Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the witnesses.
Time is limited, and there's a lot of ground to cover.
First, Dr. Ford, I share your concerns around the rates of infectious disease in our prison system. I'm wondering specifically whether you have any information on the impact the government's strategy of zero tolerance towards drugs has had on infectious disease. We know that millions of dollars have been spent, which random testing has shown have had no impact on the use of drugs in prisons. In some cases it has gone down 1%; in other cases, it has shown drug use up 1%.
What I'm hearing anecdotally is that the strategy has had a major impact on the rate of infectious disease; people are using dirtier needles and methods of getting drugs. That creates a huge health concern, and not just in the prison population. I think sometimes we don't consider that over 90% of inmates then come out, and that this creates a major health issue for the population more generally.
Do you have any specific figures on the impact this government's strategy is having in relation to infectious disease?