DECRIMINALIZATION 'FIRST STEP'

Law Needs To Be Changed, Justice Minister Says

Decriminalizing marijuana might be a "first step" in reforming drug laws
which seem out of date, federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said yesterday.

The marijuana law needs to be changed, he said, and decriminalization --
which would let people possess and use small quantities of cannabis without
facing a criminal record -- is a logical option.

"It probably would be feasible as a first step," Cauchon said outside a
cabinet meeting.

"I feel that there is a strong support. I feel that the population is there.

"To keep it the way it is now doesn't make any sense to me in the year 2002
... The legislation in place is sort of disconnected with Canadian reality."

Cauchon said he'll have a new policy ready early next year, but first he
wants to see the report of a Commons committee which has been studying the
issue of illicit drugs. That report is expected in November.

A special Senate committee recommended Wednesday that can-nabis be
legalized, but Cauchon said that may be going too far.

Legalizing pot -- which would allow for the open sale of the drug -- might
promote a global ruckus, he said, because Canada has signed a number of
international treaties outlawing various drugs.

"At this point in time, the notion of legalizing marijuana is just not
possible from an international point of view," he said.

"We have to proceed on a step-by-step basis."

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White, vice-chairman of the Commons committee on
drugs, said his colleagues don't support the Senate idea of legalization.

"The general consensus is that legalization is not the route to follow," he
said.

The United States disagrees with the Senate report's findings that cannabis
is less harmful than alcohol and causes few, if any, long-term problems.

John Walters, director of the U.S. national drug-control policy, disputed
those findings in a statement Wednesday: "We know that marijuana is a
harmful drug, particularly for young people."

Cauchon said he hasn't had any reaction from Washington on the issue, and
said he wouldn't be swayed by American policies.

"I'll do what's good for Canadian society."