POT LAW ENFORCEMENT RIFT

OTTAWA - The federal government's plan to decriminalize pot possession
would free up millions of dollars and thousands of police hours, the
latest statistics suggest.

Police laid a record number of drug-related charges in 2002 and most
offences involved marijuana, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

Seventy-five per cent of 93,000 drug-related incidents in 2002
involved pot.

Almost three-quarters of those were possession offences, and more than
half of those convicted were fined.

''The police-reported drug-crime rate has risen an estimated 42 per
cent since the early 1990s and now stands at a 20-year high,'' the
agency said.

The numbers highlight a rift between police, who support tight
enforcement of pot laws, and more tolerant attitudes by the public,
politicians and the courts.

The statistics were released as MPs on Parliament Hill began to debate
a bill to decriminalize possession of less than 15 grams of pot -
about 15 to 20 joints. Instead of a criminal record, the bill proposes
fines of between $100 to $400.

The bill maintains or increases penalties for large-scale growers and
traffickers.

If passed, the bill would appear to free up police from laying most
possession charges.

Critics have long argued that officers could divert investigative
hours and millions of dollars toward fighting other crime if they
eased up on such anti-drug efforts.

The Canadian Professional Police Association, representing 54,000
rank-and-file members, has vigorously fought attempts to decriminalize
pot, saying police should have the discretion to do more than issue
tickets - particularly in cases where sales are being racked up in
school yards, for example.

Police groups and other critics have also attacked plans to relax pot
laws without a national drug strategy or reliable roadside tests to
snare stoned drivers.

They also say 15 grams is too much to equate with casual
use.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has said too many young people are being
saddled with criminal records for being caught with small amounts. But
he has also left open the door to changing the allowable limit and
related fines.

The decriminalization bill is needed to level the pot enforcement
field across Canada, Liberal MP Wayne Easter argued Monday in the Commons.

''In some areas you get a slap on the wrist, in other areas you get a
criminal record,'' he said.

The Stats Can report also found that, between 1992 and 2002, about one
in 10 homicides involved trafficking or the settling of drug-related
accounts. Sixty per cent of those killings involved cocaine, 20 per
cent were linked to pot, five per cent to heroin and 15 per cent to
other unspecified drugs.

The rate of drug-related incidents was highest in B.C., followed by
Saskatchewan and New Brunswick.

Among metropolitan areas in 2002, the highest rates of police-reported
drug offences were in Thunder Bay, Ont., Vancouver, and Victoria.

Most charges involved young adults aged 18 to 24 followed by youths
aged 12 to 17.