PRESTON SAYS HE'S NEVER TOUCHED POT

No need to ask Preston Manning if he's ever inhaled - he says he's never
even touched the stuff. It was the first question fired at the visiting
Reform leader yesterday during a question and answer session at Hillcrest
high school.

A young teenage girl demanded he explain what he intended to do "for the
marijuana smokers of Ontario."

"I would like to discourage marijuana smoking," Manning told 400 rowdy
students to a huge round of boos.

Although the kids didn't ask him if he'd ever smoked pot - U.S. President
Bill Clinton claimed he did, but never inhaled - reporters pressed the
Reform boss on it.

"No, I haven't. No I haven't," said Manning. "I never felt the necessity to
do it. I never thought much about it."

Manning said he approaches pot smoking from an environmental standpoint. He
told the packed auditorium that high school students are the most outspoken
segment in society when it comes to demanding clean air and water.

"There's no point in trying to clean up the air and clean up the water if
we're going to ingest chemicals that we don't have to ingest. I would
suggest the government should discourage any kind of chemical dependence."

The Liberal government is currently considering a police proposal to soften
drug laws. Under the proposal, police would have the option of issuing
fines to someone caught with 30 grams or less of marijuana or a derivative,
rather than the current maximum of six months in jail or a $2,000 fine.