INJECTION SITE THREATENED

Tories Set To Cut Off Funding For Harm Reduction

OTTAWA -- The Harper government's new anti-drug strategy is expected
to get tough with grow-ops and pushers and is retreating from "harm
reduction" measures, including Vancouver's safe-injection site.

The new strategy, to be announced next week, is also understood to
include more money for treatment and a national drug-use prevention campaign.

The federal budget in March allocated an additional $64 million over
two years for enforcement, treatment and prevention. But
harm-reduction measures, which aim to limit the spread of infectious
diseases were not mentioned.

"They haven't explicitly said they are getting rid of harm reduction,
but the budget numbers speak for themselves," said Leon Mar,
spokesman for the Canadian HIV-AIDS Legal Network. "There is no money
for harm reduction, which is quite ominous."

Joanne Csete, the network's executive director, recently told MPs
that the Conservatives are contemplating "a U.S.-style war on drugs,
an approach that has proven to be counter-productive and a tragic
waste of public funds."

Tony Cannavino, president of the Canadian Police Association, said a
proposed "say-no-to-drugs" campaign would counter a perception among
young people that marijuana is legal, in light of a failed Liberal
bid to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of the drug.C

Current spending goes to treatment, prevention, and harm-reduction
measures such as needle-exchange programs, in which addicts trade
dirty needles for sterile ones, and the supervised injection site in
Vancouver, where addicts can legally inject themselves with the help
of medical professionals.

The Conservatives have been skeptical about the injection site. Last
September, Health Minister Tony Clement ignored his department's
advice to renew the site's licence for another 3 1/2 years, electing
instead to give it only a one-year reprieve.