DRUG CAMPAIGN OVERDUE

The following editorial is from the Vancouver Province.

Last week's report that a new national program designed to prevent
young people from using drugs has received $10 million in federal
funding certainly is good news. The only question is, what took the
feds so long?

After all, it is not as if the perils of illegal drug use among young
people aren't evident, especially in B.C. And it's not as if our
so-called experts are unaware of the effectiveness of media campaigns
in combatting tobacco smoking and drinking and driving.

That is why you'd have thought Ottawa would have taken the same
hard-nosed approach towards illegal drug use. But as Health Minister
Tony Clement noted, there hasn't been a "serious or significant"
anti-drug campaign in almost 20 years. And that's a crying shame.

Taking drugs is decidedly uncool -- and it's high time our young
people were warned about it by our government with every means at its disposal.