Pubdate: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 Source: Kamloops This Week (CN BC) Copyright: 2013 Kamloops This Week Contact: http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1271 Author: Andrea Klassen MP McLeod: MARIJUANA USE SHOULD NOT GUIDE LAWS Kamloops' Conservative MP doesn't think Canada's laws on marijuana should be guided by whether or not MPs have smoked pot. "If you talked to people in Kamloops and you said, 'Listen, when you were younger, a kid, did you ever take a candy bar from a grocery store?' You might have a lot of people who say they did do that," Cathy McLeod told KTW. "Just because we have a lot of people that indicate they do something, that's not any reason to change laws or make laws." In an interview with Huffington Post Canada this week, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said he has smoked marijuana about a half-dozen times, noting he has used the drug since he was elected to Parliament in 2008. Trudeau is advocating for legalization of marijuana in Canada and believes government regulation of the drug will make it harder for teenagers to access and wrest control of the pot trade from organized criminals. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair has so admitted to smoking pot in the past, but was less specific on when. McLeod said she tried marijuana a couple of times in her university days, but doesn't like Trudeau's admission that he has smoked a joint as a sitting MP. "I think when you are a member of Parliament, you are a legislator. You need to be cognizant and a good role model in terms of the laws of our country, regardless of whether you agree with them or not," she said. McLeod also disputes Trudeau's claims about legalization, claiming legalization would make underage smoking even more of a concern. She said her Conservative government is concentrating on changing its policies on medical marijuana, to have the drug grown by government contractors instead of individual users. McLeod said a more relaxed drug policy for non-medical users isn't on the table. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom