CANADA-U.S. BORDER TUNNEL SHOWS DRUG WAR IS TWO-WAY STREET

Those pushing for the legalization of marijuana and other illegal
drugs always argue that soft-on-drugs Canada can and must go it alone
in overhauling its drug policies -- and to hell with hard-ass Uncle Sam.

But the sophisticated, U.S.-Canada border tunnel that was shut down
Wednesday, after being monitored for months by law-enforcement
officials for both countries, gives the lie to that notion.

It shows better than any high-sounding political pronouncements why
it is that the war on drugs -- or whatever you want to call it -- is
a joint problem for Canada and the United States.

As the softwood lumber and mad cow disputes have shown, our nations
are inextricably linked. We are literally each other's biggest
trading partners.

That much is evident from the discovery of this 110-metre passageway
allegedly being used to smuggle marijuana between Aldergrove and Lynden, Wash.

Running at a depth of one to three metres, it was constructed right
under the nose of border officials. And it took more than a year to build.

Three B.C. men now have been charged in Washington state with
conspiracy to distribute and import marijuana. And it'll be
interesting to see what sentences they receive, if convicted. Our
betting is they'll be far stiffer than anything the B.C. courts could muster.

America takes both border security and the illegal drug trade very seriously.

Maybe it's time Canada did as well.