POLICE 'NOT PURSUING' ARRESTS FOR POSSESSION OF HARD DRUGS

Vancouver Inspector Makes Revelation At Senate Hearing

Vancouver police have, for all practical purposes, stopped arresting
people for drug possession -- whether the drug is cannabis, cocaine,
heroin or designer drugs -- a senior officer told a Senate committee
hearing Wednesday.

Inspector Kash Heed, commanding officer of the police department's
vice and drug section, said police have chosen to focus on busting
profit-makers in the drug industry and tacitly ignore people who
carry small amounts of drugs for their own use.

The police department also believes the prohibition of cannabis
should be revisited and the federal government should consider
removing criminal sanctions, he said.

"In practical terms, we have de facto decriminalization or de facto
legalization based on the wide margin of discretion afforded to the
police," he told the Senate special committee on illegal drugs.

However, he said he wasn't suggesting cannabis should be legalized.

The department supports the concept of possessors being given fines
akin to traffic tickets.

Such penalties would not result in a criminal conviction. The special
committee, which is reviewing Canada's anti-drug legislation, was in
Vancouver Wednesday. Heed's comments -- which he said represent the
official view of the Vancouver police department -- came after
Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen told the committee the legalization of
soft drugs such as cannabis is inevitable. But it was the officer's
comments near the end of the day that took the committee most by
surprise. Pierre-Claude Nolin, the committee's chairman, said Heed
had made "bold" comments that raise the stakes facing police and the
public about the issues around illegal drugs. He congratulated the
officer for considering an approach not normally endorsed by police.

Heed said police in Vancouver recognize they need to go after drug
profit-makers such as dealers and growers, and generally don't bother
people who have small amounts for personal use. The courts have also
signalled they're not really interested in pursuing possession
charges, he said. Crown prosecutors don't want to be burdened with
personal possession charges, and judges often hand down light
sentences, up to and including absolute discharge. As a result,
police officers have been told by their superiors that they have wide
discretion in charging people who have small amounts of drugs -- hard
or soft. "The Vancouver police department's policies focus drug
enforcement resources on people who are making a profit from the sale
of drugs," Heed said. "Generally, simple possession charges are not
pursued, regardless of the type of drug, unless there are extenuating
circumstances." Heed said the department, although still "vigilant,"
has become tolerant of clubs that provide cannabis for medicinal
purposes. The changing public view about soft drug use and the fact
that police have been unable to effectively control cannabis means
the government should consider decriminalizing the drug, he said.
"Current policies directed at prohibiting the use of cannabis and
controlling the supply of cannabis should be reconsidered," he said.
"The confirmed ineffectiveness of control of use through prohibiting
the supply, and the high costs of implementing such a policy make it
very unlikely [it] will be effective in reducing cannabis use. It
seems likely that the removal of criminal sanctions should be given
serious consideration by the federal government in the near future."
Heed said the department is grappling with a massive cannabis-growing
industry that eats up enormous amounts of law enforcement resources.
The cannabis grown in an estimated 15,000 operations in the Lower
Mainland has a wholesale value of about $4.2 billion annually.

Provincially, the wholesale value is about $6 billion, he said. Heed
said the Vancouver police department's views run counter to those of
law enforcement agencies in the United States, who still adamantly
insist on trying to control possession. The senate committee was
created in April and is expected to table its report to the Senate in
August, 2002.