ANOTHER DRUG ALARM FOR SLUMBERING POLITICIANS

Last November, Allan Rock sent out a glowing press release highlighting a
new $1-million contribution from Ottawa to help fight Vancouver's HIV/AIDS
problem.

The federal health minister boasted that "Health Canada has been a leader
in the area of HIV/AIDS and substance-abuse issues since 1989."

Fast-forward to yesterday, and the release of a report by provincial health
officer Dr. John Millar, entitled HIV, Hepatitis and Injection Drug Use in
British Columbia -- Pay Now or Pay Later?

Millar writes that B.C. is in the midst of an "epidemic of deaths and
disease resulting from injection drug use." Overdose deaths by injection
drug users (IDUs) have become "the leading cause of death for adults aged
30-49" in B.C. And injection drug use is "the leading cause of new cases of
HIV infection."

Since Health Canada became the leader in 1989 that Rock says it is, more
than 2,000 people have died of drug overdoses in this province, and
thousands more have become infected with HIV or hepatitis.

If that is a record of success, I'd hate to see Rock's idea of failure. And
Millar writes of many instances of failure in the current approach to the
epidemic.

There is a "lack of understanding about the problem of addiction, by the
public and politicians." A "lack of co-ordination" among the various
addiction services. A "lack of a coherent, cross-jurisdictional plan."

Millar cites shortages across the board, from methadone-treatment funding
to mental-health services to livable housing. He suggests that government
failure to address these inadequacies is rooted in society's ignorance of
and indifference to the crisis.

Addiction is "a disease of the brain," Millar says, and IDUs "often have an
associated mental illness." But society views IDUs as "criminals and
derelicts, rather than as persons with legitimate illness."

This attitude "underlies the general lack of political will to address the
problem," Millar adds. "It is time for this to change and for society to
recognize that IDUs -- like people with other chronic diseases -- are
suffering human beings deserving of our compassionate care and respect."

For those who still have trouble with the notion of compassion for sick
people, Millar presents a compelling economic case for a new approach. Last
year, government spent $95.7 million combating illicit drug use in B.C. --
but only 18 per cent of that went to health care. More than four-fifths of
the cash went to law enforcement to prop up our failed "war on drugs."

Millar says taxpayers will achieve significant savings if spending is
rebalanced.

For example, B.C. now has an estimated 15,000 IDUs, but only 4,000 spots in
methadone clinics. Opening another 1,500 spots to serve heroin addicts
would cost $6 million annually, but "could generate as much as $36 million
in savings annually to health care, criminal justice and corrections
services in the province."

But even methadone has its problems. For one thing, it doesn't work for all
addicts. And Millar notes that some methadone clinics in B.C. charge a user
fee of up to $325 per month, "contrary to the spirit of the Canada Health
Act."

Millar wants such user fees discontinued. He makes many other sensible
recommendations, including a pilot "drug court program" similar to that in
the U.S., where non-violent offenders are diverted into treatment. He also
wants to test the benefits of prescribing heroin to addicts, which would
remove the need to commit crimes to service the addiction and get addicts
closer to treatment.

How many more people must die, and how much more tax money must we
squander, before Allan Rock and his federal and provincial colleagues awake
from their politically safe coma?