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THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT IS ENGAGED IN A STEALTH PLAN TO LIBERALIZE THE DRUG LAWS

The Liberal government in Ottawa is engaged in a stealthy step-by-step scheme to weaken the laws against the non-medical use of drugs in Canada.

The government's high profile Bill C-17 to decriminalize marijuana has served as the smokescreen behind which the government has, unnoticed, stealthily introduced programmes designed to loosen restrictions on the non-medical use of drugs. The government has been able to do this without the public being aware of it because these critical changes are being made by way of bureaucratic policy decisions behind the scenes rather than openly, by way of legislation. These policy changes take the form of "pilot projects" or drug trials which are intended to demonstrate a new, more successful and "humane" approach to deal with drug addiction. These pilot projects have been tried before in Europe and found to be unsuccessful in dealing with drug addiction. However, the Liberal government will never admit this. Instead, it will run these trials and when they have run their course, the government will then declare them to be "successful" so that, as a result, the legal non-medical use of drugs will be made much more available.

The government's likely denial of any problems with these programmes will be similar to those made by the Swiss government, which in the 1980's introduced the same "trials" that Canada is now undertaking. At the end of its trials, the Swiss government pronounced them a great success. However, the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) conducted an independent evaluation of the Swiss trials. It studied the integrity of the Swiss government's analysis of the trials and concluded that the Swiss studies were deeply flawed both scientifically and medically. These findings by the INCB were corroborated in Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. This study concluded that the Swiss trials cannot be considered valid because the scientific method of these trials was faulty.

In fact, the alleged positive outcomes attributed to the Swiss drug trials became less and less conclusive, the more they were scrutinized. For example, many of the reports of reduced crime were in fact "self reports" from the addicts. Also HIV/AIDS testing was not done consistently; thus, the rate of infection was not determined accurately. Urine testing to check drug usage was performed only at expected times, making it an unreliable modality for assessment, and while addicts reported improvements in their health and social functioning, there was no control group that did not take narcotics. We can expect the Canadian government will cover up the truth about its trials as the Swiss government has done.

The "pilot projects" set up under the Liberal government's stealth programme include the following:

1. Needle Exchange Programmes

The government began setting up needle exchange programmes in the late 1980's, and they now exist in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Saskatoon and Montreal. The objective of these needle exchange centres was supposedly to curb the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C by reducing the use of contaminated needles. If only that were the case. Instead, the needle exchange sites have become needle distribution sites as seldom are needles actually "exchanged" since the discarded needles are re-used off-site in streets and alleys where they are eventually abandoned, posing a significant risk to individuals. The needle exchanges have also been "honey pots" or meeting points for drug users and dealers who know that the needle exchange is a "no-go" area for police. This has led to such areas gaining recognition as a safe area for drug dealers to operate. Not surprisingly, this has also led to a demise of businesses in these areas because of drug related crime. Shoppers are terrorized by syringe wielding drug users and area households are regularly burglarized - all thanks to the authorities providing both the go-ahead for drug users and protection for drug marketers. In a report for the Director of the US National Drug Control Policy, Washington DC dated April 6, 1998, in regard to an assessment of the Vancouver needle exchange program, which is one of the largest in the world - (it distributes over 1 million needles annually for the past 10 years) it stated:

Needle exchanges encourage illegal drug use by flouting anti-drug laws. They are in direct opposition to drug courts for instance, which mandate treatment for addicts. The majority of addicts receiving needle handouts when offered treatment refuse. In fact, addicts are lured away from treatment programs through the provision of free needles.

According to Janet D. Lapey, MD, of Drug Watch International in an article Needle Scam Update 1998 :

Handing needles to addicts not only undermines treatment programs, but also results in higher drug use, crime, and prostitution which spreads HIV/AIDS. The pro-NEP studies downplay the fact that HIV/AIDS is primarily a sexually-transmitted disease. Addicts are at high risk for acquiring AIDS sexually through promiscuity or prostitution. They often fund their expensive addictions through prostitution and trading sex for drugs. For instance, a study of non-needle using NYC crack addicts showed a high incidence of HIV/AIDS. (Edlin BR et al, The New England Journal of Medicine 331: 1422-7, 1994). Thus, any program which increases drug use will increase HIV/AIDS.

According to Dr. Douglas Coleman, a consultant in Addiction Medicine in New Westminster, BC, in his paper published in the BC Medical Journal there is a clear association between Vancouver's needle exchange program and the spread of HIV.

Further, two comprehensive studies, published in 1997, examined the needle exchange sites both in Vancouver and Montreal. The study of the Montreal site, which tested the blood of 1,600 addicts every six months over an average of 22 months, found a high degree of needle sharing among participants who were nearly three times more likely to become infected with HIV as those not in the program.

Similarly, the study of the Vancouver site found that HIV rates among the city's injection-drug users soared from 2% to 23% in 1997. The research also found a "high-level" of needle sharing, including among those infected with HIV.

According to the European Monitoring Committee on Drugs and Drug Addiction, needle exchanges are giving rise to an increased incidence of Hepatitis C, especially among those under 20 years of age. The Committee concluded that drug users using needle exchanges do not inject in safe places, nor do they avoid sharing their equipment, leading to an alarming increase in Hepatitis C. Since the introduction of needle exchanges in Australia, the Australian Health and Medical Research Council in its report (August 1997) stated that more than 70% of the current addicts are infected with Hepatitis C.

Have these calamitous results shut down Canada's Needle Exchange sites? No way. Will the Canadian government ever acknowledge problems with the needle exchange programme? No way. Undaunted by poor results, the needle exchange centres are still operating in high gear with nothing but praise given for their "excellent" results.

2. Government Operated Drug Injection Sites

In 2002, Health Canada and the BC government gave approval to a $3.7 million pilot project to establish a free drug Injection site for addicts in Vancouver.

The Minister of Health at that time, Allan Rock, insisted that the objective of the clinic was to help addicts break their habit by facilitating their heroin and cocaine use in clean government operated rooms under medical supervision where the addicts would "shoot-up" in peace and safety.

Unfortunately, such drug injection sites increase heroin use and increase the market for the drug. Since police are not permitted around drug injection sites, these sites then become a haven for drug pushers who operate there for easy access to their customers. The drugs sold are obtained from international criminal drug cartels, so criminals are the major beneficiaries of the drug injection sites.

The Vancouver drug injection site opened its doors in September 2003. These users freely inject their previously illicitly obtained heroin from criminal sources on the premises. The site has a regular roster of about 2000 clients. Has it improved the drug addiction problem in Vancouver? No, not a bit. In fact, it has failed in even meeting its primary goal of preventing deaths caused by drug overdoses. The total number of addicts who have died from an overdose has risen, with 52 people dying of drug overdoses in 2003. There were 15 deaths in the first three months of 2004 which increased to 44 deaths by September 2004, the last figures available.

In addition, the drug injection site has done little to change the drug scene in Vancouver, which was supposed to be another advantage to the programme. Prostitution, open drug dealing, and thieving are still rife along Vancouver's Hastings Street, the drug neighbourhood's main corridor.

The drug injection site has caused more harm than good. It condones drug use and encourages the downward spiral of the addicts, condemning them to be forever locked in the cycle of degradation, with their only focus being on how to obtain their next injection - whenever and wherever available.

Liberal Health Minister, Dosanjh, however, has suggested he is open to other cities opening new drug injection sites. The City of Toronto has taken him up on this, and has now indicated that it will soon follow Vancouver's example by setting up its own "supervised" drug consumption site for addicts. The Toronto Board of Health has now approved the site and has added an extra frill by also approving an inhalation room and crack kit room for cocaine addicts. This recommendation needs only City Council approval which is sure to be forthcoming from the left wing City Council. However, surprisingly, the always left wing Toronto Star, has expressed its doubts about the crack proposal. It stated:

"In the absence of solid evidence that crack kits and inhalation rooms can dramatically ease disease transmission, the public quite understandably may not want to fund what would amount to city-run crack houses, where people could freely indulge in an illegal drug, aided by publicly purchased equipment."

One of the few conservative Toronto City Councillors commented on this proposal by comparing the proposed drug site to euthanasia, since, he said, "it's just giving addicts a place to kill themselves." He added that, "they might as well add a crematorium beside the crack house for good measure."

3. Crack Pipe Programmes

Without a scintilla of evidence to support either the needle programme or the government operated injection sites, these programmes have been further expanded by the government which is offering addicts a free "crack kit". These kits include a crack pipe, a tourniquet and aluminium caps which are used to heat drugs to a high temperature in order to mix the drugs into an injectable solution. This programme has now been established in Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Guelph, Ontario and most recently (April 1, 2005) in Ottawa.

Unfortunately, injection drug use is closely intertwined with smoking crack. One study in 2002 - 2003 at the University of Ottawa found that about 75% of injection users had smoked crack in the previous 6 months. The theory is that hepatitis can be transmitted easily if an infected user with cracked lips - a hallmark of crack smokers - shares a pipe with someone else.

The argument in favour of this programme, therefore, remains the same - to cut down the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C. We wish.

Common sense tells us, however, that the distribution of free crack pipes encourages drug use and perpetuates the addict's condition by providing him with the kits. Such programmes do absolutely nothing to help the addict recover, but merely condone his addiction. The addict therefore continues on with his unhappy existence and the message given to him and the public by these kits is that it's okay to smoke crack.

4. Free Heroin Provided by the Government in Government Operated Sites

Going one step further, to the "bring-your-own drug" government injection sites, Health Canada has now come up with an even more provocative scheme. It has established yet another "pilot project", on drug use, a North American first, to provide drug addicts with free heroin. This grand project provided by the government is called North American Opiate Medication Initiative. (NAOMI) This trial will cost $8.1 million. It opened in February, 2005 and the project is to continue 21 to 24 months.

This research project also includes the opening of similar clinics in Toronto and Montreal where the government will supply the free heroin to addicts.

Conservative MP, Art Hanger, (Calgary Northeast) in a press release dated April 20, 2005, called Health Canada, under whose auspices the programme will run, as "Canada's biggest drug dealer". He went on to say, "Vancouver has already had a 'supervised injection site' … That piece of insanity has already made the city a drug haven for addicts, now they're going to throw in the heroin for free along with the needles and expert advice."

There have been scathing criticisms made of these trials, such as those made by physicians at the Toronto Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. These critics claim that these trials are designed to garner positive results, not accurate information, since addicts are highly motivated to give the researchers positive results to continue the distribution of the free heroin. The researchers planned to enroll 157 participants in Vancouver and 470 nationwide.

This crazy scheme of giving free heroin to addicts has hit a snag however, in that after three months of operation, the Vancouver clinic has managed to attract only 21 clients.

The participants in the pilot project are required to be over 25 years of age, have been a hard core drug user for 5 years, not on probation and to live within a kilometer of the project's locations. They must also consent to make their medical history available to the researchers and cannot be facing criminal charges.

It's all too much for Vancouver's approximately 5,000 drug users. They either don't qualify, or just can't be bothered with the red tape and prefer to obtain their "fixes" on their own. What are the drug researchers to do? Reduce the entry requirements of course. Last, we heard the researchers are still plying the streets on Vancouver's east side trolling for clients to begin this great study.

The free heroin concept was recently given a big boost by Saturday Night Magazine (September 2005). According to this article free heroin for addicts is a marvelous idea whose time has come. Interestingly, the article was written by a former heroin addict herself who ironically would still be an addict or perhaps dead, if the free heroin was available when she was addicted. That is, the free heroin plan just drives the addict deep into his / her addiction, never into a recovery. This is scarcely a humane approach to the problem.

Conclusion

Although these government "pilot projects" are laughable to anyone with common sense they are, in fact, very serious indeed, since they indicate clearly the direction in which the Liberal government is headed in regard to our drug laws. These "pilot projects" are set up to persuade the public that Canada must change its drug policies to freely allow the non-medical use of drugs. Count on it that the Liberal government will be making amendments to our national drug policy based on the unreliable "results" of these pilot projects.

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