STUDY SLAMS FEDERAL DRUG PLAN

Findings of a new report show funding for law enforcement far
outweighs funding for drug prevention, treatment and harm reduction
initiatives in Canada.

The highly critical review by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS stated the federal government is stuck pursuing an
ideological agenda while ignoring scientific evidence when it comes
to formulating and carrying out Canada's Drug Strategy.

"The numbers clearly demonstrate that the vast majority of funding
goes to law enforcement and surprisingly little goes to harm
reduction," which is contrary to what most Canadians believe, said
Julio Montaner, senior author of the review and director of the centre.

"Considering [the fact] that addiction is a problem for which we have
no definitive answer, shouldn't we agree that all aspects of the drug
strategy be subject to scrutiny, so every part can be re-designed to
better meet the outcomes we all desire?" he asked.

"We have subjected the harm reduction initiative to a very high level
of scrutiny, and we would like to see that applied to every aspect of
the Canada Drug Strategy," said Montaner, adding "this is not about
what you like, this [is] about public health."

YOU SHOULD KNOW

According to the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, $368 million
was spent in 2004/05 addressing illicit drugs.

Here's how it was spent:

- - 73 per cent: law enforcement ($271 million)

- - 14 per cent: treatment ($51 million)

- - 7 per cent: research ($26 million)

- - 2.6 per cent: prevention ($10 million)

- - 2.6 per cent: harm reduction ($10 million)