OTTAWA BACKS OFF POT LAW PLANS

Possession to stay criminal offence

Changes come after U.S. outcry

OTTAWA - The federal government has backed off plans to make pot possession
a mere ticketing offence, the Star has learned.

Instead, sources say the Liberal government will keep simple possession of
marijuana on the books as a criminal offence under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act.

The new plan came days after U.S. officials warned that any easing of
Canada's marijuana laws could lead to a crackdown at border crossings.

The government will provide "alternative" civil penalties - fines, not jail
- - upon conviction and will leave enforcement and the collection of fines to
the provinces.

Under the new scheme, a person convicted of possessing a small amount of pot
would not register a criminal record, according to insiders.

The move, part of a renewed National Drug Strategy that could be tabled next
week, will also include tougher measures to target illegal marijuana growing
operations, including the doubling of penalties for drug trafficking,
sources said.

The Liberals are also expected to direct more money towards efforts to
target traffickers.

The Chretien government triggered outrage among officials in the Bush
administration with months of musing publicly about the "decriminalization"
of marijuana. Within the Liberal caucus, some cabinet ministers and
backbench MPs have also opposed the move.

Last week, U.S. drug czar John Walters suggested border traffic would slow
to a crawl because the U.S. would increase inspections to stop smugglers
from illegally shipping "poison" south.

Will Glaspy, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman, told The Detroit News
yesterday that talk of decriminalizing pot in Canada would mean "more
customs, more border patrols, more DEA. For Canada to decriminalize or
legitimize marijuana means a greater availability of marijuana in Canada,
which is going to cause individuals and organizations to try and smuggle the
drug into the United States.''

The revised plan will allow Ottawa to remain in good stead with the
international conventions it has signed on drug trafficking and signal to
the United States it is not "softening" its laws, while still ushering in a
new approach to enforcing prohibitions against pot.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, fresh from a meeting of G-8 justice
ministers, refused comment on the timing and substance of the proposals.

"It will be a policy where you will find a reform of the cannabis law and at
the same time the renewal of the national drug strategy," Cauchon said in an
interview. "What we want to do with that new policy, is to send a better
message to the population that the use of cannabis is illegal in our
society, harmful to our society (and) be more effective on the enforcement
side."

He acknowledged he broadly outlined where Canada wanted to go in a brief
conversation with his American counterpart, U.S. Attorney-General John
Ashcroft, on Monday at the G-8 justice ministers' meeting, but said Ashcroft
did not voice strong opposition to him.

"We have a very good co-operation with the United States. The two countries
have the very same vision, heading in the same direction as regards the
fight against the use of drugs, organized crime, terrorist activities and
all that."

Cauchon said Canada, like other G-8 countries with similar laws, is in the
position of having "a piece of legislation which is deemed to be criminal ..
that you are not able to enforce, knowing the amount of people that are
using cannabis on a daily basis.

"The result of all that is that you have kids using cannabis knowing that
it's criminal but we don't enforce it when you get caught with five or 10
grams, for example. So, at the end of the day, there's a high disregard for
the justice system. It's not the message I want to send to our people. The
message I want to send to our people is that it is illegal, harmful to our
society, and therefore I want to make sure that we will develop a piece of
legislation that we're going to be able to enforce."

He said two parliamentary committee reports last year - the Senate urged
outright legalization while a Commons committee called for decriminalization
- - "send the message it's time for the government as well as for Canadian
society to deal with that question."