CANADA'S JAILS NO PLACE FOR DRUG STRATEGIES, TOEWS SAYS

OTTAWA -- So-called harm-reduction drug strategies have no place in
Canada's jail system, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Wednesday.

The Conservative government is not onside with the push for
Insite-style drug treatment for addicts in jails by organizations such
as the John Howard Society of Canada.

"We've made our position very clear in terms of the prohibition of
drugs inside prisons and that's our government's policy," he said.

Last Friday, Canada's top court handed a victory to Insite,
Vancouver's supervised drug-injection site, granting it an immediate
exemption from federal drug laws.

On Tuesday, John Howard executive director Catherine Latimer suggested
to the Commons Public Safety Committee in Ottawa that the Supreme
Court's controversial ruling should have an impact in the country's
jail system.

Latimer pushed the committee, which is currently probing drug and
alcohol use in prisons, for harm-reduction strategies to be offered to
drug addicted inmates.

Insite's Mark Townsend said both treatment and harm-reduction
strategies could translate well from the streets of Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside to Canada's jails.

"The prison system should be honest about drug use and deal with it
head on," he said. "And that includes injection sites and needle
(exchange)."

The government, meanwhile, is focusing on preventing drugs from
getting into the prison system in the first place.

Still, Toews conceded the ruling in favour of Insite may mean the
government faces another legal challenge -- this time on its drug
policy in jails.

"That's what lawyers are paid to do. They always bring challenges," he
said.

"We understand there are drugs in prisons, but that is not something
we encourage or tolerate."