Tories won't relax pot laws

Cops cracking down again in some areas

By SUE BAILEY The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Potheads beware: the Conservative government has no plans to
relax marijuana laws as arrests in some regions are expected to rise.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Vic Toews was unmistakenly blunt when
asked if the Tories would resurrect Liberal efforts to decriminalize
simple possession of marijuana.

"It is a very short answer and the answer is No," said Mike
Storeshaw.

"We have no plans to bring any bill forward."

Public toking became more common in parts of Canada as the former
government moved to loosen laws. Three young men walking along
Ottawa's Wellington Street passed a joint openly among themselves
Monday as they strolled through the shadow of Parliament's Peace Tower.

But police in some areas are once again cracking down.

"I think we're in a dark period right now," said Alan Young, a
marijuana activist and professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

"They're going after growers and seed dealers, and more people are
being charged with simple possession."

Liberals moved to treat possession of less than 15 grams of pot -
roughly 20 joints - as a minor offence punishable by fines of $100 to
$400, much like traffic tickets.

But the most recent related bill died when the last federal election
was called in November.

Before that, the Liberals were harshly rebuked by legislators in the
United States. Former American ambassador Paul Cellucci hinted of
border tie-ups if Canadian pot laws were eased.

U.S. protests continued despite the fact that several U.S. states have
already decriminalized marijuana in much the same way.

Young says pot activists fighting to keep the cause alive are out of
luck, but not forever.

"It's dead - for the time being," he said. "This issue goes in
cycles."

Young predicts that Ottawa won't be able to indefinitely ignore a
growing number of pot users.

"We're a drug-consuming culture and we've got to start regulating
it."

Pot is the most popular illicit drug in the country, says the Canadian
Centre on Substance Abuse.

A comprehensive national survey of drug use, released in 2004, found
that about 15 per cent of the adult population had used cannibis in
the past year, up from seven per cent in 1994.

The centre warns of side-effects ranging from impaired concentration
to respiratory damage, depression, paranoia and the possible
aggravation of pre-existing psychiatric symptoms.

While in opposition, Toews assailed the Liberals for moving to
increase pot demand while at the same time cracking down on suppliers
with tougher trafficking measures.

Critics also stressed the fact that police still have no reliable
roadside test to snag stoned drivers. Also missing is a national drug
strategy to discourage use.

Still, pot advocates say marijuana on the whole is a lesser social
hazard than alcohol.

"It's much less harmful to our society than other legal activities and
substances," says Kirk Tousaw, general counsel to the B.C. Marijuana
Party.

"Unfortunately, (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper ran on a
get-tough-on-crime, lock-'em-up platform that isn't going to do anyone
in Canada any good - except for perhaps those in the prison-building
industry."

Tousaw, a criminal defence lawyer, says marijuana prohibition flies in
the face of bedrock conservative principles.

"It's the antithesis of individual liberty. It is an economic program
that's just dumping good money after bad: the courts, the jails, the
police time."

Moreover, pot laws are inconsistently applied across Canada, Tousaw
says.

"I'm a white, middle-class father of two. If I'm using marijuana in my
own home, I run virtually no risk of being arrested."

The homeless who smoke up in parks, for example, are much more likely
to be charged, he says.

"It's just another way that the law discriminates against both visible
minorities and those with lower socio-economic standing."

Toews barely stopped Tuesday when asked about such
inconsistencies.

"We have a law on the books don't we?" he said before brushing past
reporters.

'Harper ran on a get-tough-on-crime, lock-'em-up platform that isn't
going to do anyone in Canada any good - except for perhaps those in
the prison-building industry.'