WEAKER POT LAW CHOKES B.C. MINISTER

Solicitor General Decries Bid to Decriminalize Possession Up to 30 Grams

B.C.'s solicitor general is vowing to lobby against federal government
plans to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"I want us to go out and fight the war on drugs because it's hurting our
kids, it's hurting our communities and it's time we stood up to it," Rich
Coleman said Wednesday.

B.C. is on the front line of the war on drugs and law enforcement, and
needs to get tougher not softer, said Coleman, a former RCMP officer.

Federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is expected to set a cutoff of 30
grams of marijuana -- the equivalent of 25 to 30 cigarettes -- as the
amount that a person can possess without being criminally charged. The
minister, who will likely introduce legislation early next year to
decriminalize pot possession, has chosen 30 grams because it is the amount
already considered a lesser offence in the Criminal Code. The maximum
penalty now is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Under Cauchon's proposed regime, people caught with less than 30 grams
would be ticketed and not be subject to a criminal record.

The amount will be in keeping with a recommendation of a special House of
Commons committee on illicit drugs, which will issue a report today saying
that Ottawa should decriminalize possession of marijuana of less than 30
grams. Thirty grams can fit into a small sandwich bag.

Possession is expected to be removed from the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act into the federal Contraventions Act, which governs such
things as driving on federal wharves and abandoning vessels in a public
harbour.

Coleman, who acknowledges that B.C. will have to live with whatever federal
legislation is passed, said he made his feelings about decriminalization
known to Ottawa earlier this year at the justice ministers' conference.

Marijuana, which is now 20 to 30 times more potent than it was in the
1970s, is a serious problem in B.C., Coleman said.

Grow-ops fuel organized crime, many murders in the province are related to
the marijuana business, marijuana is traded kilo for kilo across the border
for cocaine, and proceeds from grow-ops funnel into speed and
methamphetamine labs, he said.

"None of these issues would be addressed by what is proposed by the federal
justice minister."

Shortage of manpower means police energy is rarely spent on small
possession cases, but decriminalization is not the answer, Coleman said.

Instead, there should be a national drug strategy that looks at every
aspect of the problem and brings together all law enforcement groups, from
police to Crown prosecutors, he said.

"By doing one little thing you are not going to change the world. We have a
big problem.

"We have to look at this long term and look at how the trade is hurting
communities and fuelling violence in our society."

Coleman said he has never smoked marijuana or used any other type of
illegal drug.

"I don't think we should be encouraging that to our children," he said.

NDP opposition Leader Joy MacPhail said Coleman seems to misunderstand the
intent of proposed changes and is out of touch with what many groups across
society are trying to accomplish.

"Police across the province are asking for certainty and clarification of
the laws," she said.

"The real issue here is that the American war on drugs has failed miserably
and individuals who possess marijuana are the targets rather than the drug
warlords."

Instead of police energy being spent on chasing the end-user, the target
should be eliminating the roots of the devastating drug industry, MacPhail
said.

Victoria police Deputy Chief Geoff Varley said police rarely spend a
tremendous amount of time and effort going after people for simple possession.

"We spend more time on people who choose to traffic in marijuana," he said.

However, it is a chicken-and-egg situation because without end-users the
trade would not flourish, he said.

"The intelligence we have at this point in time makes us believe that
organized crime is heavily involved in the production of marijuana. So, if
we decriminalize it, are we saying it's OK to produce it?" he said.

Varley said one of his personal concerns is the unknown health effects of
marijuana.

The financially strained health system is already dealing with the effects
of alcohol and cigarette use and it makes no sense to decriminalize another
drug when no one knows the long-term health impacts, Varley said.

Randy White, a Canadian Alliance MP on the Commons committee on illicit
drugs, said that 30 grams is a "stupid Liberal standard."

He said that five grams should be the limit, as it is in the Netherlands.

"If you're caught with up to 30 joints, that's not personal possession,
you're in a schoolyard trying to pawn it off on kids," White said.

But the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse agrees that 30 grams is the
appropriate limit. "It seems like a natural benchmark," said communications
director Richard Garlick.