PM TO PRESS LEGISLATION ON OFFENCES

It Would Eliminate Penalties For Possession Of Small Amounts Of
Pot.

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Paul Martin says he'll press ahead with
legislation, first proposed under Jean Chretien, to eliminate criminal
penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. But he hinted
yesterday 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, which died on the House of Commons
order paper last month, 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 at 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 yesterday 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 set to rule next week on whether the
current marijuana law violates the Charter of Rights by mandating
criminal 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 tabled last spring by then-justice minister Martin Cauchon
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.

Cauchon denied the government was going soft on drugs, pointing out
that the legislation maintained or increased the already stiff jail
terms for illicit growers and traffickers.

All the same, the bill provoked the ire of hardliners in the
administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.

John Walters, the White House director of drug policy, complained
Canada was out of step with the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador to Ottawa, warned of long lineups
at border points as American customs officers scrutinize visitors from
the north.

Martin, who has promised to improve relations with Washington,
nevertheless dismissed suggestions that Ottawa should bow to American
concerns on this issue.

"We are an independent nation," he said yesterday.

"We will make decisions based on our values and our interests. We're
not going to make these kinds of decisions based on what somebody else
thinks. We'll base them on what Canadians think."