U.S. OFFICIALS VIEW CANADA AS TOO LENIENT ON DRUGS

Influx of Marijuana Across Northern Border Feared

WASHINGTON - The murder of four RCMP officers in Alberta last week may
or may not end up having much to do with the modest marijuana grow
operation the killer maintained. But the incident has managed to
generate fresh irritation and fear in the United States over the
growing flood of potent Canadian pot across the border.

As if the two countries needed another irritant, the murders have only
underlined concern among U.S. officials and politicians that Canada's
relatively lax treatment of grow-op criminals is fuelling the influx
of drugs.

There are calls for more agents at the northern frontier, and
parallels drawn between Canada and what has traditionally been
considered a much more lawless neighbour -- Mexico. The fears were
embodied in the headline for a recent front-page New York Times
article: "Violent New Front in Drug War Opens on the Canadian Border."

Just a day after the killings in Mayerthorpe, Alta., the State
Department coincidentally released its annual report on the illegal
drug business around the world.

It concluded Thailand is no longer a major drug-producing country,
praised Haiti for the anti-narcotics strides it has made -- and warned
that lack of judicial sanctions is leading to a "burgeoning" marijuana
sector in Canada, managed by organized crime.

"We've tended to view Canada as our front door. And we've certainly
come to the point where we don't feel that we can leave the front door
unlocked any more," said Chris Sands, an expert on Canada at the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"Stories like the one about the officers being murdered and increasing
violence associated with this trade are going to only make the
Americans think what we usually think about these things -- that we're
right and maybe you'll finally realize it."

He called the issue another example of the culture clashes that have
been erupting between the two nations as their trading relationship
draws ever closer, he said. While American police pursue crime
aggressively and almost competitively, they perceive Canadian law
enforcement as more reactive, or at least hampered by a lack of
resources, Mr. Sands said.

The Canadian approach to drug enforcement is seen as similar to its
more lenient handling of immigration and the terrorism threat, he said.

Starting with the development of the legendary "B.C. bud" in British
Columbia, the number of marijuana grow operations has exploded in the
last decade. Much of that product has flowed across the border into
the United States, a fact highlighted in last week's State Department
report on world narcotics trends.

"We are now working intensively with Canadian authorities to address
the increase in the smuggling of Canadian-produced marijuana into the
United States," President George W. Bush said in a statement issued
with the report. "However, we are concerned the lack of significant
judicial sanctions against marijuana producers is resulting in greater
involvement in the burgeoning marijuana industry by organized criminal
groups."