MARIJUANA BILL WILL BE BACK, BUT STRONGER

Martin Favours Higher Fines Than Chretien's Version

Prime Minister Paul Martin has pledged to revive the government's moribund
marijuana legislation early in the new year, but it may bear only a passing
resemblance to the bill tabled by the Chretien government this fall.

The new bill will still impose fines instead of criminal convictions for
simple possession, but it's expected to feature stiffer penalties for
growers and repeat offenders. Mr. Martin said he also favours higher fines
for possession and stricter limits on the maximum permitted amounts.

"I think one's got to take a look at the fines, I think that you have to
take a look at the quantities and I think that there has to be a larger
effort against the grow-ops and those who distribute it," Mr. Martin said
before a meeting with Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams on Parliament
Hill yesterday.

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White, a strident critic of the legislation,
said he is encouraged by Mr. Martin's stance.

"It sounds like he's got a better perspective than the previous prime
minister and the hacks he installed on the parliamentary committee to study
this bill," said Mr. White, adding he'll ask for a meeting with Mr. Martin
to emphasize the importance of taking a non-partisan approach to the
legislation.

A national survey published by Health Canada in October showed that
marijuana consumption is at a 25-year high among teenagers; 54 per cent of
15-to 19-year-olds admitted to smoking it more than once.

When asked about that study and others, Mr. Martin replied: "From a health
standpoint, any doctor will tell you it's not the best thing to do, far
from it... but it doesn't help things to give a criminal record to a young
person who is caught with minimal amounts."

Mr. Martin was asked in one interview yesterday whether he had ever used
marijuana himself. Yes, he admitted to CHUM radio, but though he never
inhaled, he sure swallowed.

"I've never smoked. But there was a time Sheila made some brownies and I
must say they had a strange taste," Mr. Martin deadpanned.

Marijuana legalization supporters called Mr. Martin's wish to stiffen the
requirements of the proposed law "a public hazard" and said it won't solve
the problems it seeks to address.

"The law is already too tough ... all this will do is target young people
and make them criminals by giving them fines they can't possibly afford to
pay. It does nothing to take drugs out of schools," said Hugo St. Onge,
leader of the Montreal-based Bloc Pot, a provincial affiliate of the
federal Marijuana party.

The original bill to decriminalize marijuana possession had made it to the
committee stage, but died on the order paper following former prime
minister Jean Chretien's decision to prorogue the House of Commons before
last month's Liberal leadership convention.

The legislative proposal would have allowed people to possess up to 15
grams of marijuana.

A spokesman for Alliance caucus leader Stephen Harper accused Mr. Martin of
"playing with political optics" by promising to bring back the marijuana bill.

"Mr. Martin is looking to bring forward an inconsequential bill to be
defeated in the House of Commons so he can use it as a symbol of how he's
slain the democratic deficit. If he was really sincere about eliminating
the democratic deficit, he would bring in a bill that people really care
about and risk having it defeated," said Jim Armour.