U.S. GETS ITS WAY AGAIN

Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of the Supreme Court of Canada's
recent 6-3 decision to uphold the laws prohibiting possession of marijuana
is the reaction of John Walters, the United States' drug czar.

Walters was positively abuzz with excitement upon learning that Canada's
top court had decided against ruling that the possession law was
unconstitutional. This is, of course, not new.

When the federal Liberals had drafted a bill to decriminalize simple
possession of pot, Martin Cauchon, then the justice minister, actually flew
to Washington last spring to essentially obtain permission from U.S.
Attorney General John Ashcroft to liberalize marijuana laws here.

That Cauchon presented the pot proposal to a foreign country before
allowing Canada's own House of Commons to view it was astounding. That the
issue didn't generate a wave of outrage among the public is even more
appalling.

When Jean Chretien had introduced the original bill to decriminalize simple
possession of pot - a bill that will be re-introduced next year in a much
watered-down form - Walters and the Bush administration actually had the
audacity to charge that Canada was mishandling its drug policy.

Such a charge is laughable, when one considers how corrupt and inept the
U.S. war on drugs really is.