TIME FOR DISCUSSION ON EASING CANADA'S DRUG LAWS, ROCK SAYS

'A Lot Tothink About': Health Minister Tours Country's First Legal Pot Garden

FLIN FLON, Man. - Allan Rock, the Minister of Health, said it was time for
an open discussion on liberalizing Canada's drug laws as he toured the
government's official marijuana growing plant yesterday.

"When I was justice minister, I paid lawyers to prosecute these drug cases,
many of them involving people, young people, with very small amounts. The
question often arose as to whether or not this was a good use of dollars
and the justice system. I think it's time for a discussion in Canada about
all of this," he said.

Mr Rock spoke after touring an underground mine in Flin Flon, Man., where
the first official crop of government-sanctioned pot is being grown.

Just outside this northern mining town, an exhausted nickel and copper
underground shaft has been turned into a giant greenhouse for marijuana
plants. Last year, Prairie Plant Systems, the Saskatoon-based greenhouse
operator, was awarded $5.7-million to produce 185 kilograms of weed this
year and about 450 kg each year for four more years.

The so-called medical marijuana will be made available to sick Canadians
who are granted government approval to smoke it for the alleviation of pain
and the debilitating symptoms of various diseases.

Mr. Rock said Canada's medical marijuana policy is based on "compassionate"
grounds and he predicted it will eventually be matched by other nations.

"I'm absolutely convinced we've made the right choice, we're on the right
path. And we're going to improve the lives of many people."

Mr. Rock noted that members of Parliament decided in May to establish a
special committee of MPs that will begin cross-country hearings this fall
looking at the issues surrounding marijuana.

Mr. Rock said that as the father of three teenagers, he worries about the
drug culture and the "messages we're sending kids and where we draw lines."

One possible approach, he suggested, would be to treat possession of
marijuana like a traffic offence, in which the offender would be slapped
with a ticket and a fine rather than be charged with a criminal offence.

"I think there's a lot to think about here. I'm glad that the committee is
going to be working on it. I'm glad that people are going to be asking
these questions and looking at different approaches," he said.

As Mr. Rock inspected Canada's new, legally sanctioned grow operation,
about two dozen reporters and camera operators stood at the rocky mine
opening and watched a pool of four journalists -- pre-screened for security
reasons, we were told -- descend into the mine with Mr. Rock.

They all wore shiny rubber boots, yellow safety helmets, goggles and blue
jump suits. "I'm not used to this much paraphernalia for people growing
marijuana," said Mr. Rock, a Baby Boomer who once persuaded John Lennon to
come to Ottawa for a peace conference.

"As a former attorney-general of Canada, I'm keenly aware there's a right
against self-incrimination in this country," he once grinned when asked if
he ever smoked pot. "And I fully intend to invoke that right."

After a 20-minute descent by pickup truck, they reached the entrance to the
chamber where the pot is grown. A sign read: "No trespassing. Restricted
and secured area. Any attempt to enter this area will trigger alarms and
will be treated as a break-and-enter. Violators will be apprehended and
charged."

Just inside the greenhouse, its whiterock walls pulsating from 10,000-watt
lighting, a new sign was unveiled at the entrance to the operation: "The
Rock Garden."

Inside the growing area, marijuana planted six weeks ago is two metres
tall. The plants thrive, company officials said, under the controlled
temperature, humidity and artificial light. Plants ready for harvest in
October will be processed into cigarettes and loose form. "That's for those
who might want to smoke it in other ways, in a pipe or otherwise," Mr. Rock
said.

Jackie Masich, the head of the Flin Flon growing operation, will not say
how many plants have been sown or how far underground the greenhouses are.
Later, a mine worker is admonished as he nearly lets the secret slip.
Questions about what will be done with any surplus drug that is produced
are swiftly brushed aside. Security considerations, Ms. Masich says.

Rumours swirl in town that the facility is more secure than the federal
laboratory in Winnipeg, 740 kilometres to the southeast, which houses
deadly viruses, including ebola and anthrax.

However, one man, Eric Angst, a long-time marijuana user, said: "The whole
thing is kind of ludicrous, isn't it?"

Mr. Angst was busted in 1997 for growing his own supply to ease the pain of
arthritis and bowel problems. Last year, Mr. Angst was awarded 12-months
probation for growing 12 plants in his trailer home near Saskatoon.

Mr. Angst, who had a drug conviction in the 1970s, served a year's probation.

He has applied for an exemption that would allow him to join about 300
Canadians who can grow pot for medicinal use.

Mr. Angst is usually not shy about his drug use. During his trial for
growing the marijuana, he admitted to smoking a joint during a court break.
It was the only way he could endure sitting on the wooden bench of the
prisoners' box, he said at the time. He was not quite as forward this week
when asked how he is controlling his pain.

"I'm doing what I have to do. that's all I'll say, whether I have to go to
the dealer or if I have pot out in the country somewhere ..."

Mr. Rock was asked to explain the difference between the
government-sponsored operation, which is creating dozens of jobs at Health
Canada and Prairie Plant Systems, and Mr. Angst's operation.

"There is no ethical difference," Mr. Rock stated. "It's the law that you
can't grow or use certain drugs. That's the law."