MARIJUANA ALLOWED FOR PERSONAL USE IN BELGIUM

But The Production, Sale And Ownership Of Large Amounts Is Still Illegal

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Belgium's government effectively decriminalized
the possession of marijuana for personal use today in a move that the
country's health minister said would create extra personal freedom.

Announcing the move to a packed news conference, Prime Minister Guy
Verhofstadt said a royal decree would be issued instructing
prosecutors not to pursue people for possession.

The production, supply, sale and ownership of larger quantities will
remain actively prosecuted, as will the use of marijuana that leads
to unsociable behavior.

"This is a policy that is being followed in many of the countries in
the European Union," he said. "We are not penalizing individual users
of cannabis, but we are concentrating on production, distribution or
problematic use."

Ministers stressed that this would not imitate the Netherlands, where
marijuana and marijuana derivatives are sold through licensed coffee
shops. Health Minister Magda Alvoet said the measure was a
recognition that the judiciary should no longer intervene in the
personal use of marijuana.

"The criminal judge won't interfere any more in lives of people who
use cannabis on a personal basis and who do not create harm or do not
become dependent," she told Reuters Television. "We want to create an
extra space of liberty, but we want to do it in a controlled manner."

But there are gray areas. The royal decree that will formalize the
announcement does not indicate what quantities of marijuana are
considered personal use.