Pubdate: Mon, 16 Apr 2007
Source: Metro (CN BC)
Copyright: Metro 2007
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/home.aspx?city=vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Jared Ferrie
Note: Picture caption: "The United States is the bully of the world," 
said Campbell yesterday in an interview before addressing a crowd 
gathered for the Vancouver premier of the National Film Board 
documentary Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey.

EX-MAYOR ADDRESSES FILM CROWD

Canada should legalize and tax marijuana according to Senator Larry 
Campbell, who blamed the U.S. for pressuring Ottawa to follow its war 
on drugs approach.

Marijuana smoke hung thick in the air outside the Vancouver 
International Film Centre (1181 Seymour St.), and joints were being 
rolled openly on the counter just inside the entrance.

Campbell, a former Vancouver drug cop and mayor, said science has 
proven that the substance is relatively harmless.

"Nobody's ever died from marijuana, so what's the big deal?" said 
Campbell, who is featured in the documentary. America found allies in 
Ottawa with last year's election of a Conservative government, he added.

He said the Tories wanted to shut down Vancouver's safe heroin 
injection site despite numerous scientific studies proving its 
effectiveness. Campbell said drugs like heroin and cocaine should be 
controlled, but their use should not be treated as a criminal offence.
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