TORIES TO UNVEIL GET-TOUGH DRUG STRATEGY

OTTAWA -- Health Minister Tony Clement will announce the Conservative
government's anti-drug strategy this week with a stark warning: "the
party's over" for illicit drug users.

"In the next few days, we're going to be back in the business of an
anti-drug strategy," Clement told The CP.

"In that sense, the party's over."

Shortly after taking office early last year, the Conservatives decided
not to go ahead with a Liberal bill to decriminalize small amounts of
marijuana.

Since then, the number of people arrested for smoking pot has jumped
dramatically in several Canadian cities, in some cases by more than
one third.

Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax all reported increases of
between 20 and 50 per cent in 2006 of arrests for possession of
cannabis, compared with the previous year.

As a result, thousands of people were charged with a criminal offence
that, under the previous Liberal government, was on the verge of being
classified as a misdemeanour.

Police forces said many young people were under the impression the
decriminalization bill had already passed and were smoking up more
boldly than they've ever done before.

Clement says his government wants to clear up the uncertainty.

"There's been a lot of mixed messages going out about illicit drugs,"
Clement said in an interview yesterday after a symposium designed to
bring together Canada's arts and health communities to combat mental
health issues.

There's also a health-care cost element to suggesting to young people
that using illicit drugs is OK, the minister said.

"The fact of the matter is they're unhealthy," Clement
said.

"They create poor health outcomes."

For too long, Clement argues, governments in Canada have been sending
the wrong message about drug use. It's time, he says, to take a
tougher approach to dealing with the problem.

"There hasn't been a meaningful retooling of our strategy to tackle
illicit drugs in over 20 years in this country," Clement said.

"We're going to be into a different world and take tackling these
issues very seriously because (of) the impact on the health and safety
of our kids."

The Conservatives' wide-ranging $64 million anti-drug strategy is
expected to combine treatment and prevention programs with stiffer
penalties for illicit drug use, and a crackdown at the border against
drug smuggling.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Stockwell
Day will join Clement in announcing the plan as part of a range of
initiatives to be unveiled by the Tories surrounding next month's
throne speech.