Pubdate: Sat, 06 Oct 2007
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2007 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

DRUG STRATEGY WORRIES CRITICS

(CanWest News Service) - The federal government's new anti-drug 
strategy is not winning many friends in Quebec, which arguably has 
the most liberal attitude to recreational drug use in the country.

The plan, announced Thursday, commits $64 million, two-thirds of 
which will be spent on treatment and prevention programs, the rest on 
beefing up drug law enforcement.

Raymond Berger worries that a crackdown on drugs will mean problems 
for Montreal's Compassion Club, where he buys marijuana each week to 
help him deal with the effects of his chemotherapy and AIDS 
treatments. The club does not have a licence to sell medical marijuana.

Club director Marc-Boris St. Maurice believes the get-tough approach 
will backfire. "If you treat drug users as criminals you are pushing 
people away from society, you are alienating them with that criminal 
label ... that is not the way you are going to help them," he said.

Louise Nadeau, who works at one of the largest public addiction 
treatment facilities in Montreal, said the extra money is vital.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom