SENATOR SEES TAX BONANZA IN HEROIN, COCAINE

B.C. Sen. Ed Lawson says cocaine and heroin should be sold in government
liquor stores to curb fatal drug overdoses and boost tax revenues.

Speaking yesterday in Vancouver to the Senate special committee on illicit
drugs, Lawson said government-regulated sales of hard drugs would ensure
quality control.

". . . We've lost the war on drugs. Maybe we should have a section in the
liquor store to sell heroin and cocaine, so that the government could
control quality and so the billions of dollars in sales could be taxed," he
said.

Lawson was joined by B.C. colleague Sen. Pat Carney in advocating a formal
debate on the legalization of marijuana. Canadian Alliance MP Keith Martin
introduced a private members' bill on decriminalization yesterday.

Dr. Mark Tyndall, who treats AIDS/HIV patients at St. Paul's Hospital, said
16 of 18 beds for HIV patients are now used by "frequent flyers," who're
intravenous drug users. Tyndall said pot should be decriminalized and hard
drugs dispensed in clinics so millions in enforcement costs can be
redirected to health care.

Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen said the city's anti-drug plan, which will
spend $2.1 million on four clinics and $550,000 on cleaning up the open-air
drug market at Main and Hastings, is "in place and already working."

He cited an overdose death toll of fewer than 75 so far this year, compared
with an average of about 150 deaths each year since 1997.