IN CANADA'S MARIJUANA DEBATE, SUPREME COURT BACKS CRIMINAL PENALTIES

TORONTO, Dec. 23 - Canada's Supreme Court endorsed the enforcement of
criminal penalties for smoking marijuana on Tuesday, but left open the
possibility that Parliament could still decriminalize casual use of the
drug at a later time.

"There is no free-standing constitutional right to smoke pot for
recreational purposes," the court said in a 6-to-3 decision. The
ruling comes as Canada's new prime minister, Paul Martin, prepares to
reintroduce a bill by which people would not be jailed for possession
of small amounts of marijuana, while penalties for large growers and
traffickers would increase.

It is unclear when such a bill would be reintroduced after Parliament
convenes in February. "The law is the law until it is changed," said
Mario Lague, a spokesman for Martin. "Decriminalization is not
legalization. It is not a nuance. We are not legalizing marijuana."

In an interview on Monday, Martin said he supported a bill first
introduced in May by his predecessor, Jean Chretien. "We are simply
saying it doesn't make sense for a young person who is caught with a
small quantity to have a record for life," Martin said.

Under Chretien's proposal, possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana,
about half an ounce, would be punishable by a fine of up to $290 for
adults and $182 for minors.

The proposal, which died when Chretien closed Parliament in November,
was strongly criticized by the Bush administration, which said
decriminalization of even small amounts of marijuana would encourage
more drug use. John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy, raised concerns that illegal drug
imports from Canada would increase. "Some of the strongest and most
dangerous marijuana" is being exported from Canada to the United
States, Walters said in an interview earlier this year.

Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, has warned that U.S.
Customs officials might intensify drug searches on the Canadian border
if a new law is passed. Canadian officials estimated that $4 billion
to $7 billion worth of Canadian marijuana is sold in the United States
each year.

Canadian officials have said that the proposed legislation would
impose tougher penalties for growing operations and trafficking. The
bill would also include a national program about the harm of drug use.

The Supreme Court ruling was based on two appeals brought by three men
charged with violating drug laws. The men argued that Canada's laws
prohibiting simple possession of marijuana by threatening imprisonment
violated their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in
Canada's constitution.

David Malmo-Levine, who describes himself as a marijuana freedom
activist, said he had argued his case before the Supreme Court after
smoking hashish. Malmo-Levine helped run an organization called the
Harm Reduction Club, a nonprofit association in Vancouver, where in
1996 police seized more than 300 grams of marijuana, most of it rolled
into joints.

A second case was brought by Victor Eugene Caine, arrested for
marijuana possession while sitting in a van by the ocean in British
Columbia. A third case brought by Christopher James Clay, who owned a
store in Ontario that sold hemp products and small marijuana plants.

In the court ruling Tuesday, the court cited evidence of health risks
to chronic marijuana users, including respiratory diseases, "cannabis
dependence syndrome, increased risk of cancer, cognitive impairment
and birth defects.

"There is a risk that, upon legalization, rates of use will increase
and with that, the absolute number of chronic users will increase,"
the court said. "In addition, there are health risks for those
vulnerable persons." It listed among such people "young adolescents
who may be more prone to becoming chronic users."

The court said, "There is no doubt that Canadian society has become
much more skeptical about the alleged harm caused by the use of
marihuana since the days when . . . a magistrate warned that persons
under the influence of marihuana 'lose all sense of moral
responsibility, are immune to pain, becoming raving maniacs liable to
kill . . . using the most savage methods of cruelty.' However, to
exonerate marihuana from such extreme forms of denunciation is not to
say it is harmless."

Malmo-Levine said in a telephone interview from British Columbia that
he was disappointed in the court's ruling.

"I think it is horrible," Malmo-Levine said. "I think it is the grinch
that stole Christmas. Their hearts are two sizes too small. We gave
them all the reasons in the world to have drug peace and drug freedom.
They could have waited a couple of days and have the decency not to
ruin our Christmas."