POLICE SEIZE $500,000 IN DRUGS LAST YEAR

BORDEN-CARLETON - Last year was a bumper year for drug seizures in
Borden-Carleton, with an estimated $500,000 plus of narcotics seized
in that municipality, the majority of the haul from vehicles.

Police Chief Jamie Fox said he didn't have precise figures available,
but he believes the value of the seized drugs was dramatically higher
than the year before.

Most of the drugs were hashish or marijuana, said Fox, noting a
disturbing trend in which there seemed to be a rising incidence of
drugs used in vehicles, and though drivers generally weren't the ones
consuming the drugs, they were often still at risk of becoming
impaired, since passengers would be smoking hash or marijuana.

He compared it the situation to non-smokers who are exposed to
second-hand tobacco smoke.

Fox's findings were reflected across the country in a Statistics
Canada report confirming Canadian police forces laid a record number
of drug-related charges in 2002.

Richard Thibault, communications officer for the RCMP in P.E.I., also
confirmed larger seizures and increased arrests.

He said there has been a number of new developments over the past few
years that have complicated enforcement efforts, including new strains
of pot that have higher THC concentrations and offer a more potent
"high" for users.

"The joint that you buy today would have many times more THC (the
ingredient that makes marijuana intoxicating) than what would have
been available 15 or 20 years ago," stated Thibault, in an interview
with The Guardian.

And there has been greater use of so-called "medical" marijuana to
ease the pain and discomfort of patients with serious illnesses, such
as cancer.

And then there's the growing popularity of cannabis cafes in
communities throughout the country, where users are able to sit around
and inhale hash or marijuana.

Thibault also credits better investigative techniques and greater
co-operation among law enforcement agencies throughout the Island for
rising numbers of drug-related charges.

Between 1992 and 2002 there was a 52 per cent increase in arrests, he
said, in published reports.

Three quarters of the incidents were for pot.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has organized a country-wide campaign to
convince Prime Minister Paul Martin to delay passage of legislation
that would reduce penalties for possession of marijuana and hashish.

Proposed new federal legislation would make it a misdemeanor for
simple possession, replacing current laws which place possession under
the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Fox, meanwhile, says there is a sizeable segment of the drug-using
population that seems to treat drug consumption in vehicles with a
relaxed, casual attitude.

He repeated earlier concerns about drivers becoming impaired after
inhaling smoke from cannabis consumed by passengers.