DRUG PANEL WAS UPSTAGED, MP ASSERTS

Vice-chair of committee slams statements made by Ottawa before report's
release

OTTAWA -- The Chretien government has pre-empted the work of a special
Commons committee that spent more than $500,000 and two years travelling the
world to study the non-medical use of drugs, the committee's vice-chair
charges.

Randy White, a Canadian Alliance MP, pointed last week to the recent
announcement by Health Minister Anne McLellan's office that her department
is reviewing criteria for safe-injection sites as evidence that the
Liberal-dominated committee is simply following the wishes of the minister.

Though he does not support safe-injection sites, Mr. White said the
committee is "leaning toward" adopting them as part of promoting the
European model of "harm reduction." The committee is also expected to
recommend that marijuana be decriminalized. The report, which is more than
100 pages long and includes 30 recommendations, is to be finalized at a
committee meeting today. It is to be made public early next month.

Mr. White said he expects fireworks at today's meeting, during which he will
fight against recommendations of safe-injection sites and the harm-reduction
model. He was careful not to divulge the specifics of the report's
recommendations.

"I'm not going to be one of their pawns in the cabinet chess game where they
send a committee out to blow all kinds of taxpayers' money and then they
totally disregard it anyway and don't even wait for the report," he said.

Mr. White says he is "appalled" by two incidents -- Justice Minister Martin
Cauchon signalling that he wanted to decriminalize marijuana before the
committee finished its report and the recent announcement by the Health
Department.

"I'm quite appalled, quite frankly, at this damn government," he said.

"They go out there and make their announcements -- none of them have asked
any of us or looked at the report."