LAX DRUG LAWS CREATE MEXICO OF NORTH

U.S.: Canada's Marijuana Policy a Growing Irritant to American Neighbours

WASHINGTON - The killings of four RCMP officers in Alberta last week
may or may not end up having much to do with the marijuana grow
operation the killer maintained. But the incident has still managed to
generate fresh American irritation and fear over the growing flood of
potent Canadian marijuana into the U.S.

As if the two countries needed another irritant, the deaths 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.

The problem is especially bad in British Columbia, which is showing
early signs of becoming a "narco-province" along the lines of some
South American countries, charged Representative Mark Soude of
Indiana, chair of the congressional sub-committee on criminal justice,
drug policy and human resources.

"In British Columbia, one of the things they seem to be in a state of
denial about is that they have become a huge exporter of this really
lethal form of marijuana," he said in an interview.

"It's close to getting out of hand ... I feel sorry if four police
officers died because of the mistakes of politicians."

He acknowledged the marijuana is being traded for cocaine and guns
from the U.S., but said the marijuana business is fuelling that exchange.

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 that 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, said Mr. Sands.

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

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has taken the
Canadian marijuana exports very seriously for some time; now it hopes
the message will sink in elsewhere, too, spokesman Marc Raimondi said
yesterday.

"We do sympathize and mourn the loss of our fellow law-enforcement
counterparts up there. But I think that if anything comes out of this,
it is the fact that growing and smuggling of marijuana is not a minor
offence, it is not a victimless offence. Look at this," he said.

"We should hope that all law enforcement and all governments would
take drug laws very seriously."

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."

The expanding cross-border marijuana problem has the potential to
become the newest policy logjam between the new countries, Mr. Sands
said, especially as the federal government moves toward
de-criminalizing marijuana.

"Here you have a lot of states, a lot of levels of government that are
concerned about marijuana, that have passed laws, etc. etc.," he said.
"And they're finding that what they're doing is being undermined by
the border."

The best chance for defusing the tension may come from provinces like
Alberta and B.C. taking tougher action against the drug trade, perhaps
by replacing the RCMP with new provincial forces, said Mr. Sands.