Mixed messages
Under this banner the Canadian press announced the UN drug control agency was demanding that Canada close down insite,Vancouver's safe injection site.As recently as one month ago I was at a meeting where just this issue was argued in front of a UN representative,who assured us that the UN had no interest in forcing independent countries into making decisions based on threats from outside.There was no doubt at that time where the pressure originated and the recent arrest of marijuana advocates who have operated in town for years unobstructed shows the US is flexing it's powerful hold on drug war politics and trying to regain lost ground in their war on drugs.Every time it begins to look like there may be some will to actually try some new approaches to drug addiction and the decriminalization of marijuana.The UN or the drug czar or some other do as i say not as i do group comes along and starts shouting that the sky is falling.This recent UN announcement is a slap in the face to every one that attended the recent conference.There is either no communication among UN people or we were lied to.This is exactly the kind of thing we were given assurances would not happen.The Olympics is putting extra pressure on the city government to clean up the cities image.That's much more important than saving 600 lives from over dosing or preventing addicts from spreading AIDS or hep C.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Add new comment