TORONTO FORMALLY ENDORSES HARM REDUCTION ON DRUG USE

City Becomes The First In The World To Do So

Toronto has become the first city in the world - and the first
government in North America - to formally endorse a declaration that
advocates harm reduction over the war on drugs.

The Vienna Declaration, which slams the criminalization of illicit
drugs as a major factor fuelling HIV infection rates, came to the fore
during this year's AIDS conference. Its authors called on
policy-makers around the world to refocus their approaches to illegal
drugs and HIV-AIDS prevention - especially in light of new statistics
that show HIV infection rates have climbed back to 1982 levels,
largely thanks to infection in injection-drug users.

The declaration has thousands of prominent signatories - including
doctors, epidemiologists and former heads of state, but few of the
governments at whom it's targeted. On Thursday, council passed a
motion to endorse the declaration by a wide margin, 33 votes to 7.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq has said the Canadian
government has no intention of endorsing the declaration, which takes
aim at the Conservatives' tough stand on drug use.

Those behind the declaration had planned to launch a concerted push to
win over governments and policy-makers in September. One of the
declaration's authors, Evan Wood, University of British Columbia
professor and founder of the International Centre for Science in Drug
Policy, said he's please Toronto endorsed it "spontaneously" without
having to be lobbied.

"We're obviously very excited."

Councillor Kyle Rae, who put forward the motion after attending the
AIDS conference in Vienna earlier this summer, said it solidifies the
reputation of a city that has been "a leader" in harm reduction since
it started giving out condoms in the mid-1980s.

David McKeown, Toronto's medical officer of health, said the
declaration is in line with the city's four-pillared approach to drug
use.

"That strategy did encompass law enforcement, but equally important
pillars were treatment, harm reduction and prevention," he said. "I
think there's already work going on now to implement the drug strategy
- - I'm hopeful that will continue into the future. There's lots of work
to be done."

Dr. Wood said Toronto's commitment is an important symbolic step that
solidifies Toronto's commitment to fighting drug addiction in more
nuanced ways than a "war-on-drugs" stance. It's one he hopes will
create more dialogue about changing Canada's strategy on a national
level.

"We now have Canada's largest city saying, 'We endorse this' - that's
a way to start a conversation and hopefully break down those
barriers," he said. "We need to get away from the traditional scenario
where drug policy has been exempted from this notion of evidence-based
policymaking."

Meanwhile, Toronto's still mulling the possibility of a supervised
consumption site.

The city's mayoral candidates are leery when it comes to committing to
a supervised consumption site. George Smitherman, Sarah Thomson and
Joe Pantalone said while they support harm-reduction strategies
already in place in Toronto, they have their doubts the city needs a
safe-injection site. Rocco Rossi's campaign declined to comment.

And front-runner Rob Ford was one of the few councillors who voted
against the Vienna Declaration endorsement altogether.