Pubdate: Mon, 13 Oct 2003
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168

UNFUNNY POT SHOTS

U.S. anti-drug czar John Walters makes no secret of his intense dislike for 
Canadian moves toward more relaxed marijuana laws. He objects to 
decriminalizing pot use and doesn't even want the stuff distributed to sick 
people for medicinal reasons.

Mr. Walters is so irate he can't see the humour in Prime Minister Jean 
Chretien's recent remarks about perhaps trying pot in retirement once it 
becomes legal. He told a Washington think-tank that Canadians are "ashamed" 
of their Prime Minister.

And he went even further, calling Canada "the once place in the hemisphere 
where things are going the wrong [way]" in the war on drugs.

That's in contrast to his high praise for Colombia, which has managed to 
reduce coca cultivation by 15 per cent in the past year. That doesn't make 
much of a dent in world supply and isn't much of a return on the more than 
$25-billion (U.S.) handed over to Colombia in the past three years 
specifically to combat cocaine production and trafficking.

Nor can Mr. Walters point to any great victories on U.S. soil, where strong 
demand remains the biggest problem, and where several states are following 
the Canadian example of looking for alternatives to unrealistic penalties 
for simple marijuana possession.

The man plainly needs a rest. Perhaps a Valium would help.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens