TORIES' ADDICTION PLAN MISSES MARK

Re: $64M plan targets drug trade, addiction, March 20

The new national anti-drug strategy announced in the federal budget
ignores the impressive body of scientific evidence on the value of
investing in harm reduction and alternatives to criminal prosecution
for non-violent drug offences. The new strategy funds law enforcement,
prevention and treatment programs - three of the four so-called
"pillars" common in many drug strategies. But the fourth pillar, harm
reduction - which includes needle exchanges, opiate substitution
therapy programs and safe-injection facilities - has been eliminated.

Clearly the federal government is looking at drug addiction as a
criminal matter rather than a matter of public health. But relying too
much on criminal law and its enforcement undermines public-health
programs that have proven effective at improving the health of people
who use drugs and reducing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV
and hepatitis C. Vancouver's safe-injection facility is a perfect example.

A recent study published in the HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review
confirmed that even under the existing drug strategy, the federal
government "continues to invest heavily in policies and practices that
have repeatedly been shown in the scientific literature to be
ineffective or harmful."

Canada needs a sensible, responsible drug strategy that is based on
evidence, respects human rights and improves public health. Instead,
the government is giving Canadians a strategy that continues to ignore
the wealth of evidence on truly effective and humane responses to drug
use and will result in the further worsening of the drug problem in
Canada.

Leon Mar,

Director of Communications,

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network,

Toronto