Pubdate: Wed, 28 May 2003
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page: A5
Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Authors: Kim Lunman, Paul Koring
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

POT BILL LETS YOUTH, DRIVERS GET OFF EASIER

Strategy To Combat Drug Use Also Planned

OTTAWA and WASHINGTON -- Minors will pay less than adults if police catch 
them with small amounts of marijuana, and the cost of "drug driving" would 
be a maximum $400 fine under the federal government's proposed new law to 
decriminalize possession.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon and Health Minister Anne McLellan hailed 
the proposed legislation tabled in Parliament yesterday as modern "drug 
reform laws," vowing to fight the illegal narcotics trade with stiffer 
fines and jail terms for growers.

Under the proposed Cannabis Reform Bill, people under 18 caught with 15 
grams or less of cannabis marijuana would be fined $100, while adults would 
be fined $150. Possession of one gram or less of cannabis resin or hashish 
oil would result in fines of $200 for youths and $300 for adults. 
Aggravating factors, such as possession while driving a vehicle, or while 
committing an indictable offence, or possession in or near schools, would 
mean fines of $400 for adults and $250 for youths.

Possession of marijuana now carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail 
and a fine of up to $1,000.

The federal government wants to decriminalize possession of small amounts 
of marijuana by switching over to a ticketing system that would take the 
smaller cases out of Canadian courts and result in fewer criminal records 
for people convicted of smoking the drug. Proponents argue that the law now 
is unevenly applied across the country, and police widely use their 
discretion not to lay charges in cases involving small amounts.

"We are not legalizing marijuana and have no plans to do so," Mr. Cauchon 
told a news conference in Ottawa. "The decision to reform the law was not 
taken lightly. The time has come for us to reform this law."

In Washington, John Walters, the White House director of drug-control 
policy, warned that the new legislation could lead to increased exports of 
marijuana from Canada into the United States and to a tightening of the 
world's longest undefended border.

We have to "shut down the movement across the border," he told CTV News in 
Washington.

Mr. Walters said the new Canadian law would reduce marijuana possession to 
"something like a ticket for jaywalking" and "remove the seriousness in 
people's minds" about its use. He also said most of the marijuana grown in 
Canada "is being shipped to the United States" and warned that Washington 
won't tolerate an increased flood of Canadian-grown varieties.

"We have a sovereign right to make our own laws," Solicitor-General Wayne 
Easter said in Ottawa. "The current laws aren't working."

The government also announced plans yesterday to spend $245-million on a 
new national drug strategy. Nearly half of the money, to be phased in over 
five years, will go to the Health Department for programs and a mass media 
plan warning against pot use.

Police officials and opposition critics quickly denounced the new bill and 
drug strategy.

"I'm not sure what kind of message they want to send, but youth discounts 
shouldn't be one of them," said Canadian Alliance MP Randy. "If they think 
this is going through the House fast, they're kidding themselves."
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MAP posted-by: Jackl