Pubdate: Wednesday, June 16, 1999 Source: Halifax Daily News (Canada) Copyright: 1999 The Daily News. Contact: http://www.hfxnews.southam.ca/ Author: Jim Brown, The Canadian Press EASE DRUG LAWS - SENATOR OTTAWA - The war on drugs isn't working and it's time to study alternatives, including possible decriminalization of some substances, says Conservative Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin. "The repressive approach leads nowhere," he told a news conference yesterday. "We have to examine it from another angle, the angle of public health." Nolin is trying to drum up support, from Liberals as well as Tories, to form a special Senate committee to review the country's drug laws. "My personal opinion is to have in future a much more conciliatory approach toward users of any drug," he said. "When you prohibit the use of drugs, you only perpetuate the black market." Nolin, best known as a backroom operative for former prime minister Brian Mulroney, admitted to "past tense" recreational use of marijuana, but said he doesn't smoke it any more. He suggested decriminalizing possession of "non-harmful" drugs but cautioned that more study is needed on which ones are non-harmful. He also insisted his personal opinions are less important than creating a forum to air public views. Two-year mission Nolin envisions a committee that would spend two years gathering data and holding hearings in Canada and overseas before reaching any conclusions. Sharon Carstairs, the deputy Liberal leader in the Senate, expressed support for the idea, as did Liberal colleague Colin Kenny. "I think it would be an excellent study for the Senate," Carstairs said in an interview. "I think we should go into it without any foregone conclusions." She likened the exercise to the work of the LeDain commission, which studied non-medical drug use more than 25 years ago. Its best-remembered recommendation was decriminalization of simple possession of marijuana, though the government never acted on the proposal. Kenny, who has crusaded against tobacco use, said he wants a more realistic approach to drug laws, but wouldn't say if that includes decriminalization. He observed he's learned from his anti-smoking efforts that adolescents don't respond well to authoritarian initiatives. "The very essence of being an adolescent is rebelling against authority figures. If you want to make progress on the drug front , there may be some parallels with smoking." No decision will be made by the full Senate until the fall on whether to form the committee sought by Nolin. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea