Pubdate: Mon, 01 Oct 2007
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2007 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Anne McIlroy, Science Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/InSite
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

GET-TOUGH PLAN ON DRUGS DOOMED, EXPERTS SAY

Liberal MP calls Tories' policy a triumph of 'ideology over science,' 
urges medical, not moral, approach to issue

Canada's war on drugs is about to escalate. But as the federal 
Conservative governments prepares to unveil a new strategy that 
cracks down on illicit drug users, critics say they are ignoring a 
mountain of research that shows the get-tough approach doesn't work.

"This is a failed approach. The experiment is done. The science is 
in," says Thomas Kerr, a researcher at the University of British 
Columbia and member of the university's faculty of medicine.

The $64-million anti-drug strategy, to be announced in the next few 
days, is expected to include stiffer penalties for drug offenders and 
more money to stop drugs getting across the border. There will also 
be a massive campaign to warn young people not to use drugs.

It is not expected, says Liberal MP Keith Martin, to include money 
for what experts call "harm reduction." These are programs such as 
Vancouver's controversial safe injection site, where heroin addicts 
can shoot up in a sterilized, supervised setting.

The idea behind harm reduction is to reduce the health effects of 
drug use without requiring people to beat their addiction. Experts 
compare it with smokers using a nicotine patch; people still get 
their fix, but it is vastly preferable to smoking a pack a day.

A study published by Dr. Kerr and his colleagues last year found that 
the Vancouver supervised injection site, known as Insite, reduced the 
risk of overdoses and encouraged more users to seek treatment. It did 
not increase crime in the neighbourhood, nor lead to increased drug use.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he does not think the site 
should receive federal health money, and Health Canada must make a 
decision about the future of Insite by the end of the year.

Dr. Martin, a physician from British Columbia, says the 
Conservatives' approach is a triumph of "ideology over science." 
While he supports more money for police to go after drug dealers or 
organized crime, Dr. Martin says substance abuse needs to be treated 
as a medical problem, not a moral one.

That's the approach taken in many European countries that have much 
lower rates of illicit drug use than Canada, he said.

Erik Waddell, a spokesman for Health Minister Tony Clement, said 
yesterday that the minister was travelling and would not be available 
for an interview.

Mr. Waddell said he couldn't discuss the details of the new strategy 
either. But earlier this year, he told The Globe and Mail that the 
Conservatives disagreed with the Liberals' approach. "In every poll, 
when Canadians are asked whether they want more law enforcement or 
less, they want more. So the bottom line is that Canada's new 
government will be taking a different approach."

The Liberals had put forward a bill to decriminalize the possession 
of small amounts of marijuana, but the Conservatives did not 
reintroduce it after taking office in early 2006.

But the Liberals were also harshly criticized - by academics, doctors 
and the federal auditor-general - for focusing too much on enforcement.

The current drug strategy, which was renewed in 2003, devotes almost 
three-quarters of its resources to enforcement. Only 3 per cent of 
the annual $245-million goes to prevention, and another 3 per cent to 
harm reduction.

Barney Savage, director of public policy at the Centre for Addiction 
and Mental Health in Toronto, says law enforcement is extremely 
important, but so is prevention, treatment and harm reduction. "You 
have to balance the law enforcement perspective with the health perspective."

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police also advocates a 
balanced approach in dealing with drug abuse and addiction issues. 
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