TORIES TOUT DRUG CRACKDOWN

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

The Tories decided last year not to go ahead with a Liberal bill to
decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, but Clement said many young
people are unaware pot has not been decriminalized.

Illicit drugs also cost the health-care system money, the minister
said.

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