DAILY NEWS TOPS POT `RAD-SCALE,' FRASER INSTITUTE SAYS

The Daily News smokes the competition when it comes to radical drug content,
according to Canada's leading conservative think-tank. The Fraser Institute
examined this paper, The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, The Gazette of
Montreal, and CBC's National Magazine to determine how progressive they were
last year on the issue of drug policy reform.

It focused on 122 reports that contained the words drug, drugs, legalize,
legalization, decriminalize and decriminalization. The institute gave no
points to reports supporting the status quo, one point for advocating harm
reduction, two points for decriminalization and three points for
legalization. "The Halifax Daily News was the most `radical' of the
newspapers with a score of 66, and CBC's National Magazine the least radical
with a score of 21," says the study published in the June issue of Fraser
Forum. This newspaper came out on top because of its letters to the editor,
said Fraser Forum researcher Kate Morrison. "It was the fact that so many
people had written letters to The Halifax Daily News in support of
legalization that resulted in you topping the rad-scale," said Morrison. The
On Balance section of the Fraser Forum - where the results appear - studies
a "wide variety of public policy issues," she said. Morrison said she chose
to look at mostly port cities for the comparison. "I felt that they would
have probably the most crime associated with drugs," she said. "But then I
never had time to do the research to see if indeed that was the case."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett