POT 'FLIP-FLOP' HAS MP SMOKING

OTTAWA -- The Canadian Alliance has backed away from its stand on
legalizing marijuana for medicinal use and abandoning jail sentences for
simple possession of pot.

Last week, the Alliance Web site suggested the party would not punish
possession of small amounts of poy with jail and would allow its use for
serious medicinal reasons

"We will remove the threat of jail terms for simple possession of small
amounts of cannabis, and allow its use for serious medicinal reasons," the
section read.

But a glossy colour policy brochure unveiled last Thursday by Alliance
Leader Stockwell Day omits the paragraph pertaining to pot.

"We've got some serious flip-flops happening here," said BC NDP MP Nelson
Riis. He said the omission puts into context the Alliance campaign
platform, called A Time for Change.

"They've changed their tax strategy, they've now changed their marijuana
strategy going into the campaign..." Riis said, adding the Alliance is
afraid of controversy.

Yesterday, Alliance spokesman Phil von Finckenstein said the reference was
removed because the party doesn't want to campaign on the issue, which he
said is not a priority of Canadians. "Mr. Day has personal beliefs but at
the end of the day, we're a team and we got together and decided... this is
the platform we're putting forward," von Finckenstein said.

- -CP