Canada and the War on Drugs

The following is from National Post

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    Whatever may be the best approach to Canada's domestic drug policy, there is no case for this country to become a major international producer and supplier of illegal and restricted narcotics to the international market, in particular to the U.S.
   
    Yet a new report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), a UN agency, raps Canada's knuckles over its lax drug enforcement laws. It seems that Ottawa's drug policy is full of sound and fury, signifying little. Although Parliament ratified the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which requires notifying the INCB of all international trade of hallucinogens and tranquilizers a full 13 years ago, Herbert Schaepe, secretary of the board notes "we don't know what is going into the country, nor coming out."
    The result is that these pharmaceuticals are manufactured here and then shipped to what may be fake companies run by traffickers. Again, during the UN General Assembly's 20th special session in 1998 on curbing illicit drug demand, Canada made loud noises about being in the forefront of the international anti-drug effort. In the words of the report, however, Canada "has not yet implemented some of the basic provisions" of the action plans it lauded at the time.
    Just as Canada is becoming notorious as a soft touch for international terrorist fundraising, drug traffickers too find this country a safe base of operations. Web sites selling high-potency cannabis seeds and equipment are located on Canadian servers, and little is done to clamp down on the trade in precursors (the chemicals used in producing heroin and cocaine).
    In Ottawa, there seems to be a collective reluctance to take firm action to enforce the law. This has been noticed abroad. As an exasperated Mr. Schaepe adds: "We have spent more than a decade meeting with the Canadian health authorities [and] foreign affairs people ... to discuss these matters. We have written dozens of confidential letters ... and tried to work with Canada through silent diplomacy". Nothing happened, so the INCB has gone public.
    Will a shamed Canada now follow up its strong words with strong deeds?

Article concerning 'Crack' by Leo Knight

Enough is Enough; Drugs in School Canadian Press

What's Your Response?

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Resources If you would like to get more information on marijuana and other drug use, you might want to contact the following organizations:

Visit the Parenting IS Prevention Project site to learn more about how important parents are in setting their children on a drug-free path.

National Drug Information Center of National Families in Action
2296 Henderson Mill Road, Suite 300 Atlanta, GA 30345-2739
Marijuana Anonymous
P.O. Box 2912Van Nuys, CA 91404
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol andDrug Information (NCADI)
P.O. Box 2345Rockville, MD 20847-2345
National Council on Alcoholism and DrugDependence, Inc. (NCADD)
12 West 21st, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010
National Crime Prevention Council
1700 K Street N.W., 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20006-3817
"Just Say No" International
2000 Franklin Street, Suite 400, Oakland, CA 94612
National Family Partnership
9320 SW Barbur Boulevard, Suite 340Portland, OR 97219
National PTA Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Project
330 North Wabash Ave., Suite 2100Chicago, IL 60611-3690
National Head Start Association
1651 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Partnership for a Drug Free America
Drug Free Resource Net is the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's web site that includes a large drug information database, prevention strategies for parents, and more.