Pubdate: Wed, 14 May 2003
Source: Metrowest Daily News (MA)
Copyright: 2003, MetroWest Daily News and Herald Interactive Advertising
Contact:  http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/619
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

LET CANADA WRITES ITS OWN DRUG LAWS

Relations between the United States and Canada have been sliding downhill
for years. There has been tension over trade. Ambassador Paul Cellucci has
lectured Canadians for not spending enough on defense and not supporting the
war in Iraq. Canadian cabinet ministers have insulted President Bush.

Since 9/11, security has been tightened along what used to be known as the
world's longest undefended border. Canadians have grumbled about delays at
border crossings, Americans about Canadian immigration policies that are too
easy on potential terrorists.

Having beefed up border crossings already, Cellucci and other Bush
Administration officials are now warning Canada the U.S. may send
reinforcements, causing more delays. But the enemy this time isn't
terrorists, but marijuana.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien plans to introduce legislation this
week that would decriminalize the possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana.
Penalties for possessing, growing and trafficking in larger amounts would be
stiffened, but those caught with small amounts would be subject to a charge
similar to a traffic ticket and a $100 fine.

The move to reduce marijuana penalties is said to have wide support in
Ottawa, but not in Washington. That's not surprising. John Ashcroft's
Justice Department, which has a policy of zero tolerance for marijuana use
by terminally ill patients in California, has objected strenuously to the
idea that Canada might wink at pot-smokers. The fear, they say, is that
looser penalties might encourage Canada's high-tech pot growers to ship more
of their "B.C. Bud" south.

Said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy: "You expect your friends to stop the movement of poison
toward your neighborhood."

The problem is that marijuana is not poison, at least in the minds of most
Canadians. Recent polls have found that a solid majority of Canadians
support decriminalizaton of marijuana, with almost half favoring outright
legalization. Elected officials, and even some police, support treating
marijuana use as a public health issue, not a crime.

But while the Bush Administration talks about spreading democracy around the
world, it seems to have a problem when the governments of other nations
follow the wishes of their own people rather than the stern lectures of the
United States. Ashcroft would apparently prefer governments of other
countries follow U.S. laws instead of writing their own.

Canadian officials are bending over backward to allay Washington's concerns.
Chretien's bill reportedly doesn't go as far toward decriminalization as two
Parliament committees wanted. His justice minister was to brief Ashcroft
personally yesterday. It may not work. Some in the Bush Administration are
looking for a way to punish Canada for failing to support the war in Iraq.
Others, like Ashcroft and Walters, are still fighting culture wars even
while this week's explosions in Riyadh remind us that the war on terrorism
is far from won.

If beefing up the border crossings will make Americans safer from terrorism,
fine. But Canadian pot is not a threat to homeland security.
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MAP posted-by: Josh