AMENDMENT TO POT POSSESSION BILL WOULD PROHIBIT POLICE FROM SHARING INFORMATION

Canadians caught with small amounts of marijuana need not worry about
police sharing the information with the U.S. or other foreign governments
or agencies under proposed legislation to outlaw the practice. The
prohibition was added to the bill to decriminalize marijuana when it was
revived yesterday after dying when Parliament adjourned in November. The
changes were made at the recommendation of a Parliamentary committee that
held public hearings last fall. Witnesses said more Canadians probably
would be flagged by U.S. authorities as a result of Ottawa changing its
laws to make possession of 15 grams of marijuana or less a ticketing
offence. The thinking behind the amendment was that police would be more
inclined to ticket than they would have been to lay criminal charges. That
would mean more people could conceivably end up in a police database that
could be accessed globally.

CanWest News Service