Ottawa

Talking about drugs, Part Two

It’s time to ban alcohol and cigarettes

Rising just before Question Period yesterday, Conservative MP Kelly Block lamented for Justin Trudeau in a number of regards, including his remarks to students in Brandon last week.

The Liberal leader also went to a Brandon school and, in front of a room full of younger children, pitched his plan to make marijuana more accessible to kids by legalizing it and regulating it like alcohol and cigarettes.

This raises an important point. Alcohol and cigarettes are far too accessible. It’s time to prohibit it as an illegal drug as we do marijuana.

According to the 2010-2011 Youth Smoking Survey, 45.4% of respondents in grades seven through 12 admitted using alcohol in the previous year compared to 21.2% for cannabis. Meanwhile, 39.9% of those in grades six through 12 had tried smoking a cigarette.

Obviously, our young people are too easily gaining access to alcohol and cigarettes. The only responsible thing would be to ban them entirely.

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