VANCOUVER'S MAYOR SEES SILVER LINING IN LEGALIZING AND TAXING MARIJUANA

(CP) -- Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell says marijuana sales should be taxed
and the revenue used to fund treatment for the effects of more serious drugs.

He made the suggestion Saturday in a speech to the annual meeting of the
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. "Remember, the B.C. marijuana
trade is estimated at $6-billion annually -- larger than construction or
forestry," Mr Campbell said.

The former Mountie and coroner said he was calling for the regulated sale
of marijuana along the lines of tobacco and alcohol. He cited the case of
Amsterdam, where the status quo is legal-but-regulated cultivation and
sales. He said studies show marijuana use among Dutch schoolchildren has
fallen.