TOP COPS FIRED UP

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. (CP) -- Alberta police chiefs meeting in Lethbridge this
week aren't fans of a looser pot possession law proposed by the federal
government.

"We are absolutely against decriminalization," said Camrose police Chief
Marshall Chalmers, president of the Alberta Association of Chiefs of
Police. "We believe it's absolutely sending the wrong message."

Lethbridge police are co-hosting the three-day conference, which brings
together top officers from the province's seven municipal and tribal police
services as well as RCMP officials.

Alberta Solicitor General Heather Forsyth is scheduled to address the
chiefs Wednesday evening. Decriminalization of possession of small amounts
of marijuana is just one of dozens of issues expected to be discussed
during the conference that begins on Tuesday.

Medicine Hat Police Chief Normand Boucher has previously spoken up against
the move to decriminalization, sentiments that were echoed by Chalmers on
Monday.

"The Liberals seem to be hell-bent on this issue, and we don't have to
agree with it," Chalmers said.

Last weekend federal Health Minister Anne McLellan gave qualified support
for forthcoming federal legislation expected to decriminalize possession of
marijuana in amounts less than 15 grams. She said such a move must be
accompanied by a new national drug strategy of education, information and
treatment.