OTTAWA'S ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN A FIX THAT'S LONG OVERDUE

Rarely does an announcement by Ottawa about its spending of
taxpayers' hard-earned money fill us with great pleasure.

But 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 this province.

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.

Thanks to a series of advertising blitzes over the years, puffing on
cigarettes has gone from something considered "cool" for young people
to something viewed as dirty and unhealthy. And driving drunk is no
longer thought of by most folks as a "fun" activity.

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.