SHAKIN' UP THE JOINT

Marijuana Legislation Criticized

OTTAWA -- The federal government's plan to decriminalize small stashes of
marijuana got off to a rocky start yesterday, with critics warning the move
will mean more young tokers and a rash of stoned drivers on the road.

Stressing that pot will remain illegal, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon
tabled the controversial bill that would fine those caught with less than
15 grams of pot and impose stiffer sentences for those who grow or sell the
weed.

PREVENTION

It's part of a sweeping $245-million anti-drug strategy that will focus on
prevention, treatment and enforcement. But David Griffin, president of the
Canadian Police Association, called the package a hasty "hodge-podge" that
will create more problems than it resolves. The strategy neglects the
urgent need for more resources to nab drug-impaired drivers and crack down
on marijuana-growing operations, he said.

"What we need now is to send a clear message to Canada's young people that
drugs are harmful, that drugs and driving kill and that people who sell
drugs to kids will go to jail," he said.

Under the new legislation, possession of up to 15 grams -- the equivalent
of about 15 to 20 joints -- will be subject to a fine of $150 for adults or
$100 for youth. Fines are steeper if you're caught while driving,
committing an indictable offence or near a school.

Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper blasted the government for imposing
"discount" fines for youth -- a move he said will send mixed signals.

"Why lower fines for the kinds of young people that we do not want to start
using drugs?" he fumed.

But critics aren't limited to the opposition ranks -- some Liberal MPs are
also fighting to burn the bill.

Pickering-Ajax Grit MP Dan McTeague criticized the bill for having no
mandatory minimum sentences, no graded fines for repeat offenders and no
real tools to detect drug-impaired drivers. The strategy is a "pitiful
response" to growing operations linked to organized crime, he said.

REGULATED LIKE LCBO

Believing the bill doesn't go far enough, NDP Leader Jack Layton said
marijuana should be legalized and regulated under LCBO-style control.

Ontario Tory cabinet ministers panned the federal pot plan as a half-baked
idea.

"At a time when this country is facing issues like West Nile (virus), mad
cow disease, SARS, for Ottawa to be obsessed with legalizing pot just shows
how much of it they're smoking up there," Finance Minister Janet Ecker said.

But Cauchon stressed there are no plans to legalize marijuana and said the
renewed drug strategy simply modernizes penalties to fit the crime.

"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?" he asked.