DRUG CRIMES SKYROCKET

OTTAWA -- Canada's drug-related crime rate has hit a 20-year high - proof
the federal anti-drug strategy has been an abject failure, critics say.
Figures released by Statistics Canada yesterday show the police-reported
crime rate has shot up by 42% since the early 1990s. Youth and young adults
are the biggest offenders, the report reveals.

"This shows their overall drug strategy hasn't worked," said Conservative
MP Peter MacKay.

"One would have to question the wisdom of proceeding with the
decriminalization of marijuana, knowing that there are still all kinds of
negative societal impacts tied directly to cannabis use."

The StatsCan report shows an upward trend since 1993, with more possession,
production and importation offences. Of 93,000 violations of the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act reported by police in 2002, two-thirds were for
possession and 22% for trafficking.

Figures also reveal that young adults aged 18-24 had the highest drug-crime
rate in 2002 and that cannabis was a factor in about 20% of drug-related
homicides.

But NDP MP Pat Martin, whose party wants to legalize marijuana, insisted
weed is rarely a sole factor in violent crime. He called it "sheer folly"
that the Liberal government would try to combat drug abuse with harsh fines
and the heavy hand of the law instead of public education.

"It's madness to clog up our judicial system trying to lock up a whole
generation of kids," he said. "And it's clearly not working."

Liberal MP Dan McTeague, who lashed out against his own government's pot
decriminalization bill in the House of Commons yesterday, called the
release of the StatsCan report a "sad day" for a nation that strives to be
drug-free.

"We're losing the battle against drugs," he said.