COPS STIR UP THE GREAT POT DEBATE

Feds Urged To Decriminalize Possession

Parliamentary Bureau Justice Minister Anne McLellan is receptive to a pitch
by the country's top cops to decriminalize possession of small amounts of
pot and hash.

"We're going to take a look at this and we'll see where it leads us,"
McLellan said yesterday.

"I think this is a significant move on the part of the chiefs and they are a
very influential voice."

The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs say they could maximize their
dwindling resources by targeting organized crime instead of busting potheads.

The association's board has adopted a policy that calls on the federal
government to give police the option of charging someone with 30 grams or
less or issuing a ticket and fine or community service.

Under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, possessing less than 30 grams
of marijuana or a derivative is a summary conviction punishable by a maximum
six months of jail or a $2,000 fine. A conviction under the act does not
carry a criminal record.

Brockville Police Chief Barry King says that while the association opposes
legalizing illicit drugs, it supports decriminalizing possession of small
amounts of marijuana and hashish when a conviction does not give rise to a
criminal record.

King said if police caught someone on a schoolyard with 20 grams of pot,
there would be no ticket issued.

The chiefs would support decriminalization only if the government also
introduced prevention and education programs, counselling and treatment for
users and addicts, and diversion programs such as drug courts or community
sentencing.

"All we want to do is add another tool to the toolbox. We're not giving up
the ghost on drugs, absolutely not," said King, who heads the association's
drug abuse committee.

The government is studying the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The
chiefs say they will abide by whatever Health Canada decides with regard to
allowing the use of any illicit drug for that purpose.

The chiefs are motivated by statistics indicating year after year that about
half of marijuana charges processed every year stem from simple possession,
said King.