SENATOR PUSHES FOR DECRIMINALIZING DRUGS

OTTAWA -- A Tory senator wants the federal government to decriminalize drugs
and take on the task of head pusher.

Pierre Claude Nolin has asked fellow senators to set up a two-year committee
to study drug use in Canada and look at which substances could be legalized.

"I would like to legalize the drugs that aren't harmful," Nolin said.

He said that would let the government control the flow of drugs and cash in
on the Canadian black market, worth an estimated $1.8 billion annually.

"Let's look at that problem not from a criminal point of view but from a
social and health point of view," Nolin suggested.

He hopes the committee's findings will encourage politicians to strike down
criminal laws in favour of health policies.

He suggested that politicians like Ontario Premier Mike Harris, who have
shot down legalizing drugs, should keep close tabs on the committee's
findings.

"I think Harris is not properly informed of the real (problems) of drug use
in Canada or in Ontario," he said.

Nolin's initiative comes on the heels of last week's launch of medical
marijuana clinical trials by Health Minister Allan Rock.

Nolin said that move proves Canadians are ready to follow other countries,
like Switzerland, which have decriminalized drugs.

The Swiss drug supply is now under government control. Doctors prescribe
heroin for addicts, reducing thefts and deaths due to impure products.

Eugene Oscapella, spokesman for the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy,
said he hopes the study will destroy drug-use myths.

"You could be maintained on heroin for the rest of your life and function
quite normally if you had a clean, safe supply of that drug," he explained.
"The harm from heroin comes from the policies we have built around heroin in
this country."

Oscapella called on politicians to lay down their partisanship and
self-interests for the country's best interests.

The debate on whether to set up a committee will resume in the fall, once
senators have studied a report Nolin commissioned on the impact of illegal
drugs in Canada.

He hopes senators will vote on his proposal by December, and the committee
will begin research by the spring.