EXPECT SPIKE IN POT USE: MCLELLAN

OTTAWA -- Canada must be prepared for a potential increase in marijuana use
- - at least in the short run - if simple possession of pot is
decriminalized, says Health Minister Anne McLellan.

Reports from U.S. states that have dropped criminal sanctions indicate
there's a spike in use immediately after the law is changed, McLellan said
yesterday as she left a Liberal caucus meeting.

She said use levels eventually drop back to "normal" but it's important to
be prepared all the same.

"Certainly one has to be ready to deal with that spike," she said. "It can
lead to addiction, it can lead to all sorts of situations within local
communities. You need to be ready with information, with education, and
with treatment."

Her comments came a day after Justice Minister Martin Cauchon travelled to
Washington to brief U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on the Liberal
government's plan to do away with jail terms and criminal records for
people convicted of possession of small amounts of pot.