BENTALL MONEY GOING TO FIGHT DRUG LIBERALIZATION

A prominent Vancouver woman is organizing a conference next May to
challenge the country's move towards more liberal drug policies.

Lynda Bentall, whose husband Robert is the retired chairman of the Bentall
Corporation, has formed a group called the International Drug Education and
Awareness Society (IDEAS) to put on the symposium, for which she's willing
to supply $200,000 in funding.

Bentall, who opposes the medical use of marijuana, is taking out ads in
local and national papers listing the dangers of marijuana use and needle
exchanges and touting the benefits of Sweden's zero-tolerance drug policy.
"There's not a qualified physician that would say an AIDS patient or a
cancer patient should smoke marijuana," said Bentall, who says she's never
smoked pot.

"The point is, marijuana is an intoxicant and some people like it. This is
the biggest scam that has ever been brought to Canada."

Bentall said she wants to stimulate debate because politicians appear to be
moving forward on something they don't understand. "This is very much an
issue that's relevant to all Canadians. Most people have not been consulted
on this," she said. "We have a responsibility to not just sit and complain
about it."

About 3,200 delegates, including representatives from policing, educational
and government agencies across the country, have been invited to attend the
conference. About 100 students from the Lower Mainland will also be
selected to participate for free in the event, which normally costs $425
per person.

Experts from the United States and as far away as Sweden are expected to
give presentations. They include Christy A. McCampbell, PhD, a former
undercover cop and senior special agent in charge of the California
Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's San Jose office;
Wade West, a media advisor who serves members of U.S. President George W.
Bush's cabinet; and Ernst Aeschbach, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in
private practice in Switzerland, and an advisor to the Drug Free America
Foundation.

Groups like the Compassion Club, which make pot available to the sick, have
not been invited, however. "Why would we do that?" Bentall said. "The
Compassion Club-that's not scientific evidence, that's opinion. It's a
scam. There's not one bit of evidence that smoking marijuana is good medicine."

Bentall said she became interested in the drug issue through running the
Ailanthus Achievement Centre on Commercial Drive, a performing arts group
for inner-city students. The centre is located next door to a methadone
clinic and kitty corner to the Compassion Club. "We see drug deals
happening outside our window every day. We watch teenagers going in [the
Compassion Club] by the line-up," Bentall said. "It's become this huge
toxic social problem."

All the speakers at the conference oppose liberalization of drug laws,
Bentall said. "It's a question of the validity of the studies. Every
leading expert around the world comes to the same conclusion. It's not that
we have chosen people for a viewpoint. They all end up being against
liberalization. All educated people on the topic end up being conservative."

The IDEAS symposium is being presented on May 1 to 3 in partnership with
the Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. and the Drug Prevention Network of
the Americas.

Two Vancouver police officers, Toby Hinton and Al Arsenault-members of Odd
Squad Productions, a group of Downtown Eastside officers who educate the
public on drug issues-are listed as vice-presidents on IDEAS's board of
directors.

Bentall said Hinton and Arsenault are participating as regular citizens,
not as members of the Vancouver Police Department.