CELLUCCI WARNS CANADA ON MARIJUANA

Says Law Change Would Force Us To Hike Security

WORCESTER (AP) -- US Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci says he has told
Canadian leaders that their proposal to decriminalize marijuana for
personal use would result in much tighter security along its 5,500-mile
border with the United States.

More vehicles would be stopped and searched at crossing checkpoints that
already have high security, the former Massachusetts governor told The
Telegram and Gazette of Worcester.

"If the perception is that it's easier to get marijuana in, then some
border officials' antennas will be up," Cellucci said. "We don't think it's
a good thing, and there will probably be more inspections."

The amount of Canadian-grown marijuana being found in drug busts is on the
rise in Massachusetts and other states, Cellucci said.

Canadian lawmakers last week proposed a new marijuana law that would
eliminate a criminal record for possession of marijuana in small amounts
while spending millions on a campaign against use of the drug.

Under the measure introduced in Parliament, getting caught with 15 grams --
about half an ounce -- or less of marijuana would bring a citation akin to
a traffic ticket, not a criminal record. Possession of marijuana would
remain illegal, and the maximum sentence for illegal growers would be
increased by double to 14 years in prison.

Cellucci's expression of US positions toward its largest trading partner
have been more vocal than many previous ambassadors. This year he publicly
accused Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government of deserting the United
States by not supporting the war on Iraq.

Traditionally, many ambassadors to Canada have seen their roles as largely
ceremonial.

"He is markedly different. His predecessors have really been a shadow of
American foreign policy, whereas Mr. Cellucci has really been an evangelist
of sorts, and much stronger," said Rob M. McGowan, editor of Politics
Canada, the country's biggest independent political website.

"It's definitely tempered by diplomacy," McGowan said. "You might not agree
with what he says, but at least he says it directly."