CANADIAN POT PROTESTERS JOIN GLOBAL MARCH

TORONTO (CBC) - Hundreds of Canadians, some smoking marijuana, held
rallies in several cities Saturday, and repeated calls to make possession
of cannabis legal.

"We're not criminals," said one man during a march in Toronto. Protests
were also held in Vancouver and Montreal.

"We're here. We're high. Get used to it," said another man.

Organizers expected people in as many as 100 cities around the world to
join what they called the "Million Marijuana March" - but the crowds were
relatively small in Canada, and it was not clear what fraction of that
figure actually took part in rallies.

On April 29, Prime Minister Jean Chretien announced plans to decriminalize
marijuana - making possession of small amounts similar to a minor traffic
violation. People would be fined but wouldn't wind up with criminal records.

"It's definitely a step in the right direction," said a woman at a rally in
Toronto on Saturday.

People who back Ottawa's plan argue that the country is wasting its time
trying to prosecute the roughly two million Canadians who use marijuana,
according to Osgoode Hall Law Professor Alan Young. The justice system ends
up "chasing something that is relatively harmless," he told CBC News.

But some police officers consider possession of pot too serious an offence
to remove from the Criminal Code, arguing that it's often linked to drug
trafficking and other illegal activity.

"We feel we're sending the wrong message to our kids out there," said Mike
Niebudek, an RCMP officer and one of the vice-presidents of the Canadian
Police Association.

The Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to begin hearings next week into
whether the country's marijuana possession laws are Constitutional. Some
lawyers think the case will be postponed now that the federal government
has announced plans to change the penalty for possessing small amounts of
the drug.