BELGIAN LAWMAKERS CAN NOW SMOKE POT IN THEIR OFFICES

Cannabis Use Is Legal, But Trafficking Is Not

BRUSSELS -- Tourists will be able to smoke spliffs while sitting in
cafes in Brussels' Grande Place and European Parliament members will
be able to puff marijuana in their offices after the Belgian
government agreed to decriminalize cannabis.

Vincent van Quickenborne, 27, a Belgian MP, is already promising to
celebrate the directive, which will take effect this spring, by
inhaling cannabis in parliament.

The move makes Belgium the second European country after the
Netherlands effectively to decriminalize cannabis, and is bound to
encourage campaigners in other countries to relax their rules.

A Belgian government statement said: ``The limited consumption of
alcohol, tobacco and cannabis is more and more socially accepted.

``There is no objective reason why cannabis should be treated
differently from alcohol and tobacco.

``A society without drugs is an illusion.''

The directive, accepted by Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's prime minister,
and his cabinet, says cannabis use will be tolerated among those 18
or older unless it leads to ``problematic'' consumption; creates a
social nuisance; or poses risks to others by, for example,
encouraging children to use the drug or driving while under its
effects.

Health Minister Magda Aelvoet said: ``All possession for personal use
won't elicit a reaction from the judicial system. There'll be no
charges.''

The authorities will continue to prosecute cannabis dealers, but not
the growing of cannabis plants for personal use.

Hard drugs will remain strictly illegal.

Belgians flock across the border to buy and smoke cannabis in
Holland's legalized ``coffee shops.''

``We have to take account of reality,'' said Alain Gerlache, the
prime minister's spokesman.

He did not believe drug users from other countries would rush across
to Belgium.

``If large groups of drug hooligans come to Belgium to enjoy a
freedom they would not have in Britain, this could be considered a
problematic use,'' he said.

Officials acknowledged that permitting the use of cannabis, but not
its sale, could fuel the black market. The judiciary will decide what
quantities individuals should reasonably be allowed to possess for
personal consumption, or what constitutes ``problematic'' use.

The Belgian decision to permit cannabis use is part of a
comprehensive new drug strategy that includes measures to discourage
and prevent drug use, improve treatment and rehabilitation services,
and crack down on dealers.

The Netherlands decriminalized soft drugs in 1976 and, under Dutch
law, the country's 1,500 ``coffee shops'' can sell customers up to
five grams of cannabis as long as no public nuisance is created.

The Belgian directive will not permit coffee shops, nor will it
technically legalize cannabis possession. What it will do is
formalize the existing situation. One prosecutor told the Belgian
newspaper La Libre that he had long ceased pursuing simple possession
cases because of a lack of resources.