Pubdate: Thu, 11 Oct 2007
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2007 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Heather Polischuk
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

FEDERAL STRATEGY IGNORES ALCOHOL

While welcoming news of the federal government's proposed anti-drug 
strategy, some Saskatchewan officials say it doesn't go far enough to 
deal with one of the biggest and most troublesome addictions out 
there: Alcohol.

"I guess one of the weaknesses I think in the whole strategy is that 
it doesn't address alcohol," Healthy Living Services Minister Graham 
Addley said.

"All of the experts know that while there's a certain amount of fear 
out there with the illicit drugs, the drug that causes the most harm 
in society is alcohol. So it would be nice if some resources could be 
allocated to addressing the addiction that individuals in society 
have towards alcohol."

Moose Jaw Police Service Chief Terry Coleman -- who's also president 
of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police -- agreed that 
while illicit drugs do pose a problem, alcohol and other non-illicit 
drugs should also be taken into account.

"The various drug strategies that are in place in Saskatchewan are 
very, very cognizant of what you might call the legal drugs that we 
encounter and how they're abused, around alcohol and prescription 
drugs ..." he said.

"Governments, they tend to deal with I suppose the higher-profile 
drugs, the cocaine, the crack and the heroin. That's not to say they 
haven't spent time, money and energy dealing with things like 
impaired driving and alcohol abuse. But (illicit drugs are) higher profile."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently announced details of the 
federal government's new anti-drug strategy that is intended to crack 
down on those who produce and deal in drugs, as well as help addicts 
and prevent people from becoming addicted in the first place.

The $63.8-million plan, to be introduced this fall, will be divvied 
up among three areas: $10 million for prevention, $32 million for 
treatment, and $22 million for enforcement.

While Coleman and Addley agreed the strategy is a step in the right 
direction, they said there is plenty more work that needs to be done 
in order to effectively deal with drug and alcohol addictions issues.

"It sounds like a lot of money, but when you start dividing that up 
across the country, it doesn't go very far," Coleman said. "At the 
end of the day will it solve the problem? No, it won't. I think it's 
a good move, and as the spokesperson for the police, we welcome it 
and we welcome that it's not just enforcement, it's on the prevention 
and the education side as well ...

"If we could deal with issues of substance abuse and all its 
manifestations, there would be a lot less for police to deal with. In 
fact, police would have very little to deal with because if you track 
many of the calls for service we get, many of the offences we 
investigate, you can track them back directly or indirectly to abuse 
of some type of substance."

Addley said that should Saskatchewan get its share of the federal 
funds -- an estimated $2 million -- it would still not come close to 
the $18.5 million the provincial government has invested so far in 
drug strategies, like the three-year Project Hope.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman