Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2003, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.fyiedmonton.com/htdocs/edmsun.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Mindelle Jacobs WAR ON DRUGS HAS BEEN A WASTE OF MONEY The federal auditor general has decried Canada's useless war against illegal drugs. So has a special parliamentary committee. Now, in a new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers have come to the same conclusion. The millions of dollars we spend annually to crack down on the use of illicit drugs is a big huge waste of time. The biggest heroin haul in Canadian history - 100 kilograms of the stuff, seized by Vancouver police in 2000 - didn't make the slightest dent in supply, the researchers found. Heroin was just as easy to get in the weeks after the bust and the price actually went down, according to the study. "We saw literally zero impact on the street," noted Dr. Martin Schechter, senior author of the paper. He and his colleagues echoed the plea that's been made by other health professionals for years. We have to treat drug use as a health problem, not a criminal matter. The parliamentary committee on the non-medical use of drugs made the same observation in its report last month. The primary focus of Canada's drug strategy has been on reducing the supply of illicit drugs to the detriment of resources needed to reduce demand, the committee lamented. "A renewed ... strategy must focus on a health-based approach," it advised. The committee went on to note that residential services for young drug abusers are "virtually non-existent" and treatment for opiate addiction is woefully inadequate. Overall, the committee criticized the lack of rehabilitation and social services to help addicts and their families cope with substance abuse. "This is short-sighted and a fundamental flaw in our current health system," the committee wrote. It's not as if Ottawa hasn't heard all this before. Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser tore a strip off the federal government a year ago because it has no idea whether the $500 million it pours into drug enforcement annually has any effect. If there have been any successes, the parliamentary committee certainly couldn't find them. There wasn't a shred of evidence submitted during the hearings that supports our ongoing police crackdown on illegal drugs. "The committee is seriously concerned with the apparent lack of information on the achievements and shortcomings of the federal drug strategy," the report explained. Ottawa should place high priority on prevention, education and harm-reduction initiatives, and on developing a clear set of achievable goals and measurable outcomes, the committee concluded. It is no surprise that the Vancouver researchers in the latest study have also embraced the harm-reduction approach. It is the only option that makes sense amid overwhelming evidence that vast amounts of money spent on interdiction efforts do not stop people intent on getting high. There are those who will argue that $500 million a year on drug enforcement isn't enough. Well, the U.S. spends $19 billion annually to fight illegal drugs - double the 1990 budget - yet drug use is increasing. More people are dying from substance abuse as well. The death rate from illegal drugs has more than doubled since 1979 and the number of people going to emergency rooms for treatment for adverse drug reactions is up 50% since 1988. "We're not hurting the people we're supposed to be hurting (the traffickers), but we're hurting the people we're supposed to be helping," says Eric Sterling, head of the U.S. Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. The entire annual cocaine supply destined for the U.S. could fit in 13 shipping containers, notes Eugene Oscapella of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy. In Los Angeles alone, 130,000 shipping containers arrive every month, he says. Canada's annual coke supply - about 15 tonnes - would fill one transport truck, he adds. And Ottawa is still under the pitiful illusion we can keep illicit drugs off our streets. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom