Pubdate: Thu, 04 May 2006 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Canoe Inc Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837 Author: Irwin Loy, 24 Hours Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Pierre+Claude+Nolin Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) LEGALIZE MARIJUANA - SENATOR Canada must never decriminalize marijuana, warns a Conservative Party senator - legalize it instead. "Decriminalization is the worst scenario," Senator Pierre Claude Nolin said yesterday, the third day of the city's international harm reduction conference. "It's not the step in the right direction." Nolin said drug laws must either prohibit marijuana or not; Decriminalization lies in the shaky ground in between. "It's sending the signal [marijuana] is still illegal, but we'll just fine you instead," Nolin said. Prohibition, on one hand, doesn't allow for effective prevention strategies, said Nolin. Instead, the senator wants to focus on outright legalization in a "controlled market environment", leaving it up to provinces to regulate, much like liquor laws vary across provincial borders. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake