THE FOLLOWING WAS SENT FROM THE DESK OF DPNC PRESIDENT GWEN LANDOLT
Dear Colleagues,
The harm reduction people appear to be endorsing a conference on children presented by The RCMP and the City of Stratford, Ontario (see attached).
Their support of this conference may be due to the fact that I understand that they are very concerned about the UN convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides in Article 33 that children must be protected from the illicit use of drugs.
The harm reduction people are trying to put a spin on this by trying to diminish the importance of this provision. They argue that drug dealing is a source of income and survival in some children in the developing world and drug law enforcement exposes these children to significant violence. They argue that the police are the only contact that street children have with the state and that the police are a source of fear to them, hence drug enforcement is a danger to these children. They recommend that police attention be redirected.
This argument was presented at the UN Human Rights Council meeting this month by the International Harm Reduction Association.
With all best wishes,
Gwen
2011 Ontario Drug Endangered Children Conference
Stratford, Ontario
May 24 and 25, 2011
Presented by the Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Unit (RCMP) and the City of Stratford
The goal of the Conference is to provide community partners with current, timely, relevant and valuable information about Drug Endangered Children, with an emphasis on the latest research and best practice strategies.
To register and get full information on the conference, please see:
http://www.city.stratford.on.ca/odecconf/index.html
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