POLICE DRIFTING AWAY FROM HARD LINE ON DRUG

Fewer And Fewer Marijuana Users Charged, Despite Official Call For Strict
Prohibition.

Canadian police officers, who publicly oppose decriminalizing possession of
marijuana, are quietly backing away from pursuing charges despite catching
a growing number of people with the drug.

A statistical portrait of the 1990s shows that three times as many
Canadians avoided the justice system for marijuana possession in 1999 than
in 1989, prompting an Ottawa criminologist to assert that there is a "de
facto drift toward decriminalization" of cannabis.

"My guess is that 10 years from now it will be decriminalized or become
some sort of provincial offence," said the University of Ottawa's Julian
Roberts.

"I think we're drifting in that direction. There are a number of straws in
the wind."

With a debate on decriminalization gathering steam, the Canadian Centre for
Justice Statistics provided figures this week after the Canadian Police
Association told a Senate committee on illicit drugs that marijuana
possession should remain a criminal offence.

The statistics indicate there is a patchwork of police action across the
country, where charges for marijuana possession depend largely on where you
live, with the difference sometimes being a matter of a few kilometres.

Statistics for 1999, the last year in which figures are available, show
that police reported almost 40,000 cases of catching Canadians with
marijuana, but they did not pursue criminal charges in 13,500 cases,
roughly 34 per cent of the total.

A decade earlier, police caught 29,000 people with marijuana and pressed
charged in all but 4,700 cases, or 16 per cent.

Police in British Columbia were the most likely to turn a blind eye to
marijuana possession, pursing charges in only 17 per cent of cases in 1999,
followed by Quebec, in which 55 per cent of people caught with cannabis
ended up in court.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ontarians caught with the drug were
charged 71 per cent of the time and Albertans in 67 per cent of cases.

Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan were the most likely to pursue
charges, in 78 per cent and 76 per cent of cases respectively.

Even within provinces, the rate of charges varies between municipalities.

"This has always been a problem, and now it's a greater problem than it has
been, the uneven application of the law," said Neil Boyd, a criminologist
at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

"Police officers have grown up with marijuana, most police officers prior
to joining the force have used marijuana, they're aware of the debate in
society, many are not interested in enforcing criminal prohibitions."

The mellowing of the police force is due, in part, to changes in the
justice system in 1997 that led to alternative measures rather than court,
including sending people to educational courses or other diversion
programs, says a report on drugs compiled by the centre for justice statistics.

David Griffin, executive director of the Canadian Police Association,
acknowledged that busy police officers might not think it's worth their
time to charge someone caught with "a small baggie of marijuana with five
or 10 grams." He described marijuana possession as a "low priority" for
police, who might react to catching someone with a joint by "just scrubbing
it into the ground."

Possession of cannabis is near the bottom of the list of the federal
government's crime statistics, which are ranked in order of police priority.

The 30,000-member organization is at odds with both the Canadian
Association of Police Chiefs and the RCMP, which support decriminalization
of small amounts, saying it should warrant a fine akin to a parking ticket
rather than a criminal record.

Both Mr. Boyd and Mr. Roberts say it's not fair that an Ottawa resident,
for instance, should be saddled with a criminal record for running into a
police officer while carrying drugs, while a Vancouverite in the same
situation would be more likely to go free.

Fines of about $200 remain the most common punishment for drug possession,
the statistics show, although more than 1,000 Canadians annually are still
jailed for simple possession.

Mr. Boyd wants the federal government to decriminalize possession of small
amounts of cannabis. His sentiment, backed by several academics and
politicians, is to be studied by a House of Commons committee struck two
weeks ago to examine illicit drugs.

A recent survey conducted by University of Lethbridge sociologist Reg Bibby
indicated about half said they would support legalization, compared to only
one-quarter about 25 years ago.