LEGALIZED MARIJUANA ON AGENDA FOR FEDERAL LIBERAL CONVENTION

OTTAWA - Delegates at the Liberal party convention next month will debate a
motion to legalize and tax marijuana sales.

Parliament is already debating legislation to decriminalize marijuana, but
a resolution by Alberta Liberals would go much further.

It would tax the proceeds of legalized pot sales, which the resolution
claims would bring in $3 billion in revenue each year.

"Legalizing marijuana would be a serious blow to drug dealers and organized
crime financially," says the resolution for the March 5-6 gathering.
Delegates are told part of the money could go to drug awareness.

"Resolved that a portion of these tax revenues be used to educate youth
against drug use and to provide treatment for those who are adversely
affected by use of marijuana," says the resolution. It's just one of dozens
of policy proposals obtained by The Canadian Press that will be debated by
delegates of the Ottawa convention.

Another resolution, from British Columbia, asks for stiffer sentences for
those involved in marijuana grow-ops.

Meanwhile, a party group called the Senior Liberals Commission is asking
delegates to urge the government to enact legislation to respect
"alternative forms of social lifestyle," but to not alter the definition of
marriage.

But Liberal youth activists are working on a campaign called "It's the
Charter, Stupid," with rallies and demonstrations to lobby delegates to
support the government's gay marriage legislation before Parliament.

Some resolutions will be chosen as priority issues by party officials and
automatically be included for a vote by all delegates.

Others, like the legal pot resolution, must make it through debate in a
workshop in order to be presented for approval or defeat by all delegates.

As expected, Quebec delegates are asking the party rank and file to reject
an invitation by the United States to join the missile defence project.

A resolution will be voted on "urging the government of Canada to uphold
traditional Canadian values and to honour its commitments under
international law," by rejecting a Canadian role in the missile system "and
all other systems that include space-based weapons."

The missile defence system being tested by the U.S. does not include
space-based weapons. Nevertheless, missile defence is a hot-button issue
for the Liberals, particularly in Quebec.

Parliament has yet to vote on the issue.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has said he, too, would reject the weaponization
of space, but has not rejected joining the U.S. proposal out of hand.

Martin faces an automatic leadership review but is expected to sail through
unscathed as there is little appetite to change leaders during a minority
government.

A motion from the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia delegations on education is
sure to raise the hackles of Quebec delegates -- it urges the creation of
national education standards in core curriculum areas.

Grade school and high school education falls within the exclusive
jurisdiction of provincial governments and nowhere is that more jealously
guarded against federal intrusion than Quebec.