ANTI-DRUG CONFERENCE ATTRACTS CRITICS

Vancouver - A Vancouver anti-drug conference is being targeted by advocates
of a more permissive approach to illegal drug usage.

The B.C. Marijuana Party held a rally outside the trade and convention
centre, because the International Drug Education and Awareness (IDEA)
symposium is not open to anyone who supports drug use.

B.C. Compassion Club president Hilary Black says the conference is about
oppression, not education.

"The war on drugs hurt people and more tolerant drug laws allow us to deal
with health concerns and deal with real problems around drugs not
oppression," she says.

IDEA's organizers say people like Black have dominated the discussion about
drugs in recent years.

"The ones who are pushing permissiveness and tolerance have had their say
for four or five years and they have only presented the permissive,
tolerant view, which from my point of view has no credibility." says IDEA's
president Linda Bentall.

Bentall says this conference will show how just how dangerous and
ineffective a permissive drug policy is, and how the four pillar approach
to drug awareness promoted by Mayor Philip Owen is not the answer.

Many city councillors including mayoralty candidate Jennifer Clarke are
showing interest in this conference, one that may reveal a shift in
Vancouver's approach to drug policy.