GRIT MPS FUMING OVER POT PROPOSAL

Angry Liberals Lash Out

OTTAWA -- Canada's new pot bill came under continued attack yesterday, with
some backbench Liberal MPs questioning their government's priorities.

A handful of frustrated Liberals lashed out against the plan to
decriminalize small amounts of marijuana -- a move they say sends mixed
messages to youth and fails to address the dangers of drug-impaired drivers.

A fuming Scarborough Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis suggested the marijuana
bill is one more signal that Prime Minister Jean Chretien should vacate his
post early -- and "the sooner the better."

"After 10 years of being in power, he's forgotten the dynamics of
democracy, the dynamics of listening to the caucus," he said.

In the Commons, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon was grilled again by
opposition members as well as a colleague in his own Liberal caucus. His
plan to decriminalize up to 15 grams of weed would result in fines of $150
for adults and $100 for youth.

London MP Joe Fontana called drug-impaired driving a "serious concern" and
raised concerns the bill would encourage marijuana users to toke and drive.

"If we can't get the amendments that I think are appropriate, I'll vote
against it."

Cauchon stressed that drug-impaired driving is already a serious criminal
offence but admitted there is no valid test to measure impairment.

TESTS UNDERWAY

Tests are underway in B.C. and will be speeded up to result in amendments
to the Criminal Code, he said. Blood and physical behaviour tests will help
enforce the law, but Cauchon couldn't say if they would be in place by the
time legislation is passed.

"Tests have already been tested in B.C. before some courts," he said. "We
need fine tuning, we need to work with police organizations on the training
side as well, and I will table a proposal to my colleagues this fall."

But Ontario Liberal MP Janko Peric vowed to oppose the bill and questioned
the government's priorities. Why, he asked, are some Liberals focusing on
relaxing penalties for marijuana instead of other important issues like
going after sex offenders.

"Who is that who is pushing that, and what kinds of drugs are they using?"