WHY CANADA'S DOPE HAS THE US FUMING

Ros Davidson Reveals How Moves to Liberalise Canadian Cannabis Laws Have
Only Worsened the Already Strained Relations with Their Sensitive Southern
Neighbours

Flin Flon may soon have competition. The small town in Manitoba is
currently Canada's cannabis capital. That is because Flin Flon is where
thousands of 6ft-high pot plants are legally grown, deep in an old copper mine.

The farm, not exactly an underground operation, sells its crop to the
Canadian government for use in the official five-year medical marijuana
programme. Cannabis can be used to dull pain or help those with cancer or
Aids recover their appetite for food.

But Flin Flon may soon lose its status.

Five days ago, Ottawa introduced a bill to decriminalise small amounts of
pot possession, although the penalties for possessing or growing larger
amounts and for selling will be upped. Political commentators differ on
whether the legislation will become law, even by the end of the year,
though Premier Jean Chrtien's party have a comfortable majority. Canada's
attention is consumed by other issues: the Sars epidemic, a faltering
economy, and trade wars with the United States. The administration of
President George W Bush is also ramping up its war on drugs.

Yet Chretien, whose Liberal Party is divided over the issue, is famously
persistent. The legislation is also heightening debate over the issue, and
will do so for the foreseeable future. Public opinion on decriminalisation
has moved from a 50-50 split to about 70-30 in favour over the past few years.

'We have to ask ourselves as a society, does it make sense that a person
who makes a bad choice can receive the lasting burden of a criminal
conviction?' asked Justice Minister Martin Cauchon when the bill was
launched. He added: 'A criminal conviction can limit career opportunities
and make travel to other countries difficult.

'These factors, coupled with the possibility of a jail sentence, amount to
sanctions that are disproportionate.'

Ottawa's stance might be getting an extra push from Chretien's
much-publicised differences -- and his clear dislike -- of the Bush
administration. Chretien recently blamed Bush publicly for the dramatic
devaluation of the US dollar. Canada is America's major trading partner.
And Canada did not back the war in Iraq. The tension between the two has
been high for years. In 2000, after al-Qaeda's attacks on New York and
Washington, US officials described Canada as a 'haven for terrorism'.

Under Chretien's proposal on cannabis, anyone caught with up to 15g --
enough for 20 joints -- would not face criminal charges but could be fined
up to #180, or #110 for young offenders.

Maximum sentences for such 'traffickers' of more than 15g would double from
seven years to 14 years. Ottawa would also spend #100m on drug education.
Currently, penalties vary tremendously, depending upon the amount and on
whether it is a first offence.

Supporters of the legislation argue that it will allow them to police
organised crime traffickers more effectively and that existing marijuana
laws are largely ineffective and enforced unevenly. Police, many
politicians and some pro-marijuana activists are speaking out against the
change. One of them is Canada's 'Prince of Pot' Marc Emery, who runs the
Marijuana Party Bookstore in Vancouver, a city sometime dubbed
'VanAmsterdam' because of its openness to cannabis. 'The amounts to be
decriminalised are too puny,' said Emery.

'Superficially, it is going to be better for people who smoke pot in a
public setting ... but they're going to be paying more and going to be
paying fines more routinely.'

He runs a lucrative mail-order seed distribution company and owns an
internet-based business, Pot-TV. He estimates there are between 75,000 and
95,000 illegal 'grow-ops' in British Columbia. Chretien's bill, he said, is
to placate Canada's bigger neighbour.

'This is for the United States,' Emery said as he pointed to the section of
the new bill dealing with tougher criminal penalties for people caught
growing or possessing large amounts of marijuana.

Yet, when Chretien and other top Canadian politicians recently travelled to
Washington to try and calm US fears, Bush's drug czar John Walters warned
that the law would lead to a clampdown on the US-Canada border and -- he
said pointedly -- could harm legitimate trade. The trade is estimated to be
worth #630m daily.

'It's completely ridiculous to suggest that Canada is locking up users in
significant numbers. That's not happening.

'In fact, to claim they're even being arrested in large numbers is a
distortion. That's what Canadian law enforcement tells me,' he said.

'Some of the strongest and most dangerous marijuana on the US market is
coming from Canada,' he told the Washington Post.

And he told Canada's official TV network: 'The problem is that the
high-potency marijuana business is (already) growing uncontrollably in
Canada -- you're sending us the crack equivalent of marijuana.' The issue
is currently hot in the US too. Several states, including the most
populous, California, as well as Oregon, New York and Ohio, have
decriminalised cannabis. But their laws are at odds with US federal law.

Not in dispute is that seizures of cannabis from Canada to the US have
increased five-fold since 1998, although that is partly because the border
is more heavily policed in response to terrorism, as well as the Bush
administration's hard-line on drugs.

Canadian officials admit too that large-scale marijuana farms are becoming
more common, especially in British Columbia and Quebec. In BC alone --
famous for its potent 'BC Bud' cannabis -- the crop is thought to be worth
more than #4bn annually. An estimated #4.5bn worth of Canadian marijuana is
sold in the US every year. So many Americans travel to Canada now to use
cannabis legally for medical problems, that their supporters have dubbed
them 'medical marijuana refugees'.

Chretien and Bush are at the G8 summit in France this weekend. White House
aides say that Bush plans to ease international tensions, a description of
the likely behind-the-scenes agenda that makes America's critics scoff.
Bush will never back Chretien on marijuana. And some wags have also
suggested a change to 'O Canada' -- the national anthem. When it is played
in Evian, it should be renamed 'O, Cannabis,' they say.