POLITICIANS, ACTIVISTS DEBATE HARPER'S STANCE ON POT

It's not a good time to get busted for marijuana possession now that
Stephen Harper is the prime minister. When the Liberal Party held
power in Ottawa, it drafted legislation calling for the
decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana. But the Conservative
Party and Harper have indicated an intention to scrap planned legislation.

Harper recently expressed that position at the annual Canadian
Professional Police Association conference in Ottawa. "Harper adheres
to this notion that society should morally (penalize) people who use
illegal drugs," said Keith Martin, the Liberal MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca.

Martin has called for the decriminalization of marijuana since he was
an MP for the Reform Party.

While he is concerned about people abusing marijuana, he doesn't
believe they should be treated like criminals. Martin favours law
enforcement agencies taking a tougher approach against organized
crime groups involved in growing marijuana, rather than recreational
pot smokers.

Prohibition only makes organized crime groups involved in the sale of
marijuana rich, Martin said.

"Prohibition is like music to the ears of organized crime. The day
that the government chooses to decriminalize the simple possession of
marijuana is the day that organized crime gangs are going to have a
big problem," he said.

Organized crime groups in the U.S. experienced major financial
setbacks when the law concerning the prohibition of alcohol, which
was established in 1920, was repealed in 1933, Martin pointed out.

Ted Smith, president of the Victoria-based International Hempology
101 Society, said he doesn't support the draft marijuana
decriminalization legislation introduced by the Liberals when they
were in power.

Smith has long been an outspoken proponent of the outright
legalization of marijuana.

"I'm glad they're not decriminalizing cannabis. It's the lawyers term
for job protection. It still means that the police can take it away
from you, harass you and still have the same powers under the old
law," he said.

The draft legislation would have amounted to minor marijuana
possession being treated like a traffic violation, for which people
would be fined but wouldn't receive a criminal record.

If such legislation were to become law, Smith argued it could prevent
marijuana from ever being legalized outright. "What we need is a
temporary policy of non-enforcement. That's what's going to lead us
toward legalization - not a system of fines," he said.

Aside from having a moral position against people smoking pot, Martin
argued that Harper's tough stance is all about cozying up to U.S.
President George W. Bush.

"He's trying to get on the good side of Mr. Bush," he said.

Smith agreed.

"The population (of Canada) could be 95 per cent in favour of
legalization and they'll still stick with their position until the
United States changes," he said.

Saanich-Gulf Islands Conservative MP Gary Lunn said that abandoning
legislation decriminalizing marijuana is more about priorities.

"This is not one of our priorities, this is not one of our policies -
so we're not going there," Lunn said.

The Conservatives are more concerned about such issues as the
proposed federal accountability legislation, reducing the GST and
justice reforms, he said.

Lunn acknowledges that the party's position on pot is about more than
being concerned about other priorities. And he also has his own
concerns about what might happen if marijuana was decriminalized.

"Do you send the right message out to young people by legalizing
marijuana? Is it a stepping stone to harder drugs? I'm not convinced
it's the right road to go down," Lunn said.