Pubdate: Fri, 05 Mar 2004
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Lena Sin

POINT ROBERTS RESIDENTS' FORUM SLAMS CANADA'S 'LAX DRUG LAWS'

A U.S. prosecutor now says he has no evidence that marijuana seized at the 
Peace Arch border crossing from a 16-year-old Point Roberts girl on a 
school bus was B.C. pot.

Whatcom County deputy prosecutor Thomas Verge had told The Province earlier 
this week that the pot appeared to be from B.C.

But that didn't stop Point Roberts residents from accusing Canada at a 
community forum last night of having lax drug laws. "It's so easy and 
entirely cheap to get marijuana in Canada that this problem isn't going to 
stop," said resident Gary Kunze.

Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo agreed. "Canada's lax drug laws contribute 
to the situation," he said. "I think that's a decision that the Canadian 
government is going to have to address. They're getting laxer and laxer and 
they're starting to spill over into the U.S."

Nearly 200 parents and teens packed the Point Roberts Community Center last 
night to address concerns of pot smuggling after Kaitlyn O'Neill, a Grade 
10 Point Roberts girl, was arrested Feb. 20.

O'Neill is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to 
deliver for allegedly transporting 3.6 kilograms of pot worth $25,000 US on 
a school bus to Blaine, Wash.

This is the fourth case since October in which teens were allegedly used as 
drug mules to smuggle pot suspected of originating from B.C. into the U.S.

Parents said the problem isn't new and that the police presence in Point 
Roberts and at the border isn't strong enough.

"When something is so easy, how do you tell a 16-year-old, gee, don't grab 
for it?" said parent Darlene Gibbs.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is probing the case because it 
involved the border, Verge said.

"I don't think it's a matter of finger-pointing," he said. "It's a matter 
of asking how could we let this happen? When you get to the point where 
drug traffickers are using teenagers on their way to school to move drugs, 
we've got a problem as a society . . . This case should make everyone very, 
very sad."
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