Drifting towards Prohibition 2.0 under the guise of reform

Photo by Tamara Gak on Unsplash

As the ideologically driven nonsense that underpinned the Drug War becomes increasingly apparent and the need for drug law reform gathers momentum, it is important to recognise some of the subtle approaches and ideas expressed towards a drug reform model could well result in Prohibition 2.0. An approach that fails to fundamentally address the fallacies of  prohibition, perpetuates the drug apartheid and uses the medical profession and civil society as enforcers rather than the police, armed forces and customs.

What are the signs that could open the door to Prohibition 2.0? Well here are some common statements which on first impression, may appear to offer good support to a reform agenda, but on closer scrutiny these statements seriously risk replicating misinformation, and could open the door to new forms of state control, coercive treatment and punishment for people using the ‘wrong’ drugs.

1. Drugs are dangerous that’s why we need strict regulation.
2. Drug users shouldn’t go to prison, Drug Court is an effective alternative.
3. We must accept our drug laws are out of date and need reforming.
4. Drug use is not a crime problem it’s a public health problem.
5. Soft drugs like cannabis should be decriminalised.
6. NPS should be regulated, while unapproved NPS should be illegal to possess.
7. People with substance use disorders should be forced to get treatment.
8. Drugs that are legalised should only be available from approved suppliers.
9. Tackling drug use through the criminal justice system was wrong we must tackle drug use through public health approaches.
10. The drug war was a mistake but the state must protect people from the risk of addiction with strict controls over possession and supply.
11. People diagnosed with substance use disorders cannot risk using drugs.
12. Drug testing has an important role in public health and safety.
13. Drug use is a problem we can’t eradicate so we must minimise it.
14. Drug use isn’t a police problem it’s a medical issue.
15. Only a small proportion of people use drugs and we are going to have to learn to accommodate them.
16. We need to change drug laws not because drugs are safe, but because drugs are harmful and people are not being protected by current drug laws.
17. Addiction is a brain disease so it shouldn’t be a criminal offence.

Perhaps most worrying is some reformers are calling for drug REGULATION, but this simply means state laws and policies to manage and control drugs (which is what we already have albeit done badly). Regulation is a broad and vague rally call to get behind. While it is more specifically understood as state overseen production, distribution, sale, advertising, labelling, storage and use of drugs, (which for example already happens for opiates), regulation may also continue to make the possession of certain drugs illegal. Substances that are unapproved and/or deemed unsafe by the state may, as in the case of the New Zealand model of regulation, be an offence to possess. This is prohibition by any other name, and replicates the present system of bifurcation.

Julian Buchanan, Associate Professor, Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa, New  Zealand.

December 2015