POT PROBERS MUSE ON DECRIMINALIZATION

OTTAWA -- Evidence presented to a Senate committee looking at Canada's
illegal drug policy points to a possible decriminalization of marijuana.

"We're questioning prohibition as an effective way or policy to control a
substance," committee chair Senator Pierre Claude Nolin said Thursday.

"We think that prohibition is not an effective policy method to reach an
objective. We even don't know what is the objective," he said.

"Should we control the use? Or should we control the abuse of it? Or are we
in both sides?"

The committee, which was set up to review Canada's anti-drug laws and
policies on cannabis, released an interim report Thursday and will hold a
series of public hearings across the country, aiming for final
recommendations in August.

While the committee offered no recommendations, scientific and expert
opinions suggest the effect of cannabis on users' health is "relatively
benign," according to the report.

Using cannabis can increase the risk of lung cancer, although the report
states that "research has yet to distinguish between the effects of
cannabis and tobacco."