MAKE MARIJUANA A PRIORITY

Provincial justice ministers are meeting today with their federal
counterpart, Martin Cauchon, to try to persuade him to abandon his
bill to decriminalize marijuana possession.

The final decision will be up to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who
wants to see the marijuana laws changed before he retires.

Paul Martin, who will succeed Chretien in February, has said he
doesn't support decriminalization, except where someone is caught with
a "very, very small quantity" for personal use -- which sounds far
short of the 15 grams or less the legislation would provide fines for
instead of criminal penalties.

Martin has also vowed to improve relations with the U.S., where
decriminalization here is viewed with alarm.

Some measures that the provincial ministers are pushing for in place
of the marijuana bill, are important -- removing the adversarial
concepts of custody and access in divorce laws, and making
first-degree murder charges mandatory in child killings.

But the truth is, the provinces oppose significant decriminalization.
They'd rather take their chances with Martin than with Chretien.

But in the meantime there's no law against pot possession for personal
use in Ontario, where the courts have nullified the law. It's absurd
that what's illegal in the rest of Canada is legal in its most
populated province. The new law should be a priority for both the
federal government and the provinces.