CANADA'S POT PLAN ATTACKED

Reducing Penalties Would Bring Trouble, U.S. Drug Foe Warns

OTTAWA -- The head of U.S. drug policy launched an attack Friday on Canada's
plans to relax penalties for marijuana possession, and dismissed as
ridiculous one of the main reasons for pushing ahead with the measure.

The Canadian government will introduce legislation this month to replace
jail terms and criminal records with fines for possession of half an ounce
or less of pot.

John Walters, director of the White House office of National Drug Control
Policy, said he feared this would hamper U.S. efforts to cut the amount of
Canadian-grown marijuana being smuggled across the border.

"The problem now is that the high-potency marijuana business is growing
uncontrollably in Canada. You're sending us the crack equivalent of
marijuana and that's bad for both countries," he told CBC television.

"What we've been trying to do with Canadian officials (is learn) 'What's the
plan to make this smaller as a harm to the United States?' And there isn't
one now, that's the problem," he said.

Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, who will introduce the
legislation, criticizes marijuana laws for being largely ineffective and
enforced unevenly.

Supporters of the legislation say it would allow police to focus on catching
crime gangs dealing in drugs rather than arresting and charging small-time
users.

But Walters strongly questioned this argument, saying there was no evidence
Canadian law enforcement officials were cracking down on marijuana users.

"It's completely ridiculous to suggest that Canada is locking up users in
significant numbers. That's not happening.

"In fact, to claim they're even being arrested in large numbers is a
distortion. That's what Canadian law enforcement tells me," he said.

Walters complained that penalties for drug users were not harsh enough in
Canada and suggested -- as he has done in the past -- that border security
might have to be tightened if the law were passed. This could have a
crushing effect on Canadian exporters, which are heavily reliant on the U.S.
market.

Canadian Solicitor-General Wayne Easter, in overall charge of law
enforcement, said Walters should wait to see the details of the legislation.

"Our objective is to make those borders secure and to do what we have to do
to eliminate the movement" of high quality marijuana. "Anyone caught
smuggling the product across the border will face very severe penalties,"
Easter said.