Drug crackdown praised

OTTAWA - The Canadian Police Association is giving a thumbs up to the
Harper government for promising to get tough on drugs through a new
strategy that is expected to be unveiled this week.

"That is a cornerstone, because a lot of violence is related to
drugs," said the association's president Tony Cannavino, following a
ceremony on Parliament Hill on Sunday to honour officers who had lost
their lives on the job. "The message sent years ago, with the
(marijuana) decriminalization bill, created a lot of problems. A lot
of kids and adults think that it's legalized in Canada, which it's not
and it sent mixed messages here. So we needed to address it really
strongly."

Dropped the Bill

Although the previous Liberal government tabled legislation to
decriminalize possession of small quantities of marijuana, the federal
Conservatives dropped the bill when they took office and it was never
adopted.

The association, that represents more than 50,000 personnel serving in
170 police departments across Canada, has said it isn't opposed to
alternative measures, such as issuing a fine, to deal with minor
incidents of possession of small quantities of marijuana instead of
criminal charges. However, it has called for stronger legislation and
a new system of graduated consequences to prevent and deter drug use.

In the last federal budget, the government announced it would invest
$64-million in a new national anti-drug strategy. The money would be
divided into three categories with about $10 million for prevention,
while $32 million would be spent on treatment for drug addicts and $22
million in new resources to crack down on production and dealers.