PM UNVEILS ANTI-DRUG STRATEGY

Crackdown on Dealers Plays Key Role

PRIME Minister Stephen Harper extended a compassionate hand to drug
addicts Thursday but warned drug dealers the long arm of the law is
coming at them hard.

Harper launched his government's national anti-drug strategy from the
Winnipeg Salvation Army headquarters, pledging $63.8 million over two
years to modernize and expand treatment programs and educate young
people on the dangers of drugs while at the same time cracking down
on drug dealers with mandatory minimum sentences for major drug crimes.

Harper said drugs are dangerous and "destroy lives." His national
anti-drug strategy focuses on prevention, treatment and enforcement.

"If you are addicted to drugs we'll help you and if you sell drugs
we'll punish you," said Harper, with Health Minister Tony Clement and
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day at his side.

Harper said the statistics show more young people are using drugs. A
survey conducted by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse in 2005
found more than one in six children in grades seven to nine had tried
using marijuana.

Addictions cost the health-care system $1.2 billion a year, said Harper.

The treatment and prevention side of the strategy will get two-thirds
of the funding to modernize and expand treatment programs, launch a
national anti-drug education campaign targeting teens and their
parents, and to develop and fund community prevention programs.

The enforcement side will get $21.6 million to hire more cops and
prosecutors for specific anti-drug teams, and to increase funding for
the border services to keep drugs and drug paraphernalia such as
pipes out of Canada.

There will also be a focus on the precursors of drugs, such as the
ingredients used to make crystal meth, including a stricter
requirement to have those products registered and identified.

Mandatory minimum sentences will be introduced in legislation later
this fall for people convicted of serious drug offences, but Harper
would not say how long the sentences will be or what specific crimes
will be targeted.

Harper said harm reduction -- including safe injection sites -- is
not a pillar in the strategy. His government earlier this week
extended the funding for a test safe-injection site in Vancouver by
six months to June 2008.

But Harper said he remains skeptical about the validity of
safe-injection sites.

He blamed the media for skewing the issue by only reporting on the
positive side of the issue.

"I remain a skeptic that you can tell people we won't stop the drug
trade, we won't get you off drugs, we won't even send messages to
discourage drug use but somehow we will keep you addicted and reduce
the harm just the same," said Harper. "Even if that's effective that
has got to be a second-best strategy at best. Because if you remain a
drug addict I don't care how much harm you reduce you're going to
have a short and miserable life."

NDP health critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis, present for the announcement,
shook her head in disgust over the strategy, saying too much emphasis
and money is going to an ad campaign that won't work, when the money
should be going to youth programs, safe houses and harm-reduction programs.

The funding, she said, isn't remotely enough to get at the problem
from either a treatment or enforcement perspective.

"This amounts to the equivalent of putting one more cruiser on the
streets in a city like Winnipeg," she said. "That's not going to cut it."

The Winnipeg North MP said the federal government should invest in
programs like the one announced this week in Point Douglas that are
designed to stamp out crack dealers in inner-city neighbourhoods.

"They need help identifying those crack houses and getting rid of
them. There isn't a penny in this proposal to help a community like
Point Douglas."

Wasylycia-Leis said the $9.4 million announced for community
initiatives will amount to a few hundred thousand dollars for all of Manitoba.

"It's peanuts," she said. "It's not going to really help."

Manitoba Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross welcomed the
strategy, saying every little bit of money helps in the war against drugs.

"We're excited to work with them," said Irvin-Ross. "It's going to
have an impact."

[sidebar]

The Problem

Drugs are 'destroying lives' in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says.

The Solution

A $63.8-million anti-drug strategy announced Thursday in Winnipeg.

The Plan

National education campaign targeted to youth, expansion of drug
treatment programs, and a crackdown on dealers with mandatory minimum
sentences for serious drug-related crimes.

The Criticism

NDP calls funding 'peanuts'; says cash is being poorly allocated and
should be going to safe houses and community youth programs.