WEED LEADS TO MOST CHARGES

OTTAWA (CP) - Marijuana is the leading cause of drug-related criminal
charges in the 1990s, despite growing ambivalence about whether the weed
should be illegal.

Marijuana’s resurgence as the drug of choice for Canadians and increasing
availability of the home-grown stuff has been accompanied by a big jump in
pot-related charges over the past decade compared with other drugs.

Statistics Canada data released Tuesday indicates the number of offences
hasn’t changed much since 1983. But marijuana-related offences accounted
for 72 per cent in 1997, compared with 58 per cent in 1991.

Charges related to heroin and cocaine have dropped over the same period.

In fact, half of drug crimes reported by Canadian police in 1997 stemmed
from cannabis possession.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, which produced the figures,
says it doesn’t know why the number of marijuana offences has grown while
others have dropped.

But Neil Boyd, a Simon Fraser University criminologist, says the growing
popularity of marijuana might partly account for the trend.

Others say growing availability of made-in-Canada marijuana might explain it.

Either way, the trend is disturbing for those who support legalization of
cannabis.

"I don’t see how in this day and age anybody can seriously argue that
prosecuting people for simple possession of marijuana does one iota of good
for society," said Eugene Oscapella, a member of the Canadian Foundation
for Drug Policy, an Ottawa drug policy think-tank.

"It’s an unnecessary waste of dollars, (it’s) diversion of police resources
and the diminution of civil liberties."

He charged that it’s easier to go after marijuana users than hard drug
traffickers.

"It’s an easy statistic for the cops. It’s easy to bust people, easy to
detect. Police want statistics to prove what they’re doing is working."

The Canadian Police Association says forces don’t have enough resources to
fight drug crime at the source.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police is against legalization, but
wants Ottawa to look at decriminalization in some circumstances.

Barry King, police chief in Brockville, Ont., said officers are getting
fired for using discretion when it comes to drugs and Ottawa has to take
the lead on giving cops the option of letting minor drug offences go.

"That’s what they’re saying to them: do something legitimate, codify it,
give our people the authority and the protection," he said.

"We’re looking for discretion as much as anybody else."

Ottawa isn’t currently looking at the issue, but last week, Health Minister
Allan Rock announced his department would conduct clinical trials on the
medicinal use of marijuana.

It’s a start, says Umberto Iorfida, president of the National Organization
for the Reform or Repeal of Marijuana Laws, based in King City, Ont.

However, he added that police, and governments that fund them, could save a
bundle of money if they just legalized marijuana use.

British Columbia led the pack in 1997 with the highest rate of drug crime,
as it has since 1982.

Its 1997 rate was 426 drug offences for every 100,000 population, a rate
that’s almost twice the national rate of 222 offences per 100,000 population.

Police forces reported 66,500 offences under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act in 1997.

Almost 41,000 youths and adults were charged with a drug offence, with 90
per cent of them being male.

Those charged with heroin and cocaine offences had an average age of 30.
Those charged with cannabis offences were younger, with an average age of 25.