CANADA IS GOING TO POT

Society Slowly Shifting Towards Decriminalizing Use Of Marijuana

TORONTO -- The Friendly Stranger used to be up a narrow stairway in a back
room, a crowded little shop offering water pipes, T-shirts and other
products of the cannabis -- or marijuana -- culture.

Now proprietor Robin Ellins has a prominent storefront on busy Queen Street
and plenty of room to display everything from hempseed oil and chips to a
full line of hemp clothing and elaborate smoking accessories

The transformation from hidden emporium to thriving commercial venture is
part of Canada's slow but clear shift toward decriminalizing marijuana.

Justice Minister Anne McLellan says the issue should be studied, and a new
Parliament committee on drug matters will look at decriminalization.
Conservative party leader Joe Clark is urging the elimination of criminal
penalties for possessing a small amount of pot.

"It's unjust to see someone, because of one decision one night in their
youth, carry the stigma -- to be barred from studying medicine, law,
architecture or other fields where a criminal record could present an
obstacle," Clark said last week.

The government has proposed expanding medicinal use of marijuana, and the
Canadian Medical Association Journal recently supported full
decriminalization. Canada's Supreme Court will consider a case this year
that contends criminal charges for the persona] use of marijuana violate
constitutional rights.

Making possession and use of small amounts of marijuana a civil offense --
akin to a traffic fine-- instead of a criminal violation would move
Canadian policy closer to attitudes in The Netherlands and away from the
United States, its neighbor and biggest trade partner.

That worries U.S. anti-drug activists like Robert Maginnis of the Family
Research Council. "It will have a residual effect in this country of
depressing prices and making marijuana more available," he said.

He also knows a shift by Canada would boost the arguments of American
advocates for easing U.S. drug laws. "We find our allies are piling up on
us and making it more difficult" to fight drug use, Maginnis said.

Joseph A. Califano Jr, president of the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University, is skeptical about that.

Califano a former U.S. secretary of health and human services, said
increasing medical evidence on the harm caused by marijuana makes it
unlikely that a change in Canadian law will affect U.S. policies. "I don't
think it means much," he said.