CANADA'S DRUG WAR FACES GROWING 'RISKS'

Insufficient Funding And Concerns About The Harper Government's
Commitment Top The List Of Issues.

OTTAWA -- Canada's war on drugs is facing a number of challenges,
including insufficient funding and concerns about a Conservative
government's commitment to some aspects of the national program, a
government-commissioned evaluation reports.

The review of Canada's Drug Strategy highlights a number of "risks"
since the program was renewed in 2003, beginning with an inability to
hire, train and maintain sufficient staff amidst a proliferation of
clandestine labs and grow-ops and other pressures.

According to the report, completed last October but only recently
made public, the challenges led to at least one formal department
request for more money.

"The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
(PSEPC) has drafted a memorandum to cabinet to increase funds to
address capacity gaps around the growing problem of synthetic drugs,"
the evaluation states.

Under the lead of Health Canada, the drug strategy involves eight
federal departments and agencies and a number of partners from other
levels of government, law enforcement agencies, private sector
organizations and international agencies including the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime.

It now receives about $400 million a year in funding, which includes
a five-year, $250-million boost made during the program's renewal
four years ago.

The evaluation's findings were based on a review of files, interviews
with various departments' officials, a web-based survey of
stakeholders and a telephone survey of funding recipients.

The evaluation, conducted by Ekos Research Associates, does, however,
find the drug strategy to be appropriately organized and able to
effectively monitor program performance.

But along with a variety of financial pressures being highlighted,
concerns were expressed that last year's change in government may
lead to criticisms of the strategy's current approach.

"Conservative governments are sometimes associated with a preference
for enforcement-based measures rather than, for example, treatment
and harm reduction," the evaluation states.

"There had been proposed reforms to cannabis legislation
(decriminalization), but these have since fallen by the wayside since
the new government took over."