RAPE DRUGS CRIMINAL 'WEAPONS': ALLIANCE MP

A Canadian Alliance MP paid a visit to Carleton University yesterday to launch
a two-week nationwide campaign to have date-rape drugs classified as weapons
under the Criminal Code.

"Date rape drugs are weapons used against women," said James Moore, an MP from
B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

The 27-year-old politician is trying to gather support for his private member's
motion to have drugs such as GHB and Rohypnol legally classified as weapons. By
making the punishment more severe, the "cowardly" men who use these drugs to
attack women might be dissuaded from doing so, said Moore. "Canadians are
concerned about date-rape drugs. They are concerned about sexual assault," he
said.

PETITIONS

The motion also seeks the creation of new national guidelines to help in the
collection and documentation of evidence in sexual assault.

Carleton University is just one of 48 campuses across the country where
information pamphlets and petitions supporting the motion are being
distributed.

Clayton Erickson, president of the university's Canadian Alliance campus club,
said date-rape drugs are a problem at universities and colleges across the
country.

"It's a big issue and it really needs to be addressed," he said.

Erickson, 19, said he has known women who fell victim to date-rape drugs.

"It pretty much ruins their lives, it affects their family, it affects the
person themself."