U.S. WARNS OF TIE-UPS AT BORDER IF CANANDA EASES MARIJUANA LAW

More vehicles could be stopped and searched at checkpoints, and trade could
be slowed.

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials are warning that a Canadian plan to
decriminalize marijuana use could lead to more inspections and longer border
delays.

"We don't want the northern border to be a trafficking route for drugs,"
says Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security
for the Department of Homeland Security.

Hutchinson and other U.S. officials say the Canadian proposal is especially
troublesome in light of the fact that drug seizures along the border
quadrupled in the year after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Part of the jump
was the result of heightened security.

Seizures have subsided slightly since but remain well above historic levels.

U.S. officials fear that if Canada approves a plan to decriminalize
marijuana for personal use, drug smuggling could spike, further burdening
the justice system and hindering trade.

More vehicles may be stopped and searched at checkpoints along the
4,000-mile border. That would slow the movement of the $1 billion worth of
goods traded between the two countries each day.

"If the perception is that it's easier to get marijuana in, then some border
officials' antennas will be up," said Paul Cellucci, U.S. ambassador to
Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's administration introduced
legislation in late May that would essentially make the penalty for
possession of small amounts of marijuana equivalent to a traffic ticket. But
the bill would boost penalties for growing and trafficking marijuana.

The flow of marijuana from Canada pales in comparison to the amount grown in
the United States or imported from other countries such as Mexico and
Colombia.

In the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30, some 20,213 pounds of marijuana
was seized along the northern border - compared with more than 1.2 million
pounds along the southwestern border.