PM READY TO TRY ONE ON

WINNIPEG -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien says he doesn't know what it's
like to smoke pot -- but he may be willing to find out once it's no longer
a criminal offence. Chretien, 69, joked about trying marijuana in an
interview published yesterday.

On the eve of his last visit to Manitoba as prime minister, he was asked
how it felt to have bills to decriminalize marijuana and legalize same-sex
marriages as exclamation points to his political career.

"The decriminalization of marijuana is making normal what is the practice,"
replied Chretien. "It is still illegal, but do you think Canadians want
their kids, 18 years-old or 17, who smoke marijuana once and get caught by
the police, to have a criminal record for the rest of their life?

"I don't know what is marijuana. Perhaps I will try it when it will no
longer be criminal. I will have my money for my fine and a joint in the
other hand."

On same-sex marriage, Chretien said he thinks it is better to err on the
side of giving more rights than taking away. But he didn't want to talk
about whether that has caused him problems as a Catholic.

"For us, my mentality, my religion belongs to me and I will deal personally
with that. I am a public person in a very diverse society, and I don't
think I can impose every limit of my morality on others, because I don't
want others to impose their morality on me," he said.