RIVAL STRATEGIES FACE OFF AT UN

Eighty Canadians have joined hundreds of world leaders and activists in
signing a petition calling for the liberalization of drug laws. The
petition was presented this week at a special session of the United Nations
General Assembly.

The petition urges the adoption of more innovative measures in dealing with
the drug trade and drug addiction than those afforded by the criminal
justice system.

However, the UN session adopted a hard line in its declared goal of
stemming the world production of heroin, cocaine and marijuana within the
next ten years.

International dignitaries such as former UN secretary-general Javier Perez
de Cuellar, former U.S. state secretary George Shultz and former U.S.
surgeon-general M. Jocelyn Elders were joined in signing by such Canadians
as Senator Sharon Carstairs, New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough,
former Ottawa mayor Marion Dewar, lawyers Clayton Ruby and Edward
Greenspan, and author Jane Jacobs.

The protest is backed by the New York-based Lindesmith Center and
drug-reform groups from around the world. These groups promote such
programs as needle-exchange and heroin maintenance and they lobby for the
decriminalization of street drugs.

Here are two articles, one reprinted from Foreign Affairs Magazine, the
other from the Wall Street Journal, offering very different perspectives on
this volatile issue.

Checked-by: Richard Lake