FINE FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION PROPOSED

OTTAWA -- The federal government is considering fining small-time marijuana
users as little as $100 under decriminalization legislation that is expected
to be introduced on Thursday.

Sources say the amount, equivalent to a low-level speeding ticket, was still
under discussion Monday as Justice Department officials scrambled to put the
finishing touches on their bill. The fine would be given to people caught
with less than 15 grams of marijuana, the equivalent of about half an ounce
under the former imperial system of measurement.

People caught with possession of more than 15 grams would still be subject
to a criminal record that carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail
and a $1,000 fine. Small-time users would be governed by the non-criminal
Contraventions Act, a little-used act which controls such things as driving
on federal wharves and abandoning vessels in a public harbour.

The anticipated penalty for possession would fall short of the current
maximum fine under the act of $500.

The amount of pot to be decriminalized is only half the amount recommended
by a special House of Commons committee on illicit drugs, which had proposed
that criminal sanctions be lifted for less than 30 grams.

The Justice Department had indicated it would accept the recommendation, but
suddenly retreated in recent weeks.

A particular concern is the growing prevalence of B.C. bud, a potent stream
of marijuana that put Canada on a White House list of countries of concern
in the war on drugs.

The United States has been pressing Canada to abandon its decriminalization
plan, warning that it would lead to delays at the border.

The watered-down bill will include stiffer penalties for drug traffickers
and people caught with marijuana-grow operations.

To underline the point, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon will present his
plan to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft today.

Cauchon is expected to stress that marijuana will remain illegal and that
Canada will toughen penalties substantially for marijuana-growing
operations.

He already described the plan briefly to Ashcroft last week at a Paris
meeting of justice ministers of the Group of Eight leading industrialized
nations, but today's meeting will give a fuller explanation.

The federal legislation will be accompanied by a renewed national drug
strategy that will puts millions of dollars into drug prevention, education
and treatment.

Solicitor General Wayne Easter said the message that Canada is trying to
send is that drugs are dangerous and people caught with anything but small
amounts of marijuana will be treated harshly.

"There is some work to be done here, no doubt about that, but we will be
coming out with a package that we believe the Americans will certainly
understand where we're at as well as Canadians," Easter said Monday.

"I think the key is there is certainly a lot of concern about marijuana-grow
operations, about people trafficking, about people being penalized with
small amounts and having a criminal record that affects them for so much of
their lives."

Randy White, a Canadian Alliance MP and vocal critic of the federal drug
policy, opposes decriminalization.

He said he believes that the government's plan will fail because judges will
be reluctant to hand criminal records to people caught with 16 grams and
minor fines to those possessing 14 grams.

White said the government's fines should increase with offences, so that
people caught for the second and third times would be given heftier tickets
than first-time offenders.