TIME RUNNING OUT FOR MARIJUANA BILL, CAUCHON STILL HOPEFUL IT WILL PASS

OTTAWA (CP) - Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he believes there's
still time to pass his controversial bill to decriminalize marijuana.

Cauchon acknowledged time is tight, but downplayed reports that Parliament
will prorogue next week, killing the bill. "People expect that the House
will close next week. We don't know yet about that so I'm working on a
daily basis in order to make sure that we're going to go as fast as we can."

The legislation would reduce the punishment for simple possession of pot to
a fine rather than a criminal record, while boosting penalties for growers.

Cauchon's comments came as British lawmakers voted to downgrade marijuana's
status in their country. The reclassification places pot on par with
steroids, rather than hard drugs.