HALIFAX POLICE SAY MARIJUANA LEADS TO HARSHER DRUGS

Halifax Regional Police don't support the Senate committee's
recommendation Wednesday that marijuana be legalized.

They say marijuana is a gateway drug and the money the government will
save on enforcement if it's legalized will be spent on social programs
for addicts.

"It is an illicit drug and we feel that it is a dangerous drug," said
Halifax Regional Police spokesman Sgt. Don Spicer.

"I realize that the report indicates that there's no indication that
it's a gateway drug to anything more harsh, but we feel that it is a
gateway drug."

Spicer said drug addicts have told him they started out trying a
couple of joints of marijuana, and found, after a while, that high
wasn't enough for them so they moved on to harder drugs.

"We would be in favour of alternative justice measures in dealing with
possession of cannabis, but not the legalization," he said.

The force would like to see the courts sentence offenders to drug-
treatment programs instead of jail terms for simple possession
convictions, Spicer said.

The Senate's report that the cost of enforcement is too high doesn't
make sense, he added.

"I don't really think we can put a cost factor on this," he
said.

"If you legalize it to save money, that money is going to be diverted
in other forms, whether it be health care, rehabilitation or enforcing
whatever regulations they put in place."