Pubdate: Wed, 12 Aug 2015
Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 St. Catharines Standard
Contact: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/letters
Website: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676
Author: Jordan Press
Page: 7

TORY PLAN WOULD BOOST RCMP FUNDING

Changing Laws on Marijuana Would Reverse a Decline in Usage in 
Canada, Harper Says

MARKHAM, Ont. - Stephen Harper says a majority of Canadians agree 
with his opposition to legalizing marijuana, proving he's not behind 
the times on the way forward on pot.

A government opinion poll released one year ago found that more than 
two-thirds of Canadians wanted the federal government to ease the 
laws around possession and use of cannabis, with about 14 per cent 
saying the laws should stay the same.

Harper says changing those laws would reverse what he calls a decline 
in marijuana usage in Canada.

In jurisdictions where marijuana is legal, such as parts of the U.S. 
and Europe, the drug becomes "more readily available to children, 
more people become addicted," and there is a decline in health 
outcomes, the Conservative leader said Tuesday.

"We just think that's the wrong direction for society and I don't 
think that's the way most Canadians want to deal with this particular problem."

The tough-on-drugs message is one the Conservatives have been using 
for months to drive a wedge between Harper and his opponents - most 
particularly the Liberals and leader Justin Trudeau.

On Monday, Harper told party faithful the opposition parties want to 
legalize marijuana and prostitution, and make it easier to have 
supervised injection sites - all of which Harper said his party opposed.

The Conservatives promised Tuesday that, if re-elected, they would 
spend almost $27 million a year to help the RCMP root out drug labs 
and change the focus of the national mental health commission that it 
created in 2007.

The campaign pledge would see an extra $4.5 million per year, on top 
of the $22 million currently budgeted, for an RCMP team designed to 
crack down on illegal drug labs and marijuana grow-ops.

The party also wants to spend $500,000 a year over four years on a 
national toll-free hotline for parents to call to get information 
about drug use among the country's youth. There would be no new money 
for the mental health commission, which had its funding renewed in 
the 2015 budget.

Instead, it would focus on finding links between drugs and mental 
health issues, a departure from its current mandate of "working to 
reduce stigma," "advancing knowledge" in mental health and helping 
homeless people with mental health problems.

Harper was to travel to Vancouver later Tuesday, landing in the city 
with Canada's first supervised injection site.

The Supreme Court of Canada has said the facility, known as Insite, 
should be allowed to continue to operate - over the government's 
objections - because research has shown that "Insite saves lives" and 
has "no discernible negative impact" on public safety or health objectives.

Harper, however, said the research is not that conclusive, and argued 
that such sites "pull the entire drug trade" into communities.

A re-elected Conservative government, he said, wouldn't fund any 
programs like Insite, unless they included a treatment program to 
help people kick their addictions.

"Providing programs that do not provide treatment in our view is just 
throwing away the key and writing off somebody's life," Harper said.

"Trying to manage their decline - that's not what we want to do."

If re-elected, the Conservatives would maintain strict regulations 
that came into law in June, which laid out the process for setting up 
a supervised injection site anywhere in the country.

Supporters have argued the rules are so strict that they effectively 
make it impossible to open any new facilities.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom