TORIES TO DRUG USERS: THE PARTY'S OVER

Stiffer Penalties, More Treatment on Agenda

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 Canadian Press.

"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 jumping by more
than one third.

Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax all reported increases of
between 20% and 50% 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 that
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,"
he 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 suggest to young people
that using illicit drugs is OK, the minister said.

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

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.

Clement said treatment and prevention programs were his key priorities
for the health element of the drug strategy.

"Yes, there's a justice issue to that," he said. "But there's also a
treatment issue, there's also a prevention issue."

Clement has suggested in the past that he opposes so-called
harm-reduction strategies for combating illegal drug use, including
safe-injection sites where nurses provide addicts with clean needles
and a safe place to use drugs.