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International Narcotics Control Board Annual Report Denies Effective Harm Reduction Methods

Amid a variety of findings and recommendations of the annual International Narcotics Control Board report, specific Canada programs and policies recieved significant attention. According to the March 5, 2008 Ottawa Citizen article,("Shut Down Injection Sites, Canada Told")' The head of the United Nations drug control board put the federal government on notice yesterday to rein in provincial and other health authorities deemed to be flouting international treaties aimed at combating illicit drug use. However, health groups running them say the programs aim to help drug abusers kick the habit, or at least not to become any sicker. They've pushed to keep them operational despite successive the board's calls for them to close."

According to the article, "The new report says Canada should end regional handouts of drug paraphernalia and close 'injection sites' where drug users are allowed to consume illicit drugs under supervision. Specifically mentioned is the 'safer crack kit' that the Vancouver Island Health Authority was giving away, while Ottawa and Toronto are listed as cities where similar distribution programs are under way. Each crack kit typically includes a rubber mouthpiece so that the drug abuser does not burn his or her mouth and risk infection, plus 'push sticks' to prepare drugs for consumption. However, the report says the kits' distribution contravenes an article in the 1988 UN anti-drug trafficking convention that Canada signed. The article says governments should not allow trade in drug equipment."

The article adds, "In calling for a ban on drug injection sites, the report is repeating a call made last year that mainly focused on the Vancouver facility Insite, which bills itself as a 'clean, safe environment where users can inject their own drugs off the streets.' The board has said the Insite facility contravenes a 1961 treaty signed by Canada. It says countries should pass laws ensuring drugs are used only for medical or scientific purposes. The Conservative government has toughened illicit drug laws through its National Anti-Drug Strategy, but late last year it extended, until June 30, a special exemption from federal drug enforcement laws for the Insite facility. In a bid to free itself from even the need for a federal government exemption, Insite has appealed to the British Columbia Supreme Court to rule it is a health facility that is constitutionally under provincial jurisdiction. In a campaign against the findings, it has also argued that the board itself called for a legal opinion from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime that found 'harm-reduction' programs did not violate the UN treaties."

A copy of the report, "Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2007," is available from the CSDP research archive.

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