Mr. Speaker, let us have an honest conversation on this issue. The most dangerous drug in the country today, according to those health experts and everyone else who has studied the problem, is alcohol. We tried prohibition on alcohol. It proved to be a disastrous and expensive failure.
The Minister of National Defence just announced yesterday that Canada would now join the war on drugs in Central America and Latin America, just at a time when the leaders of those countries are saying clearly and categorically it is the wrong direction for Canada, it is an expensive direction for Canada and it will not work.
Why does the minister persist in this dangerous—