WILL WE ALL GO TO POT?

For better or for worse, the federal government has introduced legislation
that will decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Possession will still remain an offence, only it won't carry a criminal
record with it.

In doing so, the federal Liberals gave in to societal attitudes, which no
longer view pot possession as a criminal act, and courts, which had given
federal legislators a deadline to get its marijuana laws in order.

To its credit, the government will increase penalties for "grow
operations," which have become a major industry with links to organized
crime, especially in British Columbia.

It'll also pour $245 million more into anti-drug programs over the next
five years in an effort to beef up drug law enforcement and to pay for a
variety of programs aimed at curbing drug use.

For a casual user, possessing a few joints will a fine of $100 to $250 for
those under 18 while adults will have to pay $150 to $400. Those caught
with 15 to 30 grams of pot, enough for 20 to 40 joints, could be fined or
face a criminal charge and up to six months in jail.

"We do not want Canadians to use marijuana," said Health Minister Anne
McLellan. "We especially don't want young people to use marijuana."

Yet, that is exactly what seems to be happening. The Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health in Ontario surveyed young people in that province in 2001
and found nearly 30 per cent said they had used post in the past year, more
than double the 12.3 per cent who said they had in a similar survey in 1993.

Marijuana is even more popular than cigarettes. The survey found as just
23.6 per cent of the respondents in Grades 7 through 12 said they used tobacco.

Alberta has introduced fines for young people caught with cigarettes,
though there's no evidence it will stop teens from experimenting with
tobacco. In fact, some critics charge, Alberta's fines will give tobacco
the lure of a forbidden fruit and actually increase its popularity among
young people.

Many fear the same thing will happen with pot -- more and more will use the
drug and risk having to pay a fine when they might not have risked getting
a criminal record.

Certainly replacing one kind of smoke with another, especially for young
people, is not what any government intends or what most of us would want.

Effectively countering widespread use of marijuana will be a Herculean
task. Criminal records weren't able to do it and fines that are less than
those for many traffic violations in Alberta certainly won't.