Pubdate: Thu, 22 Feb 2001
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 Hollinger Canadian Newspapers
Contact:  P.O. Box 300, Victoria, B.C. V8W 2N4
Fax: (250)380-5353
Website: http://vvv.com/home/timesc/

CRITICS DISMISS UN DRUG REPORT AS US - DRIVEN

Ottawa(CP) The federal government is prepared to put up more money to 
fight recreational drug use, an approach others say is U.S. driven 
and out of touch with trends elsewhere.

Attourney General Anne Mclellan reiterated Liberal policy Wednesday 
after the United Nations criticized Canada's anti-drug efforts.

"It's clear that we can do more and we must do more," Mclellan said 
outside Liberal caucus. "We're going to put more resources toward 
that. Certainly we as a government are seized with the issue."

The U.N. report said Canada's attitude toward illegal growers of 
cannabis is lax and has not controlled illicit production of drugs 
such as "ice" and "ecstasy".

The U.N. International Narcotics Control Board said Canadian court 
sentences to cannabis growers and couriers essentially amounts to a 
slap on the wrist.

"We wonder whether that policy is a sufficient deterrent to get 
people not to grow cannabis," said Herbert Schaepe, the board 
secretary.

The U.N. position, and Liberal policy, were challenged by Neil Boyd, 
a criminologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.

The U.N. report and Ottawa's get tough attitude are driven by U.S. 
policy, he said in an interview.

"It's an American driven criticism. the democracies of Western Europe 
are headed in a very different direction than Canada."

The Netherlands has permitted distribution of marijuana in coffee 
shops for 25 years, he noted, and rates of use there have always 
remained lower than in Canada or the United States.

Canadian law is unduly influenced by the U.S., he said.

"Our policies are actually much more harsh than most of the policies 
that exist in the democracies of Western Europe."

The U.N. says that the United States has been successful in dealing 
with it's illicit cannabis, while Canada's efforts have yielded only 
limited results. Boyd called that claim bogus.
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