MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION LEAVES HALIFAX POLICE FUMING

Halifax's Finest Are Fuming Over Canada's Proposed Pot Laws.

Combating increased use among young people and drivers and laying more
charges are just some of the issues Halifax Regional Police will face with
decriminalization.

"The law seems to lower the taboo on possession of marijuana," Acting
Deputy Chief Chris McNeil said Thursday. "Over time, it's reasonable to
assume that there will be an increased use of that."

The bill would make possession of up to 15 grams of pot a minor offense
that carries no criminal record. Violators would be ticketed and ordered to
pay fines ranging from $100 to $250 for youths and from $150 to $400 for
adults.

Although he agrees that a person caught once with a joint shouldn't have a
criminal record, Acting Deputy Chief McNeil said the proposed law gives
young people the wrong impression.

"There are other ways to achieve the objective without sending this
message," he said, pointing to the province's restorative justice program
for first-time offenders.

In addition he said, the force's drug unit officers tell him that 15 grams
of marijuana can make up to 15 joints, depending on how the product is rolled.

"The average street dealer would not have that much on them," he said.

The proposed law increases prison time for the supplier but "creates an
environment" where the demand, the market side, would grow," the officer said.

That doesn't mean the force's drug unit will change its focus from drug
traffickers to the casual user.

"Am I going to send people on the street corners to try and find people
and ticket them? No., Acting Chief McNeil said.

But, he later added, "If I stop you and you have a small amount of drugs
you are probably going to get a ticket."

With a general increase in marijuana use now expected, the officer said,
more people will likely get behind the wheel high.

When he was working on patrol, Acting Chief McNeil sometimes pulled people
over for drunk driving and gave them a breathalyzer test.

But he sometimes suspected drivers were also impaired by drugs.

"But there was no way for me to prove that and there's nothing on the
horizon that I'm aware of that's going to change that."

Getting a blood test to prove someone is impaired by marijuana, based
solely on an officer's suspicion, is highly unlikely, Acting Chief McNeil said.

"The courts consider the invasion of your bodily integrity a very serious
thing and usually requires a significant amount of evidence before that can
occur."

According to Health Canada's Web site, a committee has been formed to look
at "issues surrounding the detection of drivers suspected of impairment by
drugs."

That includes training officers to "recognize the effects of drug impairment."

The Web goes on to say that "officers request suspected drug-impaired
drivers to voluntarily perform physical tests band to provide a sample of
urine."

An extra $910,000 has been set aside for the committee's work.

Halifax police and other law enforcement groups are still reviewing the
proposed law.