Jürgen Rehm, Professor and Senior Scientist: "Currently, new methods or drug policies are discarded without having been tested based on very polarized views about drug use and consequences"
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Jac Charlier, expert on the Justice System: «Drug use should be stigmatized but needing, getting, and receiving help due to a person’s drug use should not stigmatized»
We spoke with Jac Charlier—an expert on the Justice System and a facilitator of collaboration between the police, treatment services, and the community—at the ‘Barcelona Forum on Drugs.’
Question: Based on your experience as an expert in the justice system, what is the greatest challenge societies face today in reducing drug use and its consequences?
Answer: 1) Deflect to What? Divert to What? A substantial shortage of the treatment workforce available to respond in a timely manner to both the need and demand for drug treatment. At the intersection of justice systems, this has been and continues to be the main issue stopping us from moving forward, farther, and faster. Justice would do more if it had more treatment workforce.
2) What seems to be an increasing openness to drug use and drug use tolerance.
3) Similarly, the belief that some drugs, including marijuana, are safe to use if they are legalized. The harm does not go away, of course, but it’s believed legal = OK to use.
4) A misunderstanding that stigma reduction is about reducing barriers to treatment and recovery, not to reducing stigma on drug use itself. Drug use, as with other harmful activities in society, should be stigmatized but needing, getting, and receiving help due to a person’s drug use should not stigmatized.
5) The tension between the left ideologues/ideology and right ideologues on drugs, crime, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery takes up and wastes energy and resources to deal with, taking focus away from the work itself.
6) Justice systems that don’t understand or worse, do not want to know, how to use their authority and role to reduce drug use and drug-related behaviors and crimes that come from that drug use.
7) Use of social media for drug trafficking, distribution, selling, and purchasing (this includes criminal activity overall)
Q: If you had to identify something we are not doing well enough in prevention, treatment or drug policy, what should we change?
A: 1) The building and growing of a drug treatment workforce to expand treatment.
2) The science of addiction, treatment, and recovery education and training for the justice workforce. Justice personnel are likely to receive no/almost no education and training on the topic of drugs despite the fact that drugs are involved in most criminal behaviors and are also the driver of much crime, pain, damage, and harm. (The creation of an online course in multiple languages on this topic geared for pólice, law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, jailers, wardens, probation, and parole would be beneficial).
3) Justice drug policy needs to be science-based and practice-based. Science-based is clear, based on what the science says about addiction as well as criminal behaviors associated with it. Practice-based means it is realistic in nature – this is even more lacking than evidence-based approaches. A drug policy that has no practical ability to be implemented is of no value and has no abilty to make a change.
4) The implementation that follows legislation and policy can be slow or non-existent. The work is not done when the laws are passed. It must continue to be brought to reality, which is tos ay, implemented.
5) Drug policy that is ideological – wastes our time and energy, and is detached from the daily reality of people’s experiences with the harms and damage done by drug use, misuse, and addiction, as well as trafficking.
6) The role of internet trafficking, sales, and purchase, as well as AI are not yet fully engaged into our justice drug use and drug crime reduction efforts. In particular, AI is already beginning to shape this space on the criminal side, is it shaping it on the policy and practice side?
7) Responding to the economics of drugs. Especially for people and communities who make their livelihood from drugs in áreas of poverty and limited opportunities, the ability to address the economic realities is foundational.
Go local and learn from the areas/regions/communities how messaging should work (be adapted) in each context. In other words, the answer to local is to go ask local.
Q: The ‘Barcelona Forum on Drugs’ brings together governments, researchers, professionals, civil society, young people and people with lived experience. What do we need to do to turn this collaboration into real change?
A: 1) Work at two different levels – one, continued global awareness and messaging only in collaboration with others, and second, a small number of local, demonstration (not pilot) sites in various and diverse countries. Both of these levels need to be focused, targeted, and be sufficiently resource to do what we want them to do. Don’t try too much; instead, go for too little that is better resourced.
Think of being a network builder and convener, building the framework rather than also being the messenger. Organizing and coordinating organizations and people is more badly needed than another group with a message. Leadership in this way is likely to have more impact than coming alongside groups that are doing their own messaging but are not creating large scale networks.
The demonstration sites should be done at an accelerated pace, with technical assistance, action planning, and implementation support. This will show that the ideas of the forum work. Demonstration sites are different than pilot sites in that they might already be operational and ready to showcase. Pilot sites are those that are started from new.
2) Social media – needs to be a huge part of whatever comes next. Especially for our youth, for whom online is real life and real life is online. There is now and the future, and as this work takes time, the future must be a large part of the effort.
3) Engage AI – Not to be afraid of, push it away, or say it’s good or bad, but to use it to build, create, distribute, and share drug policy as well as expand its policy impact. AI also represents a tool as a real threat to undermine good drug and crime reduction efforts.
Q: Addiction is a global issue, but social and cultural realities differ greatly. What should be shared globally, and what needs to be adapted to each local context?
A: 1) Go local and learn from the areas/regions/communities how messaging should work (be adapted) in each context. In other words, the answer to local is to go ask local.
2) I am not sure there is a global message, or at least one that could be credible, coming from any single organization. Even the UN cannot do this. It’s OK, staying local/regional and likely better.
Q: What do you think the ‘Barcelona Forum on Drugs’ can contribute?
A: 1) I think this question is best asked and answered after the January Forum. The posible leadership, resources, focus, and more will only come clear after this gathering.
2) And, repeating (copying) this from an earlier question asked: Think of being a network builder and convener, building the framework rather than also being the messenger. Organizing and coordinating organizations and people is more badly needed than another group with a message. Leadership in this way is likely to have more impact. Too many groups think their message is unique or special, and maybe it is, but it is mostly through organizing groups to build (large-scale) networks that contributions can be made.
