BARENAKED LADIES' PAGE MAY AVOID JAIL

Singer Agrees To Drug Screening; Cocaine Possession

Steven Page, the lead singer of The Barenaked Ladies, was spared jail
time after a New York state judge yesterday reduced felony charges of
cocaine possession against him.

Court proceedings involving Mr. Page and two women with whom he was
arrested last July will be adjourned for six months at which point the
charges against the singer might be dropped, providing he complies
with a drug-screening program.

Following a brief appearance yesterday in Fayetteville Village Court,
Mr. Page apologized to those who had been "hurt or embarrassed" by his
arrest.

"The respect and responsibility I have earned over the course of my
life and career are important to me, and I am moving forward from this
with gratitude and hope."

Last summer, Mr. Page admitted to a police officer that a white powder
he was snorting at an apartment in a suburb of Syracuse, N. Y., was
cocaine, according to court documents filed in July.

"Yeah, it's cocaine," the court documents quote Mr. Page as
saying.

The Canadian singer and songwriter was charged with criminal
possession of a controlled substance, and at the time he pleaded not
guilty.

Yesterday, Mr. Page's Buffalo based lawyer, Mark Mahoney, announced
that a deal had been worked out with the Onondaga County District
Attorney's Office, U. S. district, reducing charges against Mr. Page
and two co-defendants from felonies to misdemeanours.

According to a statement issued by Mr. Page's public relations firm,
the ruling was "based on the results of a laboratory analysis."

Mr. Mahoney was not immediately available for comment.

Court documents reveal that roommates Stephanie Ford, 25, and
Christine Benedicto, 27, met Mr. Page in a bar. Ms. Ford told the
court that Mr. Page and Ms. Benedicto began dating and in July "got
into a huge fight because Christine was flirting with another guy."

Ms. Ford wrote in a deposition that after the couple's argument on
July 11, she found the singer in the apartment she shared with Ms.
Benedicto sitting at the kitchen table with a bottle that ostensibly
contained calcium capsules, and a pile of "a white powdery substance."

"There was a Canadian bill on the table which Steven rolled up and we
used it to snort the white powder," Ms. Ford stated. "We never
discussed what the white powder was but I thought it was cocaine."

At about the same time, police officers patrolling the neighbourhood
came across a car parked near the apartment with its driver's side
door open and also noticed a pair seated inside a nearby apartment
with an "unknown white capsule" in front of them.

"At that point a police officer knocked on the door and Steven and I
invited him in," Ms. Ford wrote.

Powder in all of the capsules "field tested" positive for cocaine,
according to police.

Yesterday, Fayetteville Village Justice Thomas J. Miller issued an
"Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal," or an "ACD," which under
New York law is common in cases of individuals facing misdemeanour
charges and who have no prior criminal record.

If the charges against Mr. Page are dismissed as expected, he will be
able to travel freely within the United States, Mr. Mahoney said.

Following Mr. Page's arrest, the band cancelled its appearances at a
Disney-sponsored charity fundraiser planned for late August in Long
Island.

"Members of the band completely support Steven Page," said manager
Terry McBride in a statement in July, "but we don't want to put Disney
in an awkward position before issues involving Steven's arrest are
resolved."

Mr. Page, who lives in Toronto, recently separated from his wife. They
have three children.