OBJECTIONS ABOUT DRUGS SHOULDN'T RULE OUT DEBATE

Rampant injection-drug use, according to a new federal government report
endorsed by Health Minister Allan Rock, should be considered a public
health problem, not a law-and-order issue.

By making drug abuse primarily a health issue, this Health Canada report
emphasizes prevention and treatment initiatives -- not enforcement -- to
minimize drug use and rehabilitate those that are habitual users. Not much
to disagree with there.

The disagreements start when the report calls for harm reduction. This
approach could include the provision of needle exchanges, safe injection
sites and even the prescription of hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.

We realize that this is just a departmental report. It's not official
government policy. But we can't help but wonder if it is a trial balloon
from the Liberals. If it is, we welcome it because Canadians need to have
an enlightened debate about how best to compassionately and
cost-effectively treat drug addicts, reduce crime and stave off an HIV/AIDS
epidemic.

About 125,000 Canadians inject drugs and many share needles. As a result,
more than 33 per cent of the new cases of HIV or AIDS in Canada are
concentrated among injection drug users. The people who contract these
life-threatening illnesses through illicit-drug use cost our faltering
health care system as much as $6 billion each year. And it is predicted to
rise further if nothing is done soon.

In Vancouver, nearly 23 per cent of injection-drug users are infected with
HIV, up from just four per cent five years ago. Petty crime to support this
drug habit has led to a massive increase in property damage, costing our
economy dearly.

With this acute and visible problem in the Downtown Eastside, the City of
Vancouver's four-pillar drug strategy -- prevention, treatment, enforcement
and harm reduction -- has varying degrees of support from the provincial
and federal governments.

The city still has to contend with opposition from the Community Alliance,
a coalition of business owners and residents of the Downtown Eastside, who
oppose some of the harm reduction initiatives. This opposition exists
despite the evidence from other parts of the world that demonstrate the
effectiveness of such programs in decreasing the transmission of infectious
diseases and curtailing crime.

Predictably, this trial balloon was immediately punctured by Canadian
Alliance MP Randy White, who also happens to be vice-chairman of the
parliamentary committee on illegal drugs.

He says, "The Liberals are severely misjudging the Canadian public if they
think they are going to be the first country in our part of the world to
legalize drugs." Just like Mr. White, we doubt the United States, our
southern neighbour and biggest trading partner, would be too enthusiastic
about legalizing drugs.

But these objections shouldn't stop us from having a reasoned debate on
treating drug addiction as a health problem, not a criminal one.