This issue of DPA eNews marks a departure. For the past few months, I have been taking stock of where I am with Drug Policy Alternatives. I’ve decided that I want to focus my time on a couple other things. One is a new stage of promoting my book “Buzz Kill: The Corporatization of Cannabis”. The research, writing, and re-writing literally took over my life for several years. A few years back, my son and I took a course on screenwriting. I remember the instructor’s repeated assertion that “writing is mostly re-writing”. When I decided to write a book, I sought…
Safe supply is a difficult drug policy challenge for at least two reasons. First, it is complex. Be wary of anyone who tells you differently or declares that they have the solution. Secondly, safe supply is now highly politicized and divisive which means that motives and declarations can be as contaminated as the illegal drug supply itself. I do not possess the solution. But I have encountered some prominent declarations related to safe supply that can be dismissed as outright wrong. This issue of DPA addresses three of them.
Some people are not immediately successful at navigating the potentially perilous journey of maturation in our complex, demanding, inequitable excuse for a caring society. Some of them will use drugs to cope, and some of them will become dependent or otherwise engage in high-risk drug use. Drug industries chronically fail to operate, and governments chronically fail to…
Issue #40 October 2024
On the sixth anniversary of Canada’s legalization of cannabis for recreational use, the discussion remains pertinent for a compelling reason. The products of our long-established recreational drug industries, alcohol and tobacco, account for more harm, including deaths, and drug-related costs to the economy than all illegal drugs combined. Furthermore, numerous academic publications on our legal drug industries, including on the pharmaceutical industry, have documented a legacy of…
In the most recent issue, I opined
“As a society, we need to do more to protect young people. Simply supplying a shield of knowledge, self esteem, and resiliency to help protect them from a perpetual stream of heat-seeking advertising and pop culture missiles is insufficient. Someone must also deal with the people launching those missiles.”
I also mentioned Ralph Nader’s book “Children First ! A Parent’s Guide to Fighting Corporate Predators”.
Inspired by Nader’s book, I would sometimes use the following metaphor…
(Demand-Side & Supply-Side Prevention)
Demand-side prevention strategies are aimed at the public and attempt to reduce the voluntary demand for, and harmful use of, drug products. Constructive initiatives can foster an evidence-based understanding of drugs and their actions, and facilitate personal awareness, responsibility, resiliency, and self-esteem. The fostering of…
