Letter to the president of the Russian Federation, mr. Vladimir Vladimirovič Putin
By Bushka Bryndova, ENCOD member and former Task Manager in the Technical Assistance Program to the CIS of the EU Commission (TACIS)
11 November 2014
I am writing you this letter as a long-term member of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD), a platform of citizens who are opposed to the “War on Drugs” approach that our governments have taken during the past 50 years.
This approach has had disastrous consequences. The illicit drug trade is a key engine behind organised crime, and the bulk of its revenues is under control of powerful financial interests well established in the Western world.
Therefore, I sincerely believe that Russia should take its own path in this matter.
Letter to the president of the Russian Federation, mr. Vladimir Vladimirovič Putin
To commence my letter, I send you my cordial regards. Perhaps you remember me, as we were in contact in the beginning of the 90’s in Brussels, when you worked in St. Peterburg’s Mayor Office and I was employed at the European Commission in the TACIS program. I always held you in a high esteem and when you became the Russian president, I was very pleased. Now, after 14 years, I still believe that it was a blessed choice for your country. As I do not agree with the biased anti-Russian propaganda in our mainstream media I have joined the Facebook group “Přátelé Ruska v České republice” (Friends of Russia in the Czech Republic), a few times mentioned in the Russian media. Its ranks are constantly growing; we have already over 7000 members, which is more than many political parties in our country.
I am writing you this letter as a long-term member of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD), a platform of citizens who are opposed to the “War on Drugs” approach that our governments have taken during the past 50 years.
This approach has had disastrous consequences. The illicit drug trade is a key engine behind organised crime, and the bulk of its revenues is under control of powerful financial interests well established in the Western world.
Therefore, I sincerely believe that Russia should take its own path in this matter.
As a first step, I believe that Russia should legalize cannabis, snatch this plant away from the hands of drug mafias and return it back to the people. It is just a small step for a government, but a huge step for the right of mankind to use a chosen remedy. Implementation of a legal framework to regulate cannabis production and distribution:
1) create an opportunity to produce natural, cannabis based medicines, which would make Russian patients less dependent on products of the pharmaceutical industry.
2) put Russia in a leading position in international drug law reform, and strengthen its reputation as a modern country with souvereign policies based on evidence and not on moral judgment.
3) Help to reduce the number of alcohol and hard drug addicts, as cannabis can be effectively used in addiction treatment.
With regards to the impact of this measure to Russia‘s economy and public safety, I invite you to consider the data that are presented in the state of Colorado (5.2 million inhabitants), where the production and sale of cannabis for recreational and medicinal use was legalized on 1st January 2014. By the end of this year, cannabis sales will have reached nearly 300 million USD, with 30 million USD of that going immediately to the state to be divided up in various social programs. Meanwhile, crime in Colorado’s capital city, Denver, has dropped by more than a tenth.
As an experienced specialist on the medicinal use of cannabis (over 15 years of practice), I can clearly see that the benefits of this plant are much higher than the harms it may cause and which are often exaggerated for political and commercial reasons. Cannabis is no alien drug to Eurasia; it is the same plant as hemp used since many centuries in Russia for industrial purposes, especially for its resistant fiber. Cannabis is also a traditional popular medicine successfully used to treat a wide range of diseases from a simple cold to a lethal cancer without dangerous secondary effects similar to those procured by pharmaceutics. Medicinal properties of this plant are subjected to intensive scientific studies that are confirming its wide range of therapeutic effects.
In Russia, the tradition of herbal medicine is still alive and cannabis could help to improve the health care of its population. Of course the concerns by the abuse side of cannabis use are legitimate. However, the repressive approach to the cannabis market has failed to respond to these concerns. Currently, the people who intend to abuse cannabis will find it quite easily on the black market, but patients who would need it for their treatment won’t.
In the end of September, Serbian Minister of Health Zlatibor Lončar declared that Serbia is considering to implement a legal regulation for cannabis as an option for patients. This is the right step towards a drug policy that is conducted on the basis of scientific insight in stead of on prejudices.
I am well aware, Vladimir Vladimirovic, that at present you have very urgent and serious problems to deal with. But I also believe that as a truly responsible statesman you always think about the future of your country. Therefore, I would like to ask you to take a moment to consider my above suggestion. I am confident that upon a serious reflection you might find some interest in it. And I also believe that your personal support would weigh a lot, if this question should become an object of a public discussion.
There is also a still more urgent problem that I would like to ask you to consider. In the last few months the situation in the Crimea has become a test for Russia’s drug policy. Is this policy mature enough to take a few new steps? Russia has now a unique chance to adopt the harm reduction programs that have already been established in Sevastopol, Simferopol etc. I am talking about 140 people who were involved in the methadone substitution program. Looking at the situation from a purely scientific, technical aspect, Russia has the opportunity now to take advantage of this situation and carry out a pilot experience that could be of great value to the modernization of its drug policy.
I wish you and your country to peacefully overcome the present crisis and to return Russia the status of a world power that rightfully belongs to it, showing the courage to lead the world towards more human, just and effective policies. I sincerely believe that it would make the world a safer place.
With my kindest memories and sentiments,
Bushka Bryndova, ENCOD member and former Task Manager in the Technical Assistance Program to the CIS of the EU Commission (TACIS)
With the support of the Encod Steering Committee, formed by Derrick Bergman (The Netherlands), Elina Hanninen (Finland), Enrico Fletzer (Italy) and Janko Belin (Slovenia)
Creative Commons Attribution