POLICE INCREASINGLY TURNING BLIND EYE TO CASUAL DOPE SMOKING

With some of the world's strongest marijuana coming from British Columbia's
fertile interior, and a growing police indifference towards small scale,
social dope smoking, it's never been a better summer for Edmontonians to
light a joint without fear of getting busted.

"I don't think there's a heck of a lot of focus on guys who are smoking
joints anymore," admits an Edmonton drug unit detective, who did not want
his name used.

"If you're doing it in the privacy of your own home -- you're not producing
it or trafficking in it -- it's unlikely an arrest will ensue," echoes
local criminal defence lawyer Ed O'Neill.

As the federal justice minister tested the waters earlier this week on
cannabis decriminalization -- a ticket and fine for possession of small
amounts, with no criminal record attached -- Alberta's agencies policing
the recreational use and cultivation of marijuana are under siege from all
directions.

Decriminalization in Alberta would have implications from a national law
enforcement perspective, where it could weaken Crown cases elsewhere.

And then there's the black market, where some of the best marijuana in the
world grows across the unguarded border in B.C.

In years past, the best pot had to be imported from California, Mexico and
Colombia, posing far greater hurdles for smugglers. Hashish, the other form
of cannabis, most often comes from northern Africa and Afghanistan, and is
often smuggled through Quebec.

After setting up CheckStops just inside the Jasper National Park gates
between Feb. 9 and 11, 2000, Hinton and Edson RCMP confiscated five
kilograms of cocaine and about 23 kilograms of marijuana worth an estimated
$820,000.

That's more contraband in three days than Hinton had seen in 12 years.

"If pot is coming from anywhere, it's coming from B.C.," said the drug unit
detective.

"You don't get stuff from Mexico -- there's no money in it. No percentage
in shipping it all that way. The stuff in B.C. is better chemically. It's
higher quality."

And with a little experience, that same B.C. bud can be grown for personal
use in a pot on the balcony.

Mail-order seed companies operating across the Rockies sell everything from
Northern Lights No. 5, to the Cannabis Cup winner from 1994, to Himalaya
Gold, touted by the Web site as providing a "creative" high that's
"especially recommended for arts and crafts."

Street prices in Edmonton hover around $250 an ounce (28 grams), or $45 for
an eighth of an ounce.

With three plants and a rotating harvest, experts say, the average weekend
smoker can be well stocked year round while spending no more money or time
than if they were growing tomatoes.

"All you have to do is get the seeds. You don't need any special
knowledge," said Steven Hager of High Times magazine.

"Just throw the seeds down -- they'll dominate any other plant. You can be
a total novice dummy, and still do very well."

Karen Watson operates one of the leading seed companies in Vancouver.

"We sell seeds across Canada," she said. "Yes, we get mail orders from
Edmonton. A lot of how-to books and videos, too."

The most recent provincial statistics from AADAC show that, in 1998, 10 per
cent of Albertans over the age of 17 had consumed cannabis in the previous
year. They come from all walks of life, O'Neill said.

"From the people who walk through my doors, it's not restricted by age,
class or background," he said. "It's a broad cross-section of people."

The court system tends to see only those who take a risk: by toking in a
car, a parking lot, carrying large amounts or trafficking. "You get the
young, and the old and indigent," he said.

The rest are becoming increasingly free to imbibe without threat of a
criminal record to stop them travelling to foreign countries and entering
some educational institutions -- not to mention the stigma of carrying a
criminal record through life.

On the University of Alberta campus, de facto decriminalization is already
in effect for quantities smaller than 28 grams.

"Less than an ounce ... generally it will be dealt with internally," said
Darcy Pennock of campus security.

Campus security can seize the marijuana and invoke the Code of Student
Behaviour. That could mean a letter on their file, or a fine. But no
criminal record.

"People come to university to better themselves," Pennock said. "By us
criminalizing them for a mistake, that isn't good for anybody."

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have come out in favour of
decriminalization, with some provisos.

Some believe that without the threat of criminal charges, police will lose
some power to entice smaller criminals to point them towards more prominent
ones.

"They may lose the ability to garner information that may be very useful in
support of an application for either a search warrant or a wiretap,"
O'Neill said. "They might compromise themselves in that respect."

Fines are in the $110 to $250 range, but the record sticks.

"The fine is not a deterrent," O'Neill said. "It's the criminal record
that's the hardship."

MARIJUANA

- - Short-Term Effects:

User could be happy and talkative, or quiet and withdrawn. Paranoia may set in.

Physically, user can become clumsier, slower to react. Impairs driving ability.

- - Long-Term Effects:

When used on a regular basis, can impair memory.

General motivation may decrease.

User may be unable to maintain concentration.

- - Factors of Addiction

Physical -- body becomes accustomed to THC presence.

Psychological -- drug becomes central in one's life; cannot perform normal
tasks without marijuana.

- - Withdrawal Symptoms

Anxiety, irritability, sleeping problems.

Loss of appetite, the sweats.

- - Cancer

Cannabis contains cancer-promoting chemicals.

Tar levels in marijuana and hashish levels are higher than in tobacco.

Smoking dangerous to lungs.

Source: Deb Deeter, counselling supervisor, AADAC

Here are some recent Alberta data:

- - In Alberta, 10 per cent of adults 18 years or older have consumed
cannabis in the last year. (1998)

- - 3 per cent are frequent users (once per week or more (1998).

- - 16 per cent of adolescents (12-17) are users; 4 per cent are frequent
users. (1996)

National Stats:

- - Men are twice as likely to use as women.

- - The proportion of users steadily declines with age.

- - B.C. has the highest proportion of users, Ontario the lowest.

Source: AADAC