Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jan 2003
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Anne McIlroy

CANADA'S DRUG WAR A BUST, STUDY SAYS

Fund Treatment Instead, Researchers Urge

It was billed as one of the largest heroin seizures in Canadian history, 
almost 100 kilograms of uncut drug hidden in a false floor of a shipping 
container in the port of Vancouver. But a major new study has found that 
the bust made no difference on the street.

Good quality heroin wasn't any harder to find in Vancouver after the Sept. 
2000 seizure, the price of the drug didn't go up and there was no drop in 
the number of overdoses. Researchers at the British Columbia Centre for 
Excellence in HIV/AIDS say their findings, published in today's edition of 
the Canadian Medical Association Journal, raise important questions about 
the effectiveness of Canada's war on drugs.

"The results are quite alarming considering the size of the seizure," said 
Evan Wood, a researcher at the centre. He added there is strong evidence 
that money would be better spent on treatment and programs to reduce the 
harm caused by drug abuse, rather than just on stopping criminal activity.

The B.C. researchers had been regularly interviewing injection drug users 
since 1996 as part of a long-term study. They ask drug users about the 
price of heroin and other drugs, how difficult they are to find, and about 
overdoses. A year after the bust, they decided to review the information to 
see if it had made any difference. At the time of the seizure, police had 
evidence the heroin was destined for the Vancouver market.

"I was very surprised we did not see an effect," said Martin Schechter, 
head of the B.C Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. But he said the findings 
add to a growing body of evidence that shows the North American approach to 
fighting illegal drug use is not working.

"When you look at the strategy on drugs, the overwhelming percentage goes 
to a criminal-justice approach to the problem: the police, courts and 
jails. It (the study) questions if that is the right emphasis in the strategy."

Alex Swann, a spokesman for federal Health Minister Anne McLellan, said the 
government has spent so little on its drug strategy, with the exception of 
drug enforcement, because of budgetary constraints.

He said the federal drug strategy is now being reviewed, and the government 
is considering implementing new elements that deal with addiction and 
public safety.
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