TORIES PROMISE TOUGH NEW 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 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,"
Clement said 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.

"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.