TORIES GET TOUGH ON MARIJUANA GROWERS

A Conservative bill to jail offenders caught growing five or more
marijuana plants was back before the Senate yesterday, a year after it
made the rare move of watering down the government's proposals by
raising the bar to 200 plants. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ignored
the Senate amendments when he resurrected his proposed legislation
last spring, and the upper chamber, which has fewer Liberals than it
did a year ago, has less muscle to balk this time around. Mr.
Nicholson warned a Senate committee yesterday that amending his
proposed legislation again "would severely weaken the bill" so that a
person involved in organized crime could have 150 plants in several
locations and escape jail nonetheless. "This is directed at
traffickers, the people who would sell drugs to children," Mr.
Nicholson said.