U.S. SAYS EASIER CANADA POT LAWS COULD HIT TRADE

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The United States is ready to sacrifice the free flow of
trade with Canada if necessary to respond to a planned Canadian
decriminalization of marijuana, a U.S. official warned on Friday.

"Policies that make drugs more available are counterproductive, and we would
have to respond obviously to the integrity of our border," David Murray,
assistant to U.S. drug czar John Walters, told CBC television.

The Canadian government plans to introduce legislation by the middle of next
month to decriminalize the possession and cultivation of small amounts of
marijuana.

"We have a working partnership that has been mutually beneficial with
enormous amounts of trade. Eighty-five percent of Canada's exports go into
the United States," Murray said.

"That trade is mutually beneficial, but we might have to make sacrifices for
the integrity of the border on both sides if we recognize that the drug
trade is hurting us."

The U.S. ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, was slightly more conciliatory
in remarks to reporters on Friday, noting that some jurisdictions in the
United States had decriminalized pot, but he agreed it could tighten border
controls.

He said it was not possible to determine the effect of decriminalization
without knowing, for example, if Canada planned simultaneously to strengthen
penalties for those who grow marijuana.

"I think it comes down to perception," he said in Ottawa.

"If the perception is that it might be more easy to get marijuana here, then
that could lead to some pressure on the border because U.S.
customs/immigration officers are law enforcement officers and they would
have their antennae up as people were traveling from Canada into the United
States."