DO NOT GO SOFT ON POT, U.S. DRUG CZAR WARNS US

QUEBEC -- Now's the time to step up the war against marijuana -- not to
decriminalize it, not to use it for medicinal purposes and certainly not to
make it legal, the United States' drug-policy chief said yesterday.

Canada is free to have its medicinal-marijuana program, but the drug is
dangerous and the American government doesn't agree with the idea, said
John Walters, director of national drug policy and cabinet member under
President George W. Bush.

Marijuana is the most heavily abused drug in the U.S. and addiction rates
have risen in recent years, he said during a two-day trip to Canada.

Of the 4.3 million Americans suffering drug addiction, 65 per cent are
dependent on marijuana, he said.

"If we're going to effectively face the dependency problem in the United
States today, we have to begin doing a better job with marijuana, as well
as cocaine, alcohol and the other drugs of abuse," Walters added.

Arguments about marijuana include whether to approve the drug for medicinal
purposes, to fully legalize it or to decriminalize it, which means the drug
would not be legal but users would not be penalized.