Health Minister Clement promises crackdown on illicit druguse

摘要

Federal Minister of Health Tony Clement promised a bevy of new health-related federal initiatives in an address to the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) annual General Council in Vancouver Aug. ,20, including a crackdown on illicit drug use, a renewed tobacco-control strategy aimed at reducing national smoking rates to 12% from 19% by 2011 and more stringent regulations to prevent the import of counterfeit or contaminated food, drugs and consumer products. Clement was most emphatic about the need for a tough new national strategy to prevent illicit drug use, indicating that the government is determined to redress the long-standing absence of a "significant anti-drug campaign," a condition that he asserted has led to Canada having the highest percentage of marijuana users (16.8%) in the industrial world.