GREEN'S PRUESSE IMPRESSES WITH POT TALK

Local News - If elections were decided by applause meters in high school
gymnasiums, Green party candidate Nina Pruesse could be Simcoe North's next
representative at Queen's Park.

When Pruesse told 850 Park Street Collegiate students that her party would
legalize marijuana she received by far the loudest applause and cheering
during a political forum Monday morning.

Pruesse was responding to a question from a student during an
all-candidates debate in the school gymnasium.

Though drug laws are a federal responsibility, provincial candidates in
Simcoe North were happy to lay out their national policies for the students.

The Liberal party does not favour legalization, but supports
decriminalization of small amounts of the drug, said Liberal candidate Paul
Sloan.

"That offence should not carry a criminal record through your life."

Instead possession of small quantities of marijuana should be punished by
fines, said Sloan, who received a slightly less enthusiastic applause than
Pruesse.

NDP candidate John Niddery said treating small quantities differently than
large amounts is inconsistent. "Either it's legal or it's not. We have to
come to a consensus, just like they did with alcohol."

Niddery's answer received polite applause.

Simcoe North incumbent Garfield Dunlop did not attend the forum, so his
views were not expressed or tested on the applause meter.

Despite the enthusiastic applause for legalization by the student body,
individual students interviewed after the forum opposed the idea for the
most part.

Grade 12 student Luc Robertson said decriminalizing pot could lead to more
impaired driving.

"If you're driving and high, there's a better chance of an accident," said
Robertson. "It should be a criminal offence."

Grade 11 student Krista Doubrough says she's seen good kids' lives ruined
by smoking too much dope.

"They get in with the wrong crowd. It affects their school work."

Laura Cutler was the only student interviewed to support complete
legalization. "It's all about freedom and the right to choose," Cutler said.