Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
We have been talking a lot about the First Do No Harm report over the last hour and a half. The report goes into the government's anti-drug strategy. The abuse of medication works on a continuum. The people who abuse medications, drugs, even if they do it innocently at the outset, get caught on a slippery slope. They always want more of the same drug, or they want a drug that gives them a greater effect. I see a systematic, societal problem there. Since 2010, Canada ranks first or second in the world in per capita opioid consumption. The situation is very critical and I think we have to look at the big picture.
Mr. Barnes, what I liked about your answers was that you really put the emphasis on why the people are abusing those types of drugs. They are essentially in pain, and they just need some relief, physical or mental, from what they're experiencing. We know that in 2007 the Conservative government removed from the anti-drug strategy of Canada the fourth pillar, which was to reduce harm. Nowadays, we do speak a lot about whether this pillar is really important in the overall strategy in Canada to make sure Canadians are living drug-free.
For the past couple of years, this pillar has been removed and the funding across Canada that is tied to reducing harm has been cut.
Do you think that in 2013 we are ready to put it back into the overall anti-drug strategy, or do you feel that we should just leave it aside?