Madam Speaker, I am here to discuss a question I asked the Minister of Health on September 30 when the good news was received throughout Canada that the Supreme Court of Canada had ruled that Insite, the safe injection site in Vancouver, cannot be shut down by the Conservative government because it saves lives.
I asked the Minister of Health if she would accept the ruling of the Supreme Court and commit to stopping the government's attack on Insite. She responded that she would be reviewing the decision. I am now hoping that the decision has been reviewed, accepted and will now be followed by the government.
There is no question that drug addiction remains a major health problem in Canada. It costs Canada approximately $5 billion annually in economic costs including health care, lost productivity, property crime and enforcement. For example, in Vancouver an estimated 70% of criminal activity is associated with illicit drugs and roughly 63% of federal offenders have drug abuse problems. It is a major problem.
It is also a health problem. We are beginning to understand the neuroscience of addiction. We now know that drugs actually change the neural pathways in the brain making it difficult for addicts to cease using drugs permanently. As is the case with other neurological disorders, it causes changes in the brain and is actually a health problem.
The public wants the government to assist in the humanitarian effort to save lives. It wants the government to take the social objective of reducing drug addiction and the crimes associated with it seriously. It would also like government to pay attention to fiscal concerns and the responsible spending of tax dollars in doing so. In terms of those issues, I would contend that the Conservative government is working against the priorities of Canadians and not getting the job done.
The science is in on saving lives: Insite saves lives. There have been well over 20 peer-reviewed studies showing that. In one year there have been zero cases of overdoses among the drug users who have been supervised at Insite compared to over 200 overdose-related deaths on the streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Therefore, Insite does save lives.
In terms of reducing drug addiction and crime, it is becoming increasingly clear that treatment is a more effective and less expensive method. We see legislators in Texas wagging their fingers at the Canadian government because they believe our approach is wrong.
I heard in committee two weeks ago that the government has spent $122 million in increased security costs to prevent drugs from getting into prisons but at the same time it has reduced treatment program availability to addicted inmates by $2 million. Why would it reduce the treatment programs when treatment is the most effective method of dealing with that crime? For example, $1 spent on treatment will achieve the same reduction in the flow of cocaine as will over $7 spent on enforcement. The government has it backwards.
It is not getting the job done and is spending more tax dollars on its failed corrections policies and its failed tough-on-drugs approach. Fighting against Insite, which the government has done for the last few years, is just a testament to its approach, which is ideology over evidence.