WHIFF OF DEBATE OVER POT LAWS

Two of Toronto's three main mayoral candidates say it's time to get
off the pot and decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

While Mayor David Miller and lawyer Stephen LeDrew support
decriminalization, Councillor Jane Pitfield said yesterday she
doesn't believe there's much public appetite for taking pot
possession out of the Criminal Code.

"I just feel at this point, the majority of people in this city still
would support keeping it as illegal," Pitfield said.

Toronto's mayor automatically gets a seat on the city's seven-member
police services board but has the option of appointing a councillor
to fill the spot.

Miller said he views the matter as a "health and moral issue" and not
a criminal matter.

"I think the police resources should be used to get at the real
problems which are dealers and gangs," he said.

Many U.S. states have decriminalized the drug, LeDrew noted.

"There have been too many lives ruined -- where you can't get across
the border, where you can't get a job -- for simple possession," he said.

The federal government has final say about pot laws.