POT TAX COULD FUND DRUG TREATMENT

(CanWest News Services) -- Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell says marijuana
sales should be taxed and the revenue used to fund treatment for the
effects of more serious drugs.

Campbell made the suggestion Saturday in a speech to the annual meeting of
the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.

"Taxes levied on marijuana sales could add to the resources for treatment.
Remember, the B.C. marijuana trade is estimated at $6 billion annually --
larger than construction or forestry," Campbell said.

The former Mountie and coroner also noted that enforcement money freed up
from legalizing pot could support treatment and better policing of other
crimes.

Campbell said he was calling for the regulated sale of marijuana along the
lines of the way that sales are managed for tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.

He cited the case of Amsterdam, noting that the status quo there is
legal-but-regulated cultivation and sales.