BIGGER POT BLACK MARKET PREDICTED

OTTAWA -- The federal government will create a higher demand and larger
black market for pot with its proposed marijuana law, a former lawyer and
marijuana activist said yesterday.

Rick Reimer, one of 600 Canadians given special status by the feds to
legally smoke pot for medical reasons, also said the new law gives police
too much discretion.

"What happens when you have a black market commodity and ... you enormously
increase the demand by decriminalizing it but simultaneously constrict the
supply by making it far more dangerous (with tougher trafficking and
growing penalties), what you do is create an even worse black market,"
Reimer told CanWest Global's Ottawa Inside Out yesterday.

"(The police) will then be faced with a choice: Do we take this as a sign
that marijuana is not really a big problem and therefore start turning more
of a blind eye? Or do we write a lot of $100 tickets?

"I'd like to think the police will do (the first), but I'm afraid that
they're ... going to write a lot of $100 tickets," said Reimer, who has
multiple sclerosis.

Ottawa was supposed to table its new pot laws last week. That plan was
derailed after Justice Minister Martin Cauchon went to Washington last week
to meet with his U.S. counterpart, John Ashcroft. Following that session,
Cauchon has stalled his plans to bring the new law forward.

But reports say the government plans to decriminalize possession of 15
grams of pot, which will be punishable by a $100 ticket for teens and $150
for adults.

Police will also be given more discretion when it comes to dealing with
people caught with between 15 and 30 grams of pot.

For those who toke and drive there's a proposed $400 fine. But law
enforcement officials admit the smoking and driving issue is a tough one
because there are no tools - like the roadside breathalyser - to judge if a
person is stoned at the wheel.