Ban the bong? - SCOPE magazine

When the Irish government recently banned mephedrone it passed up a golden opportunity to reform our antiquated laws and address the drug problem on a meaningful level. The over-the-counter sale of the drug had been much publicised both here and in the U.K. as it was implicated in the deaths of several young people. Media hysteria, coupled with pre-election point scoring, resulted in mephedrone being listed as a ‘class B’ drug in the U.K. back in April. A similar ban was due to come into effect here in June. Instead, on May 10th the government introduced an unexpected overnight ban on mephedrone and other legal highs. The surprise legislation caught many head shops off guard and several have since ceased trading.

New legislation may only mean a temporary lull in business for head shops, as there are already appeals pending against the ban on restraint of trade and other grounds.
Arguably, prohibition doesn’t work: it simply fuels demand. It didn’t work with alcohol in the United States in the 1920s. Prohibition of the drug trade isn’t without consequence. It has criminalised millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens and contributed towards the spread of HIV and other diseases. It has scuppered the economies of developing nations around the globe, driving farmers to a choice between poverty and criminality. Just as in prohibition-era America, the biggest legacy that the war on drugs has given us is the growth in organised crime. The bootleggers of yesteryear have been replaced by the drug cartels of today. No one profits more from prohibition than the criminals who continue to supply the mass markets of the west. Competition between rival gangs looking to increase market share unsurprisingly leads to violence. Colombian cartels in the 1980s assassinated policemen, judges and politicians to protect their lucrative trade. That violence is mirrored today by the never-ending wave of brutal murders taking place across Mexico. The number of drug-related murders there rose from 5000 in 2008 to 6500 in 2009. So far this year that number has reached over 2000.

The U.S. border to the north represents the frontier to the world’s largest drug market and the violence shows no sign of easing. The U.S. itself spends in excess of $40 billion annually in its war on drugs. In 2008, 1.5 million Americans were arrested for drug offences, resulting in imprisonment for around 500,000. The war on drugs, initiated by the United States, has forced other countries to fall into line with its policy of prohibition. There has however, been a recent shift away from the combative rhetoric often used by the U.S. government in the past.

At the U.N.’s annual global drug policy meeting in March, American representatives spoke for the first time about addiction as an illness to be treated as opposed to a criminal blight to be eradicated. Portugal is a country where harm reduction has proven to be an effective policy. In 2001, the Portuguese government decriminalised the possession of drugs in an effort to combat their growing problem. At the recommendation of a national commission set up to address the issue, possession of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, was no longer to be considered a criminal offence. Instead of imprisonment, those found with quantities of drugs for personal use would be offered treatment. The sale and supply of drugs remained illegal, with more money and resources dedicated to combating high level trade. Many initially feared that decriminalisation would lead to higher levels of use and pave the way for drug tourism. A study conducted by Glenn Greenwald for the Cato Institute and published in April 2009 showed these fears to be unfounded. Lisbon did not become a haven for drug tourists. Drug use amongst teens declined, and the number of people seeking treatment for addiction doubled. "Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Greenwald. The drug trade in Portugal however, remains entirely in the hands of criminal gangs. Decriminalisation addresses the drug problem from a public health perspective but neglects the economic consequences of a black market worth an estimated $320 billion per year.

In New Zealand, new drugs are put into a ‘class D’ category, where they are not illegal to sell or possess but sales and effects are monitored. A similar scheme here would help prevent the type of knee-jerk reaction that has accompanied legal highs such as mephedrone and give people a chance to establish the real effects of the drugs in question. Instead, the Irish government has reacted to speculation and fear mongering, fuelled by a wealth of misinformation. Standard operational procedure it seems.

wader83@gmail.com