LIBERALS TO WATER DOWN MARIJUANA BILL

The Justice Department will introduce a bill as early as next Thursday to
decriminalize marijuana, but there has been a sudden retreat on the amount
of marijuana possession that will escape criminal sanctions.

The government will also propose stiffer penalties against marijuana grow
operations that are springing up across the country.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon had until now planned to hand out fines
instead of criminal records to people caught with less than 30 grams of
marijuana, the equivalent of 25 or 30 cigarettes.

But the proposed law will lessen the amount to an undisclosed quantity that
will fall short of 30 grams, which critics have said is too much.

The change of plans comes amid pressure from the United States, which has
repeatedly warned that softer marijuana laws in Canada will lead to delays
at the U.S.-Canada border and further threaten relations between the two
countries.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci has recently indicated that
decriminalization might be acceptable to Washington if it was accompanied
by stiffer penalties for traffickers and growers of the drug.

The Liberal's legislative package will also include stiffer penalties for
marijuana grow operations, which are currently punishable by up to seven
years imprisonment.

An RCMP intelligence report has warned that Canada, as a result of weak
sentencing laws, has become a "haven" for indoor marijuana grow operations
that are run by outlaw biker gangs and Vietnamese gangs prone to "extreme
violence."

The marijuana bill will be introduced at the same time as the Health
Department announces a revamped national drug strategy that will spend
millions on drug education and prevention.

Included in the strategy will be a campaign to stress that drugs, including
marijuana, are a health hazard and that police will be instructed to be
more vigilant in enforcing the law, particularly against traffickers.

The Liberals promised a new national drug strategy during the 2000 federal
election campaign.

The amount of marijuana to be decriminalized is a retreat from the 30-gram
recommendation from a House of Commons committee last December. It also is
far stricter than a Senate committee's recommendation that the marijuana be
outright legalized.

People caught with small amounts will be given a fine akin to a parking
ticket rather than punished with a criminal record.

"My primary concern here is to make sure we're going to have an effective
policy, sending a strong message that marijuana is illegal in Canada; it
can be harmful to your health; it is not good for society as well; and
making sure as well that we are going to be stronger in law enforcement,"
Mr. Cauchon said recently when asked whether he was worried about the U.S.
position.