HINTON NO FAN OF GREENS - OR GREEN

A debate on what Canada should do with its marijuana laws always seems
to pop up anytime there is a whiff of a federal election.

And with minority government always a vote away from defeat, the Green
Party of Canada is raising the issue in its party platform.

The Greens would legalize pot, controlling it and taxing it like
alcohol and tobacco in hopes of taking billions of dollars away from
organized crime and gangs.

The governing Conservative party's website attacked the Green's
election platform, in part because of its call to legalize marijuana.

But that attack suits local Green Party hopeful Donovan Cavers just
fine.

He said polls show that a majority - 55 per cent - of Canadians side
with his party's position that marijuana should be legal, and he wants
to see the herb treated more like a health issue.

"It's kind of a double standard if you're trying to treat people with
drug problems at the same time it's illegal," he said.

But Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Conservative MP Betty Hinton doesn't
appear to have much time for the Green's policy.

When contacted by KTW and asked for a comment on the issue, Hinton
responded via e-mail: "Unfortunately, I have no comment to make on the
Green party policy you are asking about. I have not read it and
wouldn't consider it relevant even if I had. The Green party does not
have a single member elected to Parliament and therefore has no part
in drafting legislation of any kind. Their views on issues are just
that - their views. If you'd like to discuss any issues that are
relevant either nationally or locally currently, please feel free to
contact me as you have today."

Cavers believes the Conservatives will run into trouble with voters
over the issue because of their philosophy of prohibition.

"It's proven [prohibition] doesn't really work because there is still
a lot of drug use," he said, noting that, if anything, drug use has
increased.