Breaking Political News

Updated Mon. Jan. 15 2007 7:43 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

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 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.

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In the Talmud of the Jewish tradition, the sage Hillel said: What is hateful to you, do not do to others. This is the whole of the Law; all the rest is commentary.

In the Hindu legend of the Mahabharata, the divine Krishna declared:
This is the sum of duty: Do nothing unto others which would cause you pain
if done to you.

In the Gospel of Matthew in the Christian scriptures, the messiah Jesus says:
Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

In the Buddhist text of the Udanavarga, the student is urged:
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

In the Muslim Hadith of al Nawawi, the prophet Mohammed teaches:
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he
desires for himself.

In the T'ai Shang treatise of Taoism, the seeker is instructed:
Regard your neighbor's gain as your gain, and your neighbor's loss as your
own loss.

In the ancient wisdom of Shinto there is a saying: The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.

The Oglala Lakota spiritual leader Black Elk wrote:
All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves.