Drug raps soaring - Liberal strategy is a failure, opposition claims
By: Kathleen Harris, Toronto Sun, 02/24/04

OTTAWA -- Canada's drug-related crime rate has hit a 20-year high -- proof the federal anti-drug strategy has been an abject failure, critics say. Figures released by Statistics Canada yesterday show the police-reported drug crime rate has shot up by 42% since the early 1990s. Youth and young adults are the biggest offenders, the report reveals.

"One would have to question the wisdom of proceeding with the decriminalization of marijuana, knowing that there are still ... negative societal impacts tied directly to cannabis use," said Tory MP Peter MacKay.

The StatsCan report shows an upward trend since 1993, with more possession, production and importation offences. Of the 93,000 violations of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act reported by police in 2002, about two-thirds were for possession and 22% for trafficking.

Figures also reveal young adults aged 18-24 had the highest drug-crime rate in 2002 and cannabis was a factor in about 20% of drug-related homicides.

But NDP MP Pat Martin, whose party wants to legalize marijuana, insisted weed is rarely a sole factor in violent crime. He called it "sheer folly" that the Liberal government would try to combat drug abuse with harsh fines and the heavy hand of the law instead of public education.

"It's madness to clog up our judicial system trying to lock up a whole generation of kids," he said. "It's clearly not working."

Between 1992 and 2002, 684 homicides in Canada -- about 11% of the total number -- were reported to be drug-related. Cocaine was a factor in 60% of these cases, cannabis in 20% and heroin in 5%.

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BREAKDOWN

Rates of drug offences reported by police among census metropolitan areas
for 2002 (rate per 100,000 population):

- Vancouver 571

- Victoria 459

- Gatineau 287

- London 269

- Quebec 252

- Halifax 249

- Hamilton 245

- Montreal 215

- Toronto 211

- Calgary 206

- Winnipeg 200

- Regina 198

- Ottawa 188

- Edmonton 166

- Kitchener 151

- Source: StatsCan