UWindsor prof says Canada should 'permit, but discourage' all drugs

Last week, several American states voted to legalize recreational marijuana and Canada is expected to issue guidelines to do the same.

But University of Windsor law professor Bill Bogart says Canada is not going far enough to end the War on Drugs.

In his latest book, Off The Street: Legalizing Drugs, Bogart says Canada should move to "permit, but discourage" all recreational drugs.

He spoke with Windsor Morning host Tony Doucette.

In your book, you argue the War on Drugs has been a failure for both the economy and society. Why?

The central goal of the war [on drugs] has been suppression of drug consumption and we know that goal has not been achieved. Meanwhile, the war has imposed enormous collateral costs. We put people in jail simply for taking a substance. We allow a market to be run by thugs. They sell tainted substances that make people sick and even kill them. Governments are deprived of a revenue stream from an industry — and it is an industry — and children are terribly exploited in any number of ways.

Many people might say drugs like heroin and cocaine are too dangerous and shouldn't be regulated like pot or booze. Can you make your case as to why we should end the prohibition on those drugs too?

If we don't do it than we can no longer turn a blind eye to the terrible costs that are being imposed by criminalization of these drugs and you know, the point of the book is to facilitate a discussion about another way and that other way, I believe, is legalization and regulation. I'm not saying that all drugs should be necessarily regulated in the exactly same manner, but the over-arching theme that you mentioned is really one to permit, but discourage. 

How do you think Canada should approach regulation?

We'll start off with marijuana. Prime Minister Trudeau has ensured us it's going to happen and the task force headed by Anne McLellan, the former Cabinet Minister who's charged with bringing forth detailed recommendations regarding regulation, is supposed to report this month. So we'll start out with marijuana and develop a track record and see how that goes. 

Since the 1980s, we've taught our kids to "just say no" to drugs. Under a legalized plan, how should we change our approach to drug education?

We have to realize that the ''just say no' campaigns have not been very effective. This country, at least until very recently, has had the highest rate of consumption of marijuana by teenagers in the developed world. There's some indication that those rates are now falling somewhat, but there's also evidence that some of these kids are moving towards opioids. We have to get off this notion that as long as you criminalize drugs, we've somehow done the job.

You discuss the "least bad way forward." What does that mean?

I don't have rose-coloured glasses about this. We will never be a drug-free world and so the question becomes not what is the trick that will drive drugs from our midst but rather what is the least harmful way of addressing drug consumption. There's going to be negatives no matter what we do but I believe the negatives of the war on drugs are so great that whatever the complexities of legalization and regulation, that should be the route that we pursue.