Ottawa's war on drugs has been an utter failure, according to a new report that accuses the federal government of focusing too heavily on law enforcement.
The report says Canada's drug strategy puts too much emphasis on law enforcement rather than ways to fight illicit drug use and cut down on the human toll.
The report -- which appears in the HIV/AIDS Policy and Law Review on Monday -- says prevention, treatment and research are underfunded.
The study, which was obtained by The Globe and Mail, comes five years after Canada's Auditor-General issued a report saying the federal drug strategy put too much emphasis on enforcement.
The drug strategy's secretariat has yet to release its first report to taxpayers - a responsibility it's supposed to fulfill every two years, the report says.
The authors of the report also say that barely any of the strategy's initiatives are evaluated for results.
"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," the study team concludes.
The published study used Access to Information and data culled from a variety of government websites to examine how the drug strategy has assigned funds, as well as its success in reducing drug-related harm.
The report's findings include the drug strategy's $245-million budget breakdown:
- Law enforcement consumed 73 per cent
- Treatment received 14 per cent of the budget
- Research received 7 per cent
- Addiction prevention and harm reduction each received 3 per cent
"The overwhelming emphasis continues to be on conventional enforcement-based approaches which are costly and often exacerbate, rather than reduce, drug-related harm," the study says.
The study's authors say illicit drug use is more widespread than ever, as are ensuing health costs, mainly from an increase in HIV infections among injection drug users.
Erik Waddell, spokesman for Health Minister Tony Clement, confirmed to the newspaper that the federal government will be taking a different approach, with even more emphasis on law enforcement.
"Our own national drug strategy is in the works. It's something we've actually been working on for some time," Waddell told The Globe.
"The previous government took its own approach, which we happen to disagree with.
"In every poll, when Canadians are asked whether they want more law enforcement or less, they want more. So the bottom line is that Canada's new government will be taking a different approach."
The study also warns that traditional approaches are rarely evaluated by the government, though Vancouver's safe-injection site has come under an extraordinary amount of attention.
Specifically, the authors finger the widespread DARE program that places police in schools to warn students on the dangers of drugs.
In 2004-05 alone, funds were used to recertify 550 existing DARE officers and train another 150.
"Yet studies published in peer-reviewed journals ... have been consistent in showing that the program does not prevent or delay drug use, nor does it affect future intentions to use drugs," the study says.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will review reports from various agencies before deciding whether to keep Vancouver's safe-injection site open.
