Pubdate: Mon, 05 Oct 2015
Source: Winnipeg Sun (CN MB)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.winnipegsun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.winnipegsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/503
Author: Stephanie Levitz
Page: 7

PM: POT MUCH WORSE THAN TOBACCO

MONTREAL - Marijuana is "infinitely worse" than tobacco and its use 
should be widely discouraged in Canada, Conservative Leader Stephen 
Harper says.

The remarks come the morning after the federal leaders' 
French-language debate, in which Harper's clash with Liberal Leader 
Justin Trudeau over the issue of legalization was among the evening's 
more memorable exchanges.

The Liberals support legalization; Trudeau argued during the debate 
that if pot were legal and regulated, young people would be less able 
to easily procure the drug than they are currently.

The Conservatives are vehemently opposed to the idea, with Harper 
saying that regulating its sale in the same way as cigarettes or 
alcohol would do nothing to keep it out of the hands of kids.

When asked Saturday how the Conservatives square that position with 
the fact medicinal marijuana is currently used by thousands of 
Canadians to treat a variety of causes, Harper said there's 
overwhelming evidence about the drug's long-term effects.

Harper likened what the government is trying to do with marijuana to 
its tobacco control strategy.

"We've spent a couple of generations trying to reduce the use of 
tobacco in Canada with a lot of success," he said.

"Tobacco is a product that does a lot of damage - marijuana is 
infinitely worse and is something we do not want to encourage."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom