The Conservative government is set to announce its $64 million anti-drug strategy next week in an effort to clarify its get-tough approach to illegal drugs in Canada.
Health Minister Tony Clement said Saturday that the plan will show that the government is "back in the business of an anti-drug strategy."
"In that sense, the party's over,'' Clement told The Canadian Press.
The new strategy will focus on a combined prevention and treatment initiative with harsher penalties for illicit drug use and a crackdown against drug smuggling at the border.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day will join Clement for the announcement, which is one in a series of Conservative initiatives expected in next month's throne speech.
"There hasn't been a meaningful retooling of our strategy to tackle illicit drugs in over 20 years in this country,'' said Clement.
Marijuana use
The Conservatives quashed a bill from the previous Liberal government decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana shortly after coming to power last year, despite support for the resolution in the House of Commons from every other party.
Since then, drug-related arrests have spiked dramatically across the country with a number of Canadian cities reporting arrest increases by more than one-third.
Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax all reported increases of between 20 and 50 per cent in 2006 of arrests for possession of cannabis, compared with 2005 statistics.
Police forces said many people believed the Liberal bill had passed, prompting users to spark up in public without fear of reprisal.
As a result, thousands of people were charged with criminal offences that would have been classified as a misdemeanour under the previous Liberal government.
Legal experts argued earlier this year that inconsistencies in Canada's marijuana laws made it difficult for the justice system to handle the sudden influx of possession cases brought before the courts under the Conservative government's new focus on enforcement.
Clement says the new Tory plan will work to clear up any uncertainties about the use of illicit drugs.
He said previous governments in Canada have been sending the wrong message about drug use.
"We're going to be into a different world and take tackling these issues very seriously because (of) the impact on the health and safety of our kids.''
Safe-injection sites vulnerable
In the past, Clement has vocalized his opposition to harm reduction strategies like safe injection sites, where nurses provide clean needles and safe havens to illicit drug users.
At a Canadian Medical Association meeting last month, Clement was quoted saying "harm reduction, in a sense, takes many forms. To me, prevention is harm reduction. Treatment is harm reduction. Enforcement is harm reduction.''
Advocates say the sites help to prevent the spread of deadly diseases like AIDS and Hepatitis by reducing the number of needles shared.
Dr. Keith Martin, a British Columbia Liberal MP and former substance-abuse physician, agrees with penalties for people who sell illegal drugs but wonders why the Conservatives would target users, a strategy proven to be unsuccessful in other countries.
"I can't understand why the Conservatives are embracing a war-on-drugs approach that has proven to fail,'' Martin told CP.
"By all means, go after the pushers. By all means, absolutely go after the organized crime gangs that are the real parasites in this situation... But for heaven's sake, treat the user as a medical problem and adopt the solutions that have proven to work in other countries.''
With files from The Canadian Press
