FEDS MOVING TOO FAST ON MARIJUANA, MADD SAYS

OTTAWA -- Two influential lobby groups say the Chretien government is
putting the cart before the horse in its rush to decriminalize small
amounts of pot for personal use.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is to introduce the legislation along with
a national drug strategy as early as next Tuesday, a senior official has
told Sun Media.

Under the proposed legislation, possession of small amounts of marijuana
would remain banned in the Criminal Code, but someone caught on a first
offence would face the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

As with any traffic or parking ticket the choice would be to plead guilty
and pay a fine within 30 days or take a chance with the courts. And while
there would be a record of the offence, the accused would not face a
criminal record.

"We're very concerned that decriminalization will be perceived, especially
by our young people, as legalization. Even though that's not really what's
happening, it's the public perception and yet Parliament hasn't dealt with
the whole drugs and driving issue," said Andrew Murie, the executive
director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

A recent survey of Ontario high school students by the Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health showed that 20% of students drove a vehicle within two
hours of using cannabis, while 15% drove after drinking alcohol.

David Griffin, the executive officer of the Canadian Police Association,
said: "Kids are getting a message time and time again from our elected
officials that smoking marijuana is not a big deal. Yet their parents and
everybody else is trying to encourage them to make healthy choices."

Griffin accused the Liberal government of changing the law before putting
the proper tools in place.

"What we're seeing is a political rush to introduce legislation but police
officers don't have the tools to deal with such issues as impaired driving
by drugs and we're seeing more problems with marijuana use in our schools
than we are with alcohol."

Police can't demand the roadside test for marijuana use like they can
demand the breathalyser test for alcohol. Any change would allow police to
demand a saliva, urine or blood test.

"It's a very easy process for Parliament to put those things in (the
Criminal Code). And we're very disturbed that there's all this talk about
decriminalization but (the government) hasn't done the fundamentals yet,"
said MADD's Murie.

The federal Justice minister admitted in a recent interview with Sun Media
that his department hasn't dealt in a detailed way with the issue of
driving while under the influence of pot.