Conference 2008 - Drugs Race & Discrimination
Discrimination under the spotlight at Release Conference
"Thought provoking and stimulating"
"All speakers were interesting and knowledgeable"
"Good work, keep it up. Sanity will prevail, eventually"
(Feedback received by Release — 18.09.08)
With the early start unable to lessen the enthusiasm of Release staff and volunteers, and the autumn sunshine bathing Hampstead Theatre in a warm glow, Release Conference, timed to coincide with the launch of Release’s new brand and website, finally opened. Attendees included drug sector workers, members of the police, prison officers, academics, civil servants, and a large group of young people whose lives are regularly affected by the topics on the agenda.
Kicking off the event, Ben Goldacre illustrated how moral values can be dressed up as science, with speculation and theory presented as fact in order to play to a pre-prescribed agenda. It made for a sobering start of Conference as the challenge of influencing government drug policy with the associated obstacles presented by the media, was made clear. The following presentations from Gordon Morse and Mandie Wilkinson, who introduced the discrimination theme with their accounts of prejudice within healthcare provision, left delegates nonetheless feeling inspired that with the right people in post, drug users can gain access to meaningful health services.
Hurried back after a short coffee break, delegates heard Rod Morgan and then Damon Barrett illustrate how the law, both domestic and international, has delivered the UK into a system whereby young people are increasingly criminalised and their human rights impinged due to contradicting and irrational drugs policy. Taking the stage just before lunch was Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat MP and shadow minister for Home Affairs. Chris’s caution in talking specifically about drug policy, procured from him instead a speech about his party’s approach to crime and its plans to break the ‘punishment posturing’ position typical of its adversaries in parliament. The Liberal Democrats, rather lacking in a coherent drugs strategy, are looking for thoughtful input, an opportunity that Release intends to seize.
As a delicious lunch was served amidst a buzz of conversation, delegates met old friends, made new ones and critiqued the morning’s content. Wandering past groups of people bemoaning the status quo and eagerly hatching plans to make bold changes to drug policy, it was clear they had already been inspired by what they had heard and the company they had heard it in.
The afternoon session, tailored specifically to examine the racial element in drug legislation and enforcement, began with a look back at the infamous story of the Tulia Texas drugs sting, which provided the perfect introduction to a wonderful address from Deborah Peterson Small, one of New York’s finest race equality advocates. Deborah’s comprehensive knowledge of the US situation and evident passion to fight the unjust captured the audience and invigorated the panel. Alex Stevens and Tiggey May, each presenting their own academic work on the racial aspects of drugs enforcement, demonstrated what many of us already knew; that the US experience of drugs policy as a tool of racial oppression is not only a foreign manifestation, but one that has infected police and judicial practice in the UK as well. It is clear that disadvantaged and minority groups suffer disproportionately at the hands of drugs legislation. Finally Ben Bowling from Kings College expanded the debate by showing how extraordinary levels of violence in the Caribbean are directly attributable to global attempts to tackle the cocaine trade. Ben left us in no doubt that ad hoc drugs legislation and piecemeal law enforcement have affected people far beyond those involved in the trafficking, selling or consumption of drugs and continues to cause large scale, albeit often unintended harm to many communities across the globe.
Listen to podcasts and view the presentations by our speakers, please visit our MySpace page.
Ben Goldacre — How moral values get dressed up as science
Gordon Morse — Treatment prejudice
Mandie Wilkinson — Treatment for all with Hep C
Damon Barrett — Drugs, children and human rights
Alex Stevens — The racial impact of UK drug law enforcement
Ben Bowling — The impact of disproportionate drugs policing
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