Cannabis offences have risen 81% between 1992 and 2002– Driven mostly by possession offences, which have
almost doubled over the past decade– In 2002, three in four drug incidents involved
cannabis, most of which were for simple possession.
CRIME PREVENTION STRATEGIES
Injection drug use
Four Pillars
Harm reduction– reducing spread of disease, preventing overdoses,
increasing contact with health care services & treatment programs, reducing consumption of drugs in the street.
Prevention – Diverse strategies to help people understand negative
health impacts and legal risks associated with substance use and abuse,
– Encouraging people to make healthy choices, and providing opportunities to reduce the likelihood of substance abuse, including affordable housing, employment training and jobs, recreation and long-term economic development;
Four Pillars
Treatment– Access to services that help users lead healthier lives,
including outpatient and peer-based counseling, methadone programs, daytime and residential treatment, housing support, and ongoing medical care
Enforcement– Targeting organized crime, drug dealing, drug houses,
problem businesses– Improving coordination with health services and other
agencies that link drug users to withdrawal management (detox), treatment, counseling and prevention services.
Health CanadaPolicy Statements
Injection drug use is a health and social issue– People who inject drugs should be treated with dignity and
have their rights respected;
Services should be accessible and appropriate – Must involve people who inject drugs in all aspects of
planning and decision making;
Programs & policies should take into account diversity drug using population (gender, culture, age, geographic location and polydrug use;– the community and stakeholders should be involved in the
responses.
TARGETED STRATEGIESInjection Drug Use
Needle Exchanges
More than needles..– Educational messages about the health risks of
injecting, and provides bleach kits, condoms, safe disposal of used needles, addiction and HIV counseling, HIV testing, referral and support and other services.
Supervised injection sites
Frankfurt model– Longest program and has had several evaluations– Has significantly reduced the number of homeless
drug users, incidents of drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related deaths
Supervised Injection Sites
Insite offers drug users a place to inject
Supervised injection brings health care to a difficult to reach group
May reduce victimization
Program under evaluation
Drug Users Groups
Drug users are essential partners in developing and implementing strategies, policies, programs & initiatives.– Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)
Separating “hard” & “soft” drug users
The Dutch believe that by licensing some coffeehouses to supply cannabis, they keep soft & hard drug users apart.
In Vancouver, “smoke easies” operate with relative impunity. – Difficult to argue that they “prevent crime”– Police do not arrest users
Photo © John Anderson
Before it burned down, Blunt Brothers was a popular place for cannabis smokers
Photo © John Anderson
Photo © John Anderson
ReferencesCanadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. (2006). Canada’s 2003 renewed drug strategy - an
evidence-based review. HIV Policy and Law Review, 11(2/3). Retrieved from http://www.aidslaw.ca/publications/interfaces/downloadFile.php?ref=957
Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. (2009). Adolescent Substance Use and Related Harms in British Columbia. CARBC Bulletin 5 (October 2009). Retrieved from http://carbc.ca/portals/0/resources/0910AdolescentBulletin.pdf
Kora, D., Evan, W., Julio, M., & Thomas, K. (2009). Canada's new federal ‘National Anti-Drug Strategy’: An informal audit of reported funding allocation. International Journal of Drug Policy, 20(2), 188-191. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2008.04.004
Walsh, J. M. (October 15, 2009). Assessing U.S. Drug Policy in the Americas: Time to Revisit Goals and Strategies. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Washington: Washington Office on Latin America.
Wood, E., Kerr, T., Small, W., Li, K., Marsh, D. C., Montaner, J. S. G., et al. (2004). Changes in public order after the opening of a medically supervised safer injecting facility for illicit injection drug users. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 7(171), 731-734.
