NATIONAL DRUG STRATEGY NEGLECTS VALUE OF HARM REDUCTION, CRITIC SAYS

The federal government's national drug strategy does nothing to
address "the reality of people who've got addictions and have
preventable diseases" and neither does it reduce the demand for drugs,
said Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS
Legal Network, in a meeting with the Citizen's editorial board
yesterday. Mr. Elliott criticized the Conservatives' overall approach
to drug policy, which he believes emphasizes law enforcement at the
expense of harm reduction. Harm-reduction services include
distribution of clean needles and other equipment for drug use,
provision of condoms, counselling and other forms of treatment and
education to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

In 2004-2005, the federal government spent 73 per cent of its
anti-drug budget on law enforcement, splitting the rest between
prevention, treatment and harm reduction. Mr. Elliott said that
represents a terrible imbalance and shows that the government has
prioritized the wrong approach.

"We're throwing money down this hole of the war on drugs with not much
to show for it," he said. "Let's actually put money into proven health
programs."

He said last month's decision by a British Columbia Supreme Court
judge to keep Vancouver's safe-injection site open despite government
opposition provides one example of a larger harm-reduction debate and
its place within overall drug policy.

"A judge quite refreshingly saw the tension between health and access
to health services, on the one hand, and criminalizing drugs and the
people who use them on the other hand," he said.

"Where these two things conflict, health has to take priority over
criminalizing people."

Only a few days after the ruling, federal Health Minister Tony Clement
said the government would appeal the B.C. Supreme Court decision.