PM TO ROLL OUT NEW POT BILL

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Paul Martin has pledged to revive the
government's moribund marijuana legislation early in the New Year, but
it may only bear 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 pot growers and repeat offenders. 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,"
Martin said before a meeting with Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams
on Parliament Hill on Thursday.

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White, a strident critic of the
legislation, said he is encouraged by 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 White.

White said he'll ask for a meeting with 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 the drug more than once.

When asked about that study and others, 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."

Marijuana legalization activists called 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 pot 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
ahead of last month's Liberal leadership convention.

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

Martin telegraphed his intentions in October when he supported
amendments from Liberal backbenchers and Canadian Alliance MPs to
toughen Cauchon's bill.

A spokesperson for Alliance caucus leader Stephen Harper accused
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.

The final makeup of the bill is also dependent on a number of external
factors.

The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to issue a long-anticipated
ruling Tuesday on whether current marijuana possession laws violate
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

And although Martin has repeatedly emphasized his wish to improve
Ottawa's relations with the U.S., the new marijuana legislation won't
win him any friends in George W. Bush's Republican
administration.

U.S. drug czar John Walters has roundly condemned all Canadian efforts
to relax pot laws.