B.C. LEADS ON ADDICTION ISSUES, BUT PROGRESS IS SLOW

Report On Costs Of Substance Abuse Puts Spotlight On Conferences

The estimate that drug use costs every Canadian roughly $1,266
annually -- $541 for tobacco, $463 for alcohol and $262 for illegal
substances -- comes as Vancouver gets ready to host several events
dedicated to changing current drug policy.

According to the study from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse,
the burden on the health-care system, law enforcement and the loss of
productivity in the workplace or home from premature death,
disability and illness is estimated to be $39.8 billion annually.

In 1992, the costs were estimated at about half that -- at, dare I
say it, only $18.45 billion annually.

That's staggering -- and we're not even talking about the emotional
price and the loss of human potential implicit in those figures.

I think it's a good time for this city especially to turn its
attention to the problem.

On Sunday, about 100 men and women from around the globe -- Asia,
Australia, North America, Eastern and Western Europe and Latin
America -- will meet for what's billed as the International Drug User
Activists Congress.

"We want the chance to speak for ourselves, to be heard and to be
treated with basic dignity and respect," said Andria Efthimiou, a
London activist from the John Mordant Trust.

"Drug users are one of the most marginalized and stigmatized groups
in the community. Even in the context of this event, one of our
leading colleagues -- Bijay Pandy of the group Recovering Nepal --
was denied a Canadian entry visa."

This meeting's billed as a chance for users working in different
organizations to share information and skills, Efthimiou told me.

The local organization, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users or
Vandu, is a pioneering example of these groups, run by and for people
who use or have used illicit drugs and people currently in drug treatment.

There is little question they were a catalyst for establishing the
first supervised injecting site in Canada -- an experiment soon to be
evaluated in terms of its impact in reducing HIV, hepatitis and
overdose deaths.

At the same time as the users are meeting, the 17th International
Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm will occur -- a
gathering of doctors, researchers and policy makers and others in the field.

Concurrently, there will a series of three dialogues at the Morris J.
Wosk Centre for Dialogue -- called Beyond Criminalization: Healthier
Ways to Control Drugs -- featuring the harm-reduction experts.
They'll tackle everything from the efficacy of the Washington-led war
on drugs to the true menace posed by crystal meth.

On Monday night, for instance, you can catch Gustavo de Grieff,
former attorney-general of Colombia, forced into exile because of his
opposition to the U.S. war on drugs.

Others include Jerome Paradis, retired B.C. Provincial Court judge;
Michel Perron, chief executive officer, Canadian Centre on Substance
Abuse; and Eugene Oscapella, lawyer, Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy.

The confluence of these events and the release of the substance abuse
report I think highlight the urgent need for us to address the issues
being raised by the use of licit and illicit drugs.

The cost to all of us in terms of the drain on our communities, our
treasuries and on our families is enormous.

The solution is a basket of approaches.

For me, that includes changing the current criminal prohibition on
drugs, improving drug education in general and upgrading the range
and depth of treatment options.

This city and province, for that matter, have a lot to be proud of in
terms of the experiments and discussions that are underway.

That next week's events are even happening here underscore that.

But I think, as Mayor Sam Sullivan and others are saying, we need to
move further and faster if we want to cut the cost and reduce the
harm of substance use and abuse.

It is unfortunate Prime Minister Stephen Harper appears not to
understand the need for a new approach, nor the urgency.

Perhaps the latest numbers -- which represents a doubling of costs in
a decade -- will persuade him it's time for a change.

We can't afford to keep going down the road we're on.