POT DEBATE HEATS UP

OTTAWA - The debate over decriminalizing marijuana heated up
yesterday with the Canadian Police Association coming out strongly
against the idea and an Alliance MP saying it's the way to go.

MP Keith Martin, a medical doctor, introduced a private member's bill
- - which has virtually no chance of becoming law - that would remove
criminal penalties for simple possession of grass and replace them
with fines of up to $1,000.

But the police association, representing some 30,000 officers across
the country, warned legalization would have disastrous social
consequences.

"When illicit drugs are legalized, drug usage increases, the demand
for chemical drugs increases and crime increases," Dale Orban, the
group's spokesman, told a news conference.

"The costs of drug liberalization will be astronomical."

Experts balk at such claims, and even other police groups disagree.

In 1999, the Association of Canadian Police Chiefs recommended
decriminalization, and the RCMP has said the option is worth
considering.

This month, the House of Commons voted to create a committee to
examine non-medical drugs, and several MPs said it will study
decriminalization.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien said the issue has been debated for 30
years and the fact Canadians are discussing it again is healthy.

"Should we go into decriminalization and so on? It's not part of the
agenda at this time but there is a public debate, it's all right," he
said.

Decriminalization in the Netherlands has not led to an increase in
pot use there, a Senate committee on marijuana was told Monday.

Peter Cohen of Amsterdam University said about 16 per cent of Dutch
residents have tried marijuana, a level much lower than in the United
States. Under the Dutch system, people can buy up to five grams of
marijuana or hash at coffee houses.

He said the U.S. prohibitionist approach to drugs is based on moral
concepts rooted in the 19th Century, not on scientific evidence. He
called the United States "the Taleban of drug policy."