LIBERALS FINALLY READY TO LIGHTEN UP ON POT

Possession of 15 grams of marijuana or less will result in only a fine.

OTTAWA -- The Liberal government, after months of hesitation, is finally
ready to bring in legislation ensuring Canadians will no longer face jail
time and criminal records for simple possession of marijuana.

As Justice Minister Martin Cauchon prepares to table the bill in the House
of Commons tomorrow, federal spin doctors are already at work trying to
reassure law-and-order advocates who doubt the wisdom of the move.

Lightening up on users isn't the same as making pot legal, they emphasize.
Nor does it mean Ottawa is going soft on growers and traffickers, who will
continue to face stiff penalties.

Government strategists have even wiped the word decriminalization from
their vocabulary -- largely because they fear most people don't understand
what it means.

"It was a mistake to start off talking about decriminalization," said one
Liberal insider. "We should have been talking about sentencing reform."

Under the legislation it will still be against the law to possess
marijuana, even for personal use. But possession of 15 grams or less --
about 15 to 20 joints, depending on how they're rolled -- will be a minor
offence punishable by a fine.

The financial hurt could range from as little as $100 to around $400,
depending on the amount of weed, whether it's a first offence or repeat
offence, and other aggravating or mitigating factors.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien has likened it to getting a traffic ticket and
joked at a party fundraising dinner the offence would be "losing your
senses" rather than exceeding the speed limit.

Chretien has made it clear growers and traffickers can expect tougher
sentences. The maximum prison term for growers could double to 14 years.
Trafficking in anything over three kilograms now carries a maximum sentence
of life, but that sentence is rarely, if ever, imposed.

There will also be a revitalized enforcement effort, to be announced
tomorrow by Solicitor General Wayne Easter.

Insiders say the plan will include new funding for the RCMP and police
forces across the country. Also to be unveiled tomorrow is a wider
anti-drug strategy, co-ordinated by Health Minister Anne McLellan. She is
expected to outline federal plans for enhanced education, research and
treatment programs.

Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto who has
campaigned for reform of pot laws, questions the strategy.

"They've come up with a very confused scheme which creates the appearance
of movement but really is business as usual," said Young. "All that's
really being achieved is depenalization, which simply means the removal of
incarceration for under 15 grams."