TREAT POTHEADS: CHIEF

Fantino Says Marijuana Use Should Be Decriminalized

Toronto's new police chief believes Canada needs to decriminalize the
possession and use of small amounts of marijuana and deal with the
issue in a more "contemporary way."

"Simply put, we need to focus a great deal more on education, on
treatment and looking at a drug strategy that also addresses the
health issues," Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino said yesterday at
the last of 18 divisional community meetings that he had scheduled
over the past seven weeks.

Fantino wants to clarify he is not in favour of legalizing marijuana,
but simply decriminalzing it so that his 7,000-strong police force can
focus on more serious crime.

"The punishment isn't the issue in cases like this, it's making the
system work," he said. "We're responding to the issue in a more
contemporary way, allowing our police officers and the criminal
justice system to get on with the more serious issues we have to deal
with."

Fantino, who says he is terrified of illicit drugs and has never used
anything other than a prescription, suggests those caught with
small-time pot possession be mandated to enter a treatment program,
rather than going through a time- and money-consuming judicial process.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police approved a proposal in
April 1999 which calls for the decriminalization of simple possession
of marijuana and its derivatives.

Currently, possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana is a summary
conviction offence, which doesn't yield a criminal record.

Meanwhile, Fantino said Toronto Police need more people from the black
community to join law enforcement.

"Like it or not, the police are on the forefront of racial issues,"
Fantino told the crowd of nearly 500 at the Association of Black Law
Enforcers (ABLE) scholarship ball in Mississauga last night. "We all
have to try harder to maintain the public's trust ... Even though some
(officers) may find it difficult to change at the accelerated pace
demanded by policy-makers and the public."

ABLE gave four $1,000 scholarships to students Chike Jeffers, Nadia
McLeod, Faith Ann Blair and Sharma Macdonald.