• That drugs can have positive as well as harmful effects (for the individual
and society)
• That many of the negative effects associated with drug use are not simply caused
by the drugs themselves but are the product of legal, psycho-social and economic
factors surrounding their use;
• That the current distinction between drugs that are legal and illegal is not
evidence-based;
• That this demarcation does not accurately reflect the capacities of the various
substances for harm and that the application of criminal sanctions in relation
to one group of substances and not the other appears to be arbitrary and counterproductive
to the aim of reducing drug-related harms to individuals and the community;
• That prohibition creates a barrier to accessing services and creates hidden
harms which cannot be addressed whilst prohibition exists;
• That drug use and drug related harm should be viewed and managed as a health
issue and not a legal issue,
• In a social model of health, which views health not merely as the absence of
disease, but as a resource for living.
• That “promoting health means addressing the social, economic and political
factors that impinge upon people’s capacity to enjoy good health” (Ottawa Charter
for Health Promotion 1987).
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