MIXED MESSAGES ON DRUG STRATEGY

For anyone looking for symptoms of the political bi-polar which has seized
the national capitol in the dying days of the Cretien era, a good place to
start is the confused federal Drug strategy unveiled this week in Parliament.

Rarely have so many conflicting messages found there way into a single
government initiative.

The result is not pretty.

The strategy purports to achieve zero-tolerance for marijuana with one hand
while setting in motion the long overdue decriminalization of the substance
with the other.

It aims to severely curtail the supply and demand of illicit drugs in
general throughout Canada.

Yet it proposes to lure police forces into devoting more energy into
exacting fines from small users and growers of marijuana,often at the
expense of other drug-fighting activities on the criminal front.

It is meant to ensure the equal application of the marijuana statutes
across the land by providing more sensible guidance to a justice system
increasingly reluctant to saddle young people with criminal records for the
mere possession pf a few joints. But it opens the door to arbitrary witch
hunts and police harassments by turning marijuana users into potential cash
cows on par with parking offenders.

Any driver caught with a small amount of marijuana would be fined $250 to
$400 for possession while operating a vehicle, more than double the average
fine. There would be no requirement on the system to demonstrate that
possession of small amounts of marijuana in the undefined vicinity of a
school as an aggravating circumstance leading to higher fines.

A key part of strategy involves encouraging young people to leave marijuana
alone. But the bill sets much lower fines for underage offenders than for
adults ($100 vs. $150 for possession of 15 grams or less), making it more
attractive for drug dealers to use minors to peddle small amounts of
marijuana to their peers.

It purports to free up police forces to deal with large scale producers of
marijuana. But rather than allow users of the garden-type variety to bypass
the organized-crime drug black market by providing for themselves, the new
bill contemplates fines up to $5,000 for anyone caught growing a single
plant of marijuana.

In Quebec, government inspectors are paid to determine compliance with the
language laws by measuring the size of the lettering on commercial signs.
Across Canada, anti-drug forces would have to do a head count of marijuana
plants to determine whether they are dealing with a summary conviction
offence (one to three plants), a so-called hybrid offence which could be
treated either as a minor infraction or as a criminal code violation (four
to 25 plants) or a full-fledged criminal offense warranting either a
maximum 10-year jail sentence (26 to 50 plants) or a maximum 14-year
sentence (50 plus).

One can only wonder what constituency the Federal government had in mind
when it drafted this bill and its oddly matched companion strategy.

It cannot have been the advocates of looser marijuana laws. Although they
will be glad to be clear of the risk of a criminal record, many will be
troubled by the prospect of police declaring open season on tens of
thousands of small-time users of marijuana through the collection of
fines. On the other hand, those who fear relaxation of the rules could lead
to amore permissive drug environment are unlikely to be swayed by the
promise of more enforcement.

That leaves the White House, where plans for looser Canadian marijuana laws
are wildly unpopular.

A trio of federal ministers insist the proposed regime would be less
permissive than that of many other jurisdictions, notably in Europe. But
they did not explain why Canada had opted for a stricter regime, except to
maintain an appearance of symmetry with the United States. Presumably the
message to Washington is that, with different means we are still fighting
the same (phoney) war on marijuana.

Whether this bill ever becomes law is an open question.

The House of Commons is about adjourn for the summer. While Justice
Minister Martin Cauchon says he hopes to have the bill passed before the
end of the year, time is running out on Prime Minister Jean Cretin, whose
successor will be chosen in the fall. The bill fasces stiff opposition
from the Liberal caucus as well as from across the Commons.

It also falls short of a recent Senate committee recommendation to legalize
marijuana while undoubtedly going too far for other more conservative
members of the Upper House.

Indeed, not since abortion debate has a government glass run so high a risk
of being found both half full and half-empty by a majority of its critics
inside and outside Parliament.

On marijuana as in the case of abortion, the ultimate outcome of this
needlessly tortured process could be a legal vacuum.