POT NOT A CONSERVATIVE PRIORITY

OTTAWA - The conservative government wants people to do more
jail time for marijuana offenses, but they won't be repealing the
country's medical-use laws.

Conservative Justice Minister Vic Toews said they will not criminalize
medicinal pot, but have no intention of supporting the
decriminalization of marijuana.

"All we have said is that marijuana is not a priority issue for us,"
Toews said in a scrum after the throne speech on April 4. "If there is
appropriate medical use of marijuana we will not change that."

Stephen Harper told the Canadian Professional Police Association on
April 3 that he would introduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug
dealers and marijuana grow operations.

He also said he would not reintroduce the Liberal government's
decriminalization bill. The Liberal bill had been in the works since
the Chretien administration.

"If we legalize drugs like marijuana, it will make it easier for our
children to get hold of it," Harper said during his speech.

"That is why my government is opposed to legalizing drugs--especially
because of the damage it can do to our cities and our communities
because of increased addiction and crime."

A national awareness campaign to discourage young people from getting
addicted to drugs is also part of the Conservative strategy.

But these measures may not be the right way to go about reducing
crime. Kirk Tousaw from the B.C. Marijuana Party says the Conservative
government is going in the wrong direction with its drug strategy.

"It is easy to appear to be tough on crime, talking about punishing
people more harshly, but in reality, those kinds of policies and
prohibition in general aren't tough on crime--they increase crime and
make our streets and towns less safe," Tousaw said.

Tousaw argues that the prohibition of marijuana is causing many of the
problems associated with the drug, from turf wars between drug
sellers, to the easy access for minors, and the possibility of
adulterated products.

"Mandatory minimum sentences and this so-called get tough approach,
which has been on display in the United States for at least the last
20 years, have failed there to make any positive impact," he said.