Canada's 2003 renewed drug strategy--an evidence-based review

About three-quarters of the resources of Canada's Drug Strategy are directed towards enforcement-related efforts, despite a lack of scientific evidence to support this approach and little, if any, evaluation of the impacts of this investment. In this feature article, Kora deBeck, Evan Wood, Julio Montaner and Thomas Kerr report on a study that examined expenditures and activities related to the Drug Strategy as renewed in 2003. The article reviews the effectiveness of the Strategy in light of current scientific evidence pertaining to the reduction of drug-related harm. The authors find that although the Drug Strategy promised to remain accountable and regularly report its progress, information pertaining ot the evaluation of teh Strategy remains limited. Further, Canada's Drug Strategy has not seized the opportunity to promote a national standard of care that reduces the most deadly harms associated with illicit drug use. The authors conclude that from a scientific perspective, Canada's Drug Strategy should make it a priority to ensure that federal funds are directed towards cost-effective, evidence-based prevention, treatment and harm reduction services, and that these services should be available to all Canadians.