NO-BUST MUSTS

It's the dog days of summer, and all you want to do is sit under a
tree, kick back and consume some illegal drugs.

Besides the obvious health risks, there are a few things to bear in
mind before undertaking such activity. For a start, warm weather
doesn't grant immunity to arrest.

"Currently, it's not socially acceptable to smoke marijuana in a
park," says Robin Ellins, proprietor of the Friendly Stranger hemp
store. "If you toke in a park, you'll get the bike cops after you."

While Ellins is at pains to say he can't "coach" drug use, he does
suggest that "consumption of cannabis should be done behind closed
doors" -- even on the hottest of days.

"Never carry more than what you need for the evening," adds Osgoode
Hall law professor and drug law activist Alan Young. "If police stop
you, and the quantity is small enough, the police will likely throw
your pot in the sewer and let you go."

They're less likely to do this if you're young, male, scruffy-looking
and rude, he adds. "It's similar to traffic cops," Young says. "You
can weasel out of a ticket if you convince the police you're polite
and a moral person."

In the words of plainclothes Detective-Constable Ken McGowan, who does
undercover drug work when not patrolling the Entertainment District,
"the person's attitude," as well as the quantity of pot, often makes
the difference between a caution and an arrest.

Technically, anyone who is actually arrested for pot possession faces
a six-month jail sentence. Most first-time offenders in Toronto
receive pre-trial diversion, however, meaning their charges are
dropped in exchange for community service, says Young.

Even if you like using drugs, avoid selling or smoking crack at all
costs. Not only does it tend to destroy body and soul, it attracts
undue attention from police.

A few months ago, Detective Carl Noll of the police's Special
Investigative Services, major drug branch, admitted as much to eye.
Police "work on drugs that present the greatest threat to the
community," said Det. Noll. "No one who knows drugs would argue that
marijuana is more destructive than crack."

A final word of advice: while it might be nice to get away from the
sweltering city, Toronto is a far more pot-friendly place than, say,
Tobermory.

"As you move into the hinterlands, possession of a few joints is seen
as a much more heinous crime," Young cheerfully explains.

A recent study by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse pegged
Toronto's marijuana arrest rate at 41 cases per 100,000 people,
compared to 92 cases per 100,000 in the rest of Ontario.

Important figures for the one in 10 Torontonians who smokes pot to
bear in mind