Health committee  I think we have to distinguish between two types of prevention. One is primary prevention, where we try to prevent people from initiating drug use in the first place. In that regard, we're doing poorly. We invest in programs that have been shown repeatedly to be ineffective, part

Health committee  Sure. Harm reduction really isn't restricted to drug use. It's surprising that it has carried stigma when it's applied in that area. It's in many other things, including light beer and low-nicotine cigarettes. “Don't drink and drive” campaigns are a form of harm reduction. Really

Health committee  Really, what happened in Vancouver is that we had a public health emergency declared because of the epidemics of HIV infection and overdose occurring in that community. To give you a quick perspective, during the height of this emergency we were experiencing anywhere up to 400 i

Health committee  In summary—

Health committee  —despite the fact that addiction and HIV remain major challenges, we are falling behind. More can be done to support innovation in systems, policy, research, and program development. Thank you.

Health committee  Three minutes? I was under the impression I had five minutes.

Health committee  I would like to just take some time to discuss some issues of relevance on the information provided by Dr. Montaner. As he has pointed out, and as I'm sure many of you know, a significant majority of new infections occurring in Canada are among individuals who use illicit drugs.