Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jun 2002
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2002 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Alexander Panetta, Canadian Press

DO NOT GO SOFT ON POT, U.S. DRUG CZAR WARNS US

QUEBEC -- Now's the time to step up the war against marijuana -- not to 
decriminalize it, not to use it for medicinal purposes and certainly not to 
make it legal, the United States' drug-policy chief said yesterday.

Canada is free to have its medicinal-marijuana program, but the drug is 
dangerous and the American government doesn't agree with the idea, said 
John Walters, director of national drug policy and cabinet member under 
President George W. Bush.

Marijuana is the most heavily abused drug in the U.S. and addiction rates 
have risen in recent years, he said during a two-day trip to Canada.

Of the 4.3 million Americans suffering drug addiction, 65 per cent are 
dependent on marijuana, he said.

"If we're going to effectively face the dependency problem in the United 
States today, we have to begin doing a better job with marijuana, as well 
as cocaine, alcohol and the other drugs of abuse," Walters added.

Arguments about marijuana include whether to approve the drug for medicinal 
purposes, to fully legalize it or to decriminalize it, which means the drug 
would not be legal but users would not be penalized.
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