POT TOKERS ON THE RISE

OTTAWA -- The Liberal government is plowing ahead with a controversial
plan to relax pot laws in the face of a new study showing a surge in
Canadian dope smokers. The report released by Statistics Canada
yesterday reveals the use of marijuana and hashish has nearly doubled
in the past 13 years - with teen tokers' numbers seeing the greatest
increase. About three million Canadians 15 and older admitted getting
high at least once in 2002 - about 12.2% of the population.

But the upward trend won't deter Prime Minister Paul Martin, who vowed
yesterday to bring back the controversial bill that died when
Parliament shut down for the election.

"The legislation on marijuana - the decriminalization of minor
quantities of marijuana - that legislation will be reintroduced," he
said.

Admitting he's concerned about the Statistics Canada findings, rookie
Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh suggested pot consumption might decrease
with decriminalization.

"My view is that if you make something illegal, some people are more
attracted to it - it's just the high in getting something in a stealth
fashion," he said. "But if you make it available, if you allow people
to possess it in small quantities for personal use, the allure kind of
disappears for some people."

Conservative MP Vic Toews discounted the theory, insisting weed will
become even more popular if the feds fail to develop a strong national
anti-drug strategy.

"What we have seen is that with the decrease in penalties generally,
we've seen an increase in the use of the drugs. Why would full
decriminalization change that trend in any way?" he said.

Toews accused the Grits of blindly rushing to decriminalize without
providing roadside deterrent measures and adequately addressing U.S.
concerns.

"We can't afford to jeopardize our trade relationship by adopting a
policy that the American federal government does not approve of," he
said. "Just having the trucks idling at the border for a couple of
hours costs us literally millions and millions of dollars a day - and
that jeopardizes jobs across Canada."