A DRUG TEST TO WATCH

A Times Editorial

The United States has exported its drug-war mentality to other
nations through heavy-handed persuasion and intimidation, and every
year we scrutinize our handiwork. An annual report issued by the
State Department comments on the drug enforcement efforts of other
countries. In it, nations that don't follow the U.S. model of zero
tolerance and are experimenting with alternatives to a punitive
approach to the drug problem are lectured in a patronizing,
we-know-better-than-you tone.

For example, last year Switzerland was condemned for supplying heroin
to addicts in a program to provide for their health while they battle
addiction. The report said: "The U.S. will continue to express
concern that Switzerland's heroin treatment program is not in the
long-term interest of Swiss society." It may or may not be. But at
least the Swiss are willing to experiment with alternatives to its
present system.

Now it looks like Canada could be moving toward a review of its
anti-drug policies, and U.S. officials are not happy about it. The
Canadian government is working on regulations to license marijuana
growers who cultivate small quantities of the drug for medicinal
purposes. The country's health officials say the new regulations
should be in place by next month.

Acceptance of medical marijuana has made substantial inroads in
Canada in recent years. Currently more than 250 people have
government permission to use it for relief from such symptoms as the
nausea caused by chemotherapy and the wasting that accompanies AIDS.
But it is estimated that as many as 400,000 people in Canada use
marijuana for medical reasons. Once growers are allowed to supply the
drug, it is expected that many more medical users will apply for
government permission.

Unlike our U.S. Supreme Court, which recently ruled 8-0 that federal
controls on marijuana trump efforts by the states to allow its legal
distribution for medical purposes, an Ontario court of appeals ruled
last year that Canada's government must modify its marijuana laws to
make the drug accessible for users with chronic or terminal illnesses.

But one side effect of this acknowledgement that marijuana may offer
some limited medical benefits is a growing chorus of voices calling
for its decriminalization. A committee has been formed in Canada's
House of Commons to examine the possibility of moving in that
direction, with proponents of decriminalization coming from some
surprising quarters, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the
Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and a Parliament member from
the neo-conservative Canadian Alliance.

By modifying the punishment for being caught with marijuana from a
criminal sentence to a civil fine, police say they would be freeing
up law enforcement resources to deal with more significant crimes.
There are an estimated 1.5-million recreational marijuana users in
Canada, out of a population of 30-million, and in 1999 marijuana
possession arrests topped 39,500.

Not surprising, the chorus of naysaying is coming from its neighbor
to the South. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. government
officials are decrying decriminalization in Canada, calling it a
"disaster" for our countries' relations, and saying they fear a flood
of marijuana coming across the border.

But if Canada does flirt with decriminalization, it could be an
experiment worth watching. In the United States, 704,000 people were
arrested in 1999 for a marijuana offense, 88 percent of those for
possession only. According to NORML, the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, we spend $1.2-billion annually
incarcerating these men and women and another $6- to 9-billion
finding and arresting them.

There must be a better way to control a drug used by 18-million
Americans annually. Maybe Canada will find it.