(Aired March 23, 2010)

A report out today from a UBC group is somewhat scary. It says the war on drugs is backfiring badly.

The report says the war has done nothing to stop the supply of street drugs and is actually increasing drug-related violence. The report goes on to suggest that by taking drug lords into captivity and taking drugs off the street, we're causing prices to skyrocket, more turf wars, and increasing violence.

It's one of those reports in my mind that we've wasted a whole lot of money undertaking. We have found nothing we didn't know already, there are no solutions proposed, and if you take the report at absolutely face value, it's almost hinting we should do nothing to stop crime. That's almost the take you get from reading the report.

The report doesn't advocate legalizing drug use, but that's kind of the feeling you're left with. The report says we have to commit more resources to addiction treatment, because increasing health treatment will do more good than costly law-enforcement efforts. Sorry, that's a stupid approach. I'm not denying that we need to do more to treat those affected by drugs. But to do the treatment without trying to reduce the supply is a self-defeating effort.

If you don't do something to try and stop the flow of drugs, and put the drug lords behind bars, even if you only cramp their style for a little while, anything you do on the treatment front is a waste. Trafficking of drugs, gang-related violence and power struggles between groups have literally gone on for decades, maybe centuries. It's not going to go away. But you can't give up the fight. Where would our country be if we did nothing?

The report out today says some interesting things, unfortunately some of the statements make the whole report a little suspect and unconvincing. They could have done a better job.