RECORDS SHOW PM FOUGHT FOR POT-LAW REFORM IN '81

Jean Chretien helped launch an initiative to radically reform
marijuana laws when he was justice minister in 1981, newly released
records show.

Cabinet documents from the government of then-prime minister Pierre
Trudeau show that Chretien pressed cabinet to lower fines, reduce jail
sentences and eliminate the criminal records of Canadians convicted of
possessing small amounts of marijuana.

Chretien also tabled a discussion paper at cabinet that, among other
things, raised the possibility of legalizing marijuana.

"Because the conduct would be legal there would be no offences, no
criminal records, and no stigmatization. As well, there would be a
significant reduction of an illicit market, which obliges people to
engage in criminal activities or deal with criminal types in order to
supply themselves with cannabis," says the Jan. 23, 1981, paper.

Documents detailing the reform proposals, which were never put into
effect, were obtained under the Access to Information Act. The law
permits the disclosure of cabinet records only after 20 years have
passed.

Between January and July of 1981, Chretien joined Robert Kaplan and
Monique Begin -- the solicitor-general and health minister -- in
trying to persuade cabinet colleagues to lighten the fines and prison
terms for simple possession of marijuana.

Full legalization, although briefly considered, was ultimately
rejected partly because "there is little doubt . . . that legalized
distribution would likely result in the increased use of cannabis by
Canadians thereby increasing the health and safety hazards which are
associated with it."

More than two decades later, the torch has passed to Prime Minister
Jean Chretien's own justice minister, who is considering the
decriminalization of marijuana.

Martin Cauchon said this summer that there is "strong support" among
Canadians for a new legal regime that would drop penalties against
people who possess and use small quantities of the drug.

Earlier this month, a Senate committee called on the government to
legalize and regulate the production and sale of marijuana, and to
erase the criminal records of those already convicted of simple possession.

Cauchon has said the government will not disclose its next move until
early next year. However, he has already indicated that legalization
would create too many international problems for the government, which
has signed treaties outlawing various drugs.