Pubdate: Thu, 12 Dec 2002
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Contact  
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/
Address: 277 N. Magnolia Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32301
Copyright: 2002 Tallahassee Democrat
Author: David Ljunggren, Reuters
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)

CANADA COMMITTEE URGES LAXER POT LAWS, U.S. UPSET

OTTAWA - A parliamentary committee urged the Canadian government on 
Thursday to relax its laws on possession of marijuana, an idea that 
Washington's drug czar immediately branded as outdated and dangerous.

The special committee on the non-medical use of drugs said in a report that 
marijuana should be decriminalized, but not legalized. This means people 
possessing and cultivating pot in amounts less than 1.1 ounces would be 
fined if caught, rather than getting a criminal record as at present.

About 20,000 Canadians a year are convicted for possession or cultivation 
of marijuana, which committee chairwoman Paddy Torsney said this was a 
waste of police resources because current laws seemed to be having no effect.

"We concluded that the possession of marijuana should remain illegal and 
trafficking in any amount of cannabis should remain a crime," she told a 
news conference.

"Smoking any amount of marijuana is unhealthy but the consequences of 
conviction of a small amount of marijuana for personal use are 
disproportionate to the potential harm," she said, pointing out that 30 
percent of Canadians admitted to having smoked pot.

The report provides more ammunition for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, 
who said this week he planned to introduce legislation early next year to 
decriminalize marijuana.

But in the United States officials, already worried about the increasing 
amounts of potent Canadian marijuana flowing across the border, flatly 
condemned the idea that pot was not particularly dangerous.

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control 
Policy, said the committee's recommendations reflected "archaic views" 
about marijuana.

"The line that has been presented to Americans as well as Canadians is that 
marijuana is not a serious drug of abuse. That is not true," he said.

"High-potency marijuana in particular is being used by teenagers of younger 
and younger ages," he told a news conference in Buffalo, New York.

Walters said the recommendations would lead to greater use of marijuana and 
other drugs, and if Canadian laws were relaxed the United States might have 
to increase security at the two nations' shared border to clamp down on 
trafficking.

This could deal a major blow to Canada's economy, since more than 85 
percent of its exports go to the United States.

"No family, no community and no nation is better off with more drug 
use...for people who have tried to tell Americans marijuana is not 
something you have to pay attention to -- it's a lie," said Walters.

Police say Canada, with an estimated illegal drug market of $9 billion a 
year, has surpassed Mexico as a source of illegal drugs for the United States.

Torsney said decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana would help strike 
at organized crime gangs -- especially in the western province of British 
Columbia -- who have turned pot growing into a multibillion-dollar industry.

"The committee hopes that these (proposed) changes will free police and 
judicial resources to pursue other more serious criminal activity," she said.

The committee -- comprising legislators from the House of Commons -- 
recommended against the full legalization of marijuana, an idea that 
Justice Minister Cauchon has already rejected.

In September a Senate committee said marijuana should be legalized and 
regulated, as is the case with alcohol.

Kevin Sorenson of the official opposition Canadian Alliance, a right-wing 
law-and-order party, backed the overall thrust of the report but said the 
limit for marijuana possession should be set at 0.2 ounces.

Torsney's committee on Monday recommended Ottawa establish "safe" injection 
sites as a way to cut the spread of diseases such as AIDS among drug 
addicts, a proposal that generated criticism from police and opposition 
politicians. 
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MAP posted-by: Beth