TORONTO -- The Ontario Safety League wants a crackdown on corner stores that sell crackpipes, bongs and other drug paraphernalia, saying it's too easy for teens to buy products they can use to get high.
The 101-year-old safety organization recently sent teenage volunteers into 16 convenience stores in southern Ontario, and each was able to buy drug paraphernalia.
Safety League president Brian Patterson says the situation has obviously not improved since he first raised the issue last year.
Patterson says only about 15 per cent of corner stores sell the bongs, grinders and pipes, and he believes they should lose the right to sell lottery tickets.
He says if stores are forced to choose between lucrative lottery tickets or selling drug paraphernalia in violation of the Criminal Code, he expects most will chose lotteries.
The Ontario Convenience Store Association says the Safety League's goal can best be met through enforcement of the Criminal Code, and warns duplicating the federal law would likely be ineffective.
