DRUG CZAR SPEAKS AGAINST LEGALIZING POT

EAST LANSING - White House drug czar John Walters toured the Crossroads
youth shelter Friday and spoke out against efforts to relax drug
laws. Walters, a Lansing native, said he will fight efforts in Nevada and
Arizona to legalize small amounts of marijuana.

Those measures are on the Nov. 5 ballot. He said legalization sends the
wrong message to young people and will lead to more drug problems. "No
public health program attacks the disease while stimulating the way that
disease is carried and spread," he said. He said he was following efforts
to legalize marijuana in Canada. Such a move would reverse recent efforts
to streamline border security between the United States and Canada, he said.