Decriminalize drugs for own use, officer says

OTTAWA Canada should decriminalize the possession of small amounts of
illegal drugs for personal use, says a highranking officer with the
Vancouver police department.

``I support that,'' deputy police chief Ken Higgins said here Tuesday,
adding that addiction should be treated as a medical problem and
drugselling as a criminal one.

``I'm not soft on drugs, believe me. People who traffic in this sort of
misery should be dealt with very severely.

``Let's get the addicts out of the way for the time being and concentrate
on the trafficking and let [the healthcare system] try to deal with
addiction.''

Higgins, who sat on a federal panel on HIV and drug use, said he was
motivated to speak out because of the current HIV/AIDS epidemic and because
he sees that the current system has failed.

Last week, the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS reported the Downtown
Eastside has the highest incidence of HIV infection in the developed world.

Close to half the 6,000 to 10,000 addicts in the area are believed to be
infected with the AIDScausing virus, which is passed from drug user to
drug user on the tips of used syringes.

``If we wiped the chalkboard clean and said how would we deal with the
situation now, the last thing we'd come up with is the present system,''
Higgins said.

Higgins served as the representative of the Canadian Association of Chiefs
of Police on an 11member panel that filed a report in May for Health Canada.

The Task Force on HIV, AIDS and INjection Drug Use made several
recommendations, among them letting doctors prescribe narcotics to drug
users, decriminalizing small amounts of narcotics for personal use, heavy
penalties for selling any drug to minors and boosting methadone programs.

Higgins, who worked extensively in the Downtown Eastside during his 30year
Vancouver police career, said decriminalizing possession of drugs like
heroin or cocaine is a necessary step in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

He called for changes in the criminal code that would reflect the fact
current possession laws do not work.

``Can we say, in all honesty, that we treat simple drug possession as a
crime? With all the adverse consequences that are meant to go with a
conviction for a crime? No, we don't. We can no longer say that,'' said
Higgins.

``Then let's look at how we would deal with the subject of addiction and
how that can be managed and leave us to deal with crimes which arise as a
result of addiction separate the two out.

``We have to try and get the discussion going on: Is it appropriate to
recognize addiction is a medical problem and we'll deal with the management
of addiction through health?''

Vancouver police Chief Bruce Chambers did not return messages left at his
office Tuesday asking his opinion of his deputy's comments.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has never formally advocated
reducing Canada's drug penalties, and has instead argued for increased
funding to fight organized criminals importing illicit drugs into Canada.

But the Canadian Police Association, representing 4,000 officers, urged
Parliament in 1993 to remove cannabis possession from the criminal code by
making it an offence subject to a ticket, similar to a speeding violation.

In 1994, Ottawa police Chief Brian Ford called for the decriminalization of
marijuana and hashish, saying the risk of things going wrong during an
arrest was too high. Three years earlier his officers had shot and killed a
man during a raid on a private home that turned up just a few grams of pot.

That same year, B.C.'s former Chief Coroner Vince Cain called for
decriminalization of both hard and soft drugs after noting that illicit
drug use was the leading cause of death for B.C. residents aged 30 to 45.

``The socalled `war on drugs' which is conducted by the justice system can
only be regarded as an expensive failure,'' he said at the time.

The Canadian Bar Association, representing 34,000 lawyers, has called for
decriminalization of marijuana since 1978.

In explaining how decriminalization could work, Higgins gave the example of
a person who was caught shoplifting and was also found to be in possession
of heroin for personal use.

Under the changes Higgins proposes to the criminal code, the person would
face criminal charges for shoplifting, but receive something like a traffic
ticket that would divert him into the health system for possession of the
heroin.

``We're not saying legalize it,'' Higgins said. ``There's still going to be
offences pursuant to whatever type of legislation there is.''

``If we have a new set of laws which gives the medical profession some
leeway . . . some people would not qualify for any prescription drugs of
that nature. Some probably would, due to their addiction. But that's a
medical thing . . . Let's get the discussion going with the medical
professions. How would they deal with it?''

Higgins said decriminalizing drugs would not lead to addicts flocking to
Vancouver.

``I think the reverse would be true. If people didn't have to go where they
think they can get the illegal stuff better, if it was treated more by the
health profession, people wouldn't see the need to leave where they've got
family,'' he said. ``They would probably stay still and not have to resort
to crime and keep moving to progressively more comfortable climates.''

Higgins said police need to redesign their approach to drug addiction.

``I think as a police manager, we're duty bound to say honestly to the
public whether or not we are confident we can deal with the problem or
whether the time has come to rethink how we approach some of these things.

``Let's look at how we will manage the problem of addiction and rethink how
we will structure offences, which the police can enforce.''