DON'T LET LAW GO UP IN SMOKE

If, by some miracle, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon's legislation on
marijuana use makes it into law this year, it would show that the legal
system is capable slowly of evolving to match social reality.

Although some haphazard provisions of Bill C-38 indicate last-minute
reworking to try to placate critics ranging from the American government to
police to anti-pot crusaders and political opponents and even Liberals such
as Health Minister Anne McLellan, it marks progress on a pressing issue too
long ignored.

In moving to end criminal conviction of Canadians nabbed in possession of
fewer than 15 grams of marijuana and instead fine them on a summary
conviction, Cauchon has taken a most laudable step. As more than 600,000
citizens saddled with criminal records for simple possession ruefully can
attest, a penalty that precludes them from holding certain jobs and even
travelling outside Canada is greatly disproportionate to their wrongdoing
and needs to be revamped.

While it's surprising to see this legislation coming from the Jean Chretien
government -- after all, the prime minister wasn't sure in December if
decriminalizing was a good idea -- it's welcome nonetheless in a country
with three million casual cannabis users of whom 20,000 face the prospect
of being criminally branded for its use each year.

In essence, the Chretien government is seeking only to enact provisions
that closely follow the main recommendations arising from the 1971 Gerald
Le Dain commission: removing minor pot possession from the Criminal Code
and cracking down on marijuana importers and traffickers. To hear the
outraged cries of some critics, however, you'd think Cauchon is pushing to
legalize pot and sell it in corner stores.

The U.S. administration, which professes concerns about C-38 opening up a
deluge of potent B.C. bud -- American drug czar John Walters calls it the
"crack cocaine of marijuana" -- glosses over the reality that Cauchon's law
would double to 14 years the jail term for commercial growers and that the
life-term maximum for traffickers remains unchanged. With each U.S. threat
of a border crackdown, Canada needs to keep reminding Walters and American
officials that 12 U.S. states already have more lenient pot laws than what
Cauchon proposes.

The flaws in C-38, and there are many, come not from provisions meant to
ease the penalties for recreational potheads but from measures seemingly
designed to placate anti-marijuana lobby groups.

These range from leaving it up to the discretion of police to decide
whether possession of amounts greater than 15 g but under 30 merit a
summary fine or court appearance, to levying greater fines on those found
using or possessing pot in the vicinity of schools. Current problems with
uneven and unjust application of the law, which have more rural Canadians
criminally charged on simple possession busts for which urban residents get
off with a warning, will only continue.

As for increasing the basic fine for adults to $400 from $150 and for youth
to $250 from $100 if they are merely found in possession of small amounts
of pot but not actually using it while operating a motor vehicle, it's the
kind of asinine measure that may placate lobbyists such as Mothers Against
Drunk Driving but serve to undermine respect for the law.

While provisions to crack down on organized crime in the pot industry are
understandable, given what Cauchon notes is C-38's vital role in a national
drug strategy, it's counterproductive to impose fines of $5,000 and
sentences of 12 months on users who grow three or fewer plants at home.

Critics are being illogical when they suggest smaller fines for youth are a
"discount" that will only encourage drug use. The law usually treats young
people more leniently, but lighter sentences haven't sent teen murder rates
soaring, for instance.

Despite such shortcomings, Cauchon's amendments to the drug laws are
welcome. Even if C-38 doesn't pass before Chretien's retirement, it
shouldn't be allowed to die on the order paper.