DRUG-FIGHTING AGENCIES TEAM UP TO TACKLE ABUSE

Ottawa is creating a new plan to help tackle a growing drug problem
with high rates of HIV and Hepatitis C infection among intravenous drug users.

The Integrated Drugs and Addiction Strategy, introduced by Mayor Bob
Chiarelli in 2005, will co-ordinate agencies across the city to help
deal with substance abuse.

The strategy hopes to combine many of the city's social resources and
community agencies, such as the police, public health and addiction
specialists. The goal is that they will work together to develop a
comprehensive strategy to fight the war on drugs.

By June, the committee aims to have a report with concrete
recommendations ready for city staff.

The strategy will aim to integrate the four pillars of substance
abuse: prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction.
Programs that span these areas already exist, but there is no
over-arching policy.

"By co-ordinating our efforts we can create solutions that are more
innovative," says Alfred Cormier, director of Ottawa's branch of the
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and member of the addiction
strategy's steering committee.

Cormier says one area where the integrated approach is needed can be
seen in the high incidence of mental health issues, such as
depression among drug abusers. Co-ordinating treatments would be more
efficient, he says, and could lower the chance of relapse.

Addiction is a complex problem with no one solution, says Paul Welsh,
executive director of Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services and
also a member of the strategy's steering committee.

"If you're not working in an integrated way you're not going to be as
efficient," Welsh says. Welsh has been working in the drug treatment
field for more than 20 years.

Welsh says Ottawa's current addiction programs are under-funded,
under-resourced and ignored.

Provincial funding for addiction programs has been frozen for 14
years, he says, and he hopes this new integrated approach will create
a loud and unified voice from the city on the issue.

By bringing together all the major players who deal with substance
abuse, the network can find gaps in services, says Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes.

One gap that has already been identified is the need for a youth
residential treatment facility in Ottawa. Currently, youth under the
age of 16 are forced outside the city to seek residential drug
treatment. It's an expense many families can't afford, Holmes says.

Closing these gaps is important, she says, because "in the past we've
had little success helping those with substance abuse."

Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen says one major issue that needs to be
addressed is the "epidemic" rate of Hepatitis C and HIV infection
among Ottawa's intravenous drug users. According to a University of
Ottawa study, one-fifth of the city's injection drug users are HIV
positive, while three-quarters are infected with Hepatitis C -- the
highest rate in Canada.

Cullen says programs such as the safe needle and crack pipe exchange
help reduce the risk of disease, but they aren't enough. Better
education combined with treatment will help solve the problem
long-term, he says.

Activist Russell Barth says by prohibiting drug use, the city's
strategy is doomed to fail. He says the city should grant amnesty for
drug users and provide them with clean, cheap alternatives to the
drugs they buy on the street.

"Prohibition has never worked anywhere for any reason," Barth says,
adding the only solution is to manage drug use instead of trying to
stamp it out.

Welsh says the city's problems with drug addiction are becoming too
expensive to ignore and that every dollar spent on addiction
treatment saves the tax payer $6.