sNv05

THE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE FOR DRUG REFORM• Reduce criminal regulation of drug production and distribution.Criminalization of the drug trade carries enormous human rights costs, dramaticallyenhancing the profitability of illicit drug markets and fueling thegrowth and operations of groups responsible for large-scale violence andcorruption. Finding alternative ways to regulate production and distributionand cutting into illicit drug profits would allow governments to weaken theinfluence of such groups and reduce the various abuses—killings, disproportionatesentencing, torture, and barriers to access to health care—that governmentsoften commit in the name of fighting drugs.• Ground approaches to treatment and care in human rights, avoiding abusiveadministrative sanctions and ensuring patients have access to neededmedications.Governments should close drug detention centers where people are held inviolation of international law and expand access to voluntary, communitybaseddrug treatment with the involvement of competent nongovernmentalorganizations. They should also ensure that anyone with a legitimate medicalneed for controlled medications like morphine or methadone has adequateaccess to them.Many alternatives to current policies have yet to be tested (except withrespect to alcohol). So governments should assess proposed solutions carefullyto reduce the risk they could lead to new problems or human rightsconcerns.Yet, there are some models to consider: Some governments have decriminalizedpersonal use and possession of illicit drugs or resisted enforcingcertain prohibitions. In Portugal, in conjunction with comprehensive harmreductionstrategies, decriminalization had positive results; rather than substantiallyincreasing, drug consumption reportedly dropped in some categories—asdid recidivism and HIV infection. Researchers have also developedtheoretical models for potential systems of drug regulation with varyingways of handling licensing, privatization versus state monopoly controlof supply, taxation, public health education, the protection of children, andtreatment. And some jurisdictions are beginning to put these models intopractice.27