POT POSSESSION LAW RESURFACES

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Paul Martin will press ahead with legislation,
first proposed under Jean Chretien, to eliminate criminal penalties for
possession of small amounts of marijuana.

But he hinted Thursday he'd like to see a new definition of what
constitutes a "small amount" and invited a parliamentary committee to
consider lowering the limit from the original proposal of 15 grams.

Martin told reporters he sees a health risk in pot use and observed that
"any doctor will tell you it's far from the best thing for you."

On the central point of the law, however, he insisted that it achieves
"absolutely nothing to give a criminal record to young people caught with
minimal amounts."

The bill brought in under Chretien died on the House of Commons order paper
last month. It will be reintroduced when MPs return to work in the new
year, Martin said.

He then offered suggestions for fine-tuning it before it becomes law.

"I think that one's got to take a look at the fines. I think that you have
to take a look the quantities, and I think that there has to be a larger
effort against the grow-ops and against those who distribute."

In a year-end interview Thursday with CPAC, the parliamentary public
affairs channel, Martin confided he'd never smoked pot but said his wife
Sheila once made some brownies "and I must say they had a strange taste."

The Supreme Court of Canada is to rule next week on whether the current
marijuana law violates the Charter of Rights by mandating cr iminal
penalties, including potential jail time, for simple possession.

Martin's comments signalled that - even if the high court upholds the
constitutionality of the present regime - he will move to reform it anyway.

The bill did not propose outright legalization of marijuana, but it made
simple possession a minor offence, punishable by a range of fines, somewhat
like traffic violations.