Canada and the Global Drug Problem

Remarks by the Honourable David Kilgour, Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa)
The International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law
12th International Conference "Drugs, Criminal Justice and Social Policy: New Alternatives for An Old Problem"
St. Michael, Bridgetown, Barbados
August 12, 1998.

It is an honour to participate in this conference; the society deserves a great deal of credit for sponsoring this gathering of experts from 24 nations to combat illegal drugs more effectively.

Throughout this conference you have all been given an abundance of statistics about the horrors of drug abuse and the difficulties facing those addressing the drug problem. However, what the statistics fail to measure is the personal and social costs of drug abuse. The loss of human potential, the destruction of physical and mental health, the disruption of communities and social order - all directly or indirectly affect us. Drug abuse is a problem of international dimensions with unacceptably high human and economic costs.

Consider three cases that appeared recently in media reports in North America:

A young drug addict in an alley, a stone's throw from Vancouver's glitzy high-rises, is shooting up. Later his body is found slumped against a garbage bin. He died from an overdose of a cheaper, more potent form of heroin now widely available in BC's lower mainland.

A drug courier in Jamaica, dies suddenly; the autopsy records 87 packets of cocaine in her stomach. This young woman was 21 years old.

100 farmers in a Latin American village are massacred because they refused to cooperate with the military wing of a local drug cartel.

These are horrifying tragedies; different faces, different geographical settings, but the same culprit. Where does this problem not impact on users, families, and communities? What surfaced 40 years ago as a social problem in large cities around the world now has complex international dimensions. Drug abuse is a contemporary phenomenon that now imposes staggering burdens on the peoples of the world. In a number of countries, the profits derived from the production, distribution and consumption of illegal drugs have rendered sections of local economies dependant on the trade, thus creating militant constituencies advocating its continuance. In some jurisdictions, administrative and judicial structures have been undermined to the extent of endangering political stability, and even destabilising governments.

I suspect that on the topic of the dangers of drugs, I am preaching to the converted. Indeed, we are all here today because we should be concerned, deeply concerned, about the impact of the global drug trade. It was the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy once stated that "Today's problems are the result of yesterday's solutions". This conference, appropriately titled: "New alternatives for an old problem," is looking for new solutions. In my brief remarks to you today, I would like to talk about some of the solutions that Canada is using and share our drug strategy with you. Specifically, I will speak about three areas: multilateral co-operation, domestic initiatives, and our national strategy. My goal today is twofold: not only do I want to tell you what Canada is doing, but I hope that I can convince you that the task of finding new approaches is not an insurmountable one.

Let me begin by speaking about multilateral co-operation.

It is Canada’s view that multilateral participation enables us to have the broadest influence on the anti-drug agenda and the biggest impact on the drug problem. The United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and the OAS' Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (known by its Spanish-language acronym CICAD) enable countries affected by the many aspects of the drug problem to dialogue and participate in activities to our mutual benefit.

Canada takes a balanced approach in its dealings with the multilateral institutions of the UN and the OAS. The balanced approach puts equal emphasis on addressing both the demand for and the supply of drugs. The key bodies are the UNDCP and its governing body the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and CICAD in our hemisphere. Canada’s acknowledgement of a shared responsibility and our recognition that it is in part our domestic demand that drives the production and trafficking of illicit drugs has brought others to appreciate the value of a balanced approach. We have also advocated this approach with much success in international forums.

We strongly support the Barbados plan of action and applaud the efforts of Caribbean governments to implement its provisions, in particular, strengthening regional enforcement institutions such as the Regional Security System and Caribbean Customs Law Enforcement Council. Canadians will continue to support the Barbados plan through contributions to the UNDCP, CICAD, and through the long-standing bilateral assistance programs of National Defence, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada Customs and other agencies.

Canada's Deputy Solicitor General, Jean Fournier, was recently named chair of the Working Group of CICAD on the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism. The group will evaluate the performance and progress by all nations of the hemisphere against illicit drugs. Furthermore, leaders at the recent Summit of the Americas endorsed Canada's initiative to create a Foreign Ministers' Dialogue Group to discuss broader and collateral impact of the drug problem on the region.

Canada strongly supported the Mexican initiative to hold a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the drug issue. We worked constructively throughout the process to ensure it was a success. This included paying for the first meeting of the group of experts who developed the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction. It was also a Canadian draft that formed the basis of the Declaration.

Another Canadian contribution to preparation for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) was the youth and substance abuse event hosted by Canada in Banff, Alberta in April 1998 (Youth Vision Jeunesse). Youth (aged 12 to 25 years) who work in substance abuse prevention programs around the world participated in identifying successful strategies to address drug abuse by youth and developed recommendations, which were presented to the Special Session.

Stemming the illicit drug trade must remain a high priority within the framework of the broader human security agenda. As Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lloyd Axworthy remarked "this sort of problem clearly cannot be solved by using ‘hard’ (that is, economic and military) power alone. It cuts across state boundaries, and has a broad and insidious impact — social, economic, developmental, on human rights and on good governance. Tackling the drug problem requires co-operative action among governments, and the support and involvement of non-state actors."

Turning now to our national strategy, as I have said, Canada takes a "balanced approach" to the drug issue, based on the belief that the most effective way to address the problem is to deal with both supply and demand. Our policy sets out to reduce the harmful effects of the problem on individuals, families and communities. Our law enforcement agencies put an emphasis on going after traffickers and confiscating the proceeds of their crimes as an effective way to reduce the resources available to them for illicit activities.

Our government has responded with new instruments that combat money laundering and give police the tools they need to take the profit out of crime. For example, ten new Integrated Proceeds of Crime (IPOC) Units were created in 1996. They combine the resources of federal and local police, Canada Customs, federal Crowns and forensic accountants to investigate and prosecute proceeds of crime cases. The units are now located in most of our major cities. Anti-gang legislation proclaimed last year gave new power for police, prosecutors and the courts to deal with criminal organisations. Comprehensive training programs are now being provided to assist police in enforcing this law.

To quote our Solicitor General at a recent workshop on organised crime: "[It] affects all Canadians: it’s a national problem that threatens public safety…We must act on many fronts simultaneously to win the fight against organised crime," A four-part action plan focusing on the following was presented:

Renewing National Police Services to ensure they meet the needs of law enforcement to fight organised crime in all its forms;
Strengthening criminal intelligence so that co-ordination and information-sharing across police jurisdictions is improved;
Targeting both the drugs and the organised criminals who cause the most harm in our communities, and refining strategies to reduce demand as well as supply;
Launching an offensive against economic crime to keep pace with technological advances made by criminal organisations, and hit them where it hurts most - in their wallets.

Last May, our Solicitor General released a consultation document on proposed anti-money laundering measures. It contained a number of proposals to improve detection, presentation, and deterrence of money laundering in Canada, including measures for reporting suspicious financial transactions and the cross-border movement of currency. It represents a first step in meeting the current needs of police on this issue. It also addresses Canada's international commitments to the Financial Action Task Force and other international partners.

I would like to conclude my remarks today by speaking about some optimistic programs that are producing results at the most basic level: that of the community. If you’ll recall, earlier I mentioned the "Youth Vision Jeunesse Drug Abuse Forum that brought together youth from 24 countries. I bring this up again because I feel that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s remarks about the event encapsulate beautifully Canada’s feeling about stakeholder involvement. Mr. Annan said: "But if this battle is to be won, our youth must join in it, for it is their future which is in the balance. Helping young people say ‘no’ to drugs is one of our most important goals. All too often in this process, the voice of young people is not heard loud or clear enough."

Research on effective drug prevention shows that efforts are most effective when they involve communities, families, schools and local organisations. Whether the stakeholders are young people, as they were in Banff, or a specific cultural community, I believe that they must be involved in finding the solution. I have spoken at length today about the importance of bilateral and national strategies but we must never forget that the front line in the fight against drugs is in the communities where the drugs are produced or sold. International co-operation is important – indeed critical – but it must never stifle community involvement.

One of my favourite examples from Canada is the downtown Toronto 'Ambassador Program', operating as a "retrieval program" for street youth, is an example of young people helping each other. It goes beyond just finding kids who have dropped out of school and lived through drug abuse; it gives them an active role in dissuading others from making the same mistakes. The Ambassador Program, delivered by a coalition of eight youth services agencies under the auspices of Frontier College, has three priorities: to get street youths back onto an educational path; to give them practical experience in the workplace; and to offer them a chance to put a troubled life experience to work for the betterment of others. The payoff for the rest of the community is not only the reality that a number of young people find alternatives to drugs and crime, but that so many other 'high risk' youth are steered away from similar lifestyles.

The youth enrolled in the program are trained to visit senior elementary schools in 'high risk' neighbourhoods and make presentations to Grade 7 and 8 students about life on the street and on drugs, based on their own experiences. Educators have long identified twelve to fourteen-year olds as the best age group to target for risk reduction. The program director says the feedback from the youth enrolled in the Ambassador Program has been 'phenomenal' and that the overwhelming demand from the schools for these types of presentations shows their values and underscores the need for more peer education projects.

First Nations peoples in Canada are increasingly reaching to the wealth of their own traditions to deal with their drug problem. In the words of Art Solomon, an Ojibway elder: "To heal a nation, we must first heal the individuals, the families and the communities." Waseskun House in Québec is a unique community healing centre that offers services to Aboriginal offenders throughout Eastern Canada. Started by a group of volunteers in 1988, Waseskun House has become one of the most effective resources in North America. The healing camp focuses on helping male offenders (recently female offenders were included) to regain balance in their lives. It is a holistic residential program rooted in an inclusive approach to Native cultural traditions, a here-and-now awareness of current realities and a proactive view of responsible re-integration of individuals into societal harmony. Most of the ex-offenders who participate are dealing with drug and alcohol abuse problems. The men participate in a regular community healing circle, during which they are free to resolve whatever issues they choose, during a time frame they decide upon.

Other activities include traditional ceremonies, meditation, addictions and sexuality information groups, AA meetings, Talking Circles and individual sessions. The words of one of the residents of Waseskun Camp '97, when talking about his experiences there, underline the need for such programs rooted in cultural tradition: "I came to this treatment centre for my alcohol and drug addiction thus having begun my healing journey at the House in downtown Montréal.... The programs I did there were helpful to my healing journey since they were connected to my Native traditional culture. For me, the highlight of my story at Waseskun Camp was when I went into the sweat lodge (my first time). This is one experience that will stay forever in my memory."

An innovative pilot project launched by the Montréal police in 1992 to assist a neighbourhood overrun by drug related crime is a good example of a balance between supply and demand reduction. In essence, it employs a get-tough approach with people caught selling drugs while offering treatment instead of jail to those found in simple possession. A team of officers trained in "problem-solving policing" was put in place full time to stop the neighbourhood's crime from getting worse and to give residents a greater sense of personal safety. On the street, police offered drug users support and assistance as an alternative to arrest for possession. Agreements were made with detoxification and treatment centres in the area to allow those needing help to be referred there by police. Evaluations carried out during the yearlong pilot project indicated such a high level of success that the program has been renewed and extended to other neighbourhoods.

Canada by no means holds the monopoly on innovation. What I would like see is the creation of a comprehensive, accessible, and relevant database of programs such as these that are working. This "Anti-Drug Programs that Work Data Bank," so to speak, could be accessed by any community looking for new approaches to local circumstances. Any new initiative that proved successful could be added, thereby becoming a catalyst for the development of other successful programs.

It seems, then, that we have come full circle: I am once again discussing bilateral co-operation. This is the paradox of the drug problem: no matter how we may try to break it down, there are no clear distinctions between the community, national, and international levels. Likewise, our solutions must reflect this: individually tailored community programs in countries affected by the many aspects of the drug problem need to be strengthened. Best practices need to be shared. Nationally, each country must, within the framework of its laws and collective values, devise a national strategy that supports these community programs and provides large-scale health care and enforcement programs relating to drugs. Finally, governments around the world must strive to help each other in this fight against drugs by sharing strategies and allowing enhanced mobility of international enforcement agencies