CANADA AND OAS MUST REJECT TREND TO LEGALIZE DRUGS: MONTREAL CONFERENCE

MONTREAL (CP) - Canada and other members of the Organization of
American States must reject the trend to legalize drugs in order to
better fight drug abuse, trafficking and organized crime, Mexico's
attorney general warned Monday.

But Canada's Solicitor General Wayne Easter insisted the federal
government's plans to decriminalize possession of small amounts of
marijuana aren't contrary to Canada's participation in an
international drug abuse control commission meeting this week in Montreal.

Easter was responding to an opening address by Rafael Macedo de la
Concha, Mexico's attorney general and outgoing chairman of the OAS
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission.

Macedo de la Concha said the organization has to be continuously
strengthened to be effective.

"Rejecting drug trafficking and preventing drug consumption without
allowing its legal or controlled consumption is a form to do that,"
Macedo de la Concha said in a translated copy of his speech in Spanish.

He added the "increased social acceptance" of drugs must also be
curbed.

Canada's proposed bill would decriminalize marijuana for small-time
users caught with less than 15 grams by giving fines of $100 to $400.
At the other end, there would be an array of penalties to counter an
escalation in marijuana-grow houses run by organized crime, with the
maximum sentence being doubled to 14 years.

The bill technically died when Parliament shut down earlier this
month, but it is expected to be reintroduced and perhaps amended at a
later date.

Easter denied the proposed bill decriminalizes pot or makes it
socially acceptable.

"We've recognized we do have a problem with marijuana in this country
and the current laws are not working, the current penalties are not
uniform across the country," Easter told reporters after the opening
session.

"So what we've decided to do with the National Drug Strategy is take a
more comprehensive approach using enforcement, increased penalties for
grow operations, using drug prevention methods and going out on an
education campaign to inform the youth that marijuana is harmful and
it is not a social thing to do to take drugs."

Paul Kennedy, senior assistant deputy solicitor general, was elected
chair of the commission at the meeting.

Kennedy said the main theme of Canada's one-year chairmanship will be
cross-border co-operation, specifically improved drug control at borders.