DECRIMINALIZE IT

It was encouraging to learn last week that federal Justice Minister Martin
Cauchon is seriously thinking of amending the country's drug laws to make
simple possession of marijuana a misdemeanor instead of a crime.

The report came on the heels of an announcement that the British government
intends to reclassify marijuana from the category of hard drugs, such as
heroin and crack cocaine, to a level along with considerably less heinous
substances such as steroids and anti-depressants.

The new British system does not entirely decriminalize marijuana;
possession of the drug in its new category still carries a maximum two-year
penalty. But police will be instructed not to arrest people caught holding
small amounts for personal use. At the same time, penalties for trafficking
in harder drugs will increase.

What the Canadian government is reported to be considering is a system
whereby simple possession would be treated as a summary offence punishable
by a fine, much the same as a traffic violation. While no one is sent to
prison anymore for possessing a personal stash of marijuana, offenders
under the present law are still, in theory, liable to prison terms of up to
seven years and face the prospect of lifelong criminal records.

Decriminalization is also likely to be recommended by a Senate committee on
illegal drugs, scheduled to report in September.

These proposed new approaches have been criticized by people on both sides
of the issue. Britain's top anti-drug official resigned over the new
British measures, saying they will encourage wider drug use. In Canada, the
head of the Marijuana Party, which promotes full legalization, argued that
the fines for possession would overwhelmingly be imposed, in practice, on
the young and the poor. Both of these fears might prove to be correct; many
jurisdictions will be watching the British example with interest.

We don't approve of marijuana smoking, and we don't believe Canadian
society does. There is cause to fear that full-scale legalization would
entail further proliferation of marijuana use, particularly by children,
with untold social consequences. For another thing, the profits from
marijuana flow very largely to criminal gangs - and certain hashish
profits, according to one recent news report, fuel terrorism.

But it's clear that marijuana isn't going to go away. And there is also
ample evidence that saddling casual users with criminal records does
greater social harm than the offence itself. On balance, then, we see good
reason to steer a middle course between outright legalization and treating
marijuana as a deadly substance (as we have been for nearly a century). Mr.
Cauchon is on the right track; we wish him the courage to push ahead.