Just months after the Canadian Senate issued a groundbreaking report that recommended the full legalization of marijuana, Canada’s House of Commons is making the case for harm reduction.  Safe-injection sites and needle-exchange programs should be set up in major Canadian cities, a new report from a Commons committee says.  The Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs released its final report Monday, Dec. 9th.   Of the 39 recommendations the most far-reaching calls for “proposed clinical trials pilot project in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal to test the effectiveness of heroin-assisted treatment for drug-dependent individuals resistant to other forms of treatment.”  If approved by Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, Canada will join Germany, the Netherlands and Spain in introducing pilot heroin maintenance programs modeled after Switzerland’s ongoing trials. 
 
The need for ongoing evaluation is stressed throughout the document.  The committee says the federal government should take immediate action to ensure that a well-funded federal drug strategy will be in place by next summer. "The renewed Canada's Drug Strategy must be comprehensive, integrated, balanced and sustainable and include alcohol, tobacco, illicit substances and pharmaceutical drugs," the report says.  "The cornerstone of a renewed drug strategy must remain the long-term goal of reducing the harm associated with alcohol, tobacco and other substances to individuals, families and communities."  Health Canada issued guidelines last week for how safe-injection drug sites would operate at pilot sites. The sites would most likely be in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.  "A majority of Committee members recognize the importance of the proposed pilot project to test the effectiveness of heroin-assisted treatment for heroin users who have failed to respond to methadone maintenance, and encourage its implementation," the report said.  "Health Canada must play an active role in facilitating, supporting and evaluating the heroin-assisted treatment pilot project."

MP support for harm reduction interventions pioneered in Europe is not unanimous, in fact the report also includes recommendations for the creation of drug courts and civil asset forfeiture legislation.  Canadian Alliance MP Randy White, vice-chairman of the panel, slammed the proposal for safe-injection sites, saying they aid rather than cure heroin addiction.  "Why are they promoting programs that will keep addicts on drugs instead of programs that will help with detox and rehabilitation?" Mr. White said in a statement.  Mr. White recently visited a Mexican prison that warehouses addicts and returned to Canada to claim "Mexico and the U.S. are looking for real answers to getting them [addicts] off drugs.”  Contrary to what the media hype over “BC Bud” would have the public believe, the vast majority of marijuana imported into the U.S. comes from Mexico.  Critics of the tough-on-drugs approach contend that Canada’s southern neighbor - which has higher rates of drug use than Europe -- has paid a steep price for its refusal to acknowledge that both drug abuse and drug enforcement have the potential to cause harm.  According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers, over one-third of all AIDS cases in the U.S. are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs.

Further Reading

House of Commons Report

Senate Report

To learn more about heroin maintenance therapies please visit:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/reducingharm/maintenancet/