CANADA TO DECRIMINALISE MARIJUANA

OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, setting the stage for
another clash with the United States, said he would soon introduce
legislation to decriminalise the possession and cultivation of small amounts
of marijuana.

The announcement was the strongest indication yet Ottawa would follow
through on a promise it made last year to relax laws so that people found
guilty of possessing small amounts of marijuana would not get a criminal
record.

Chretien told a fund-raising dinner for the ruling Liberal Party that he did
not intend to legalise marijuana and said he would press ahead with
strategies designed to crack down on drug traffickers.

``We are not afraid to take on controversial issues. It is the right thing
to do. For example, we will soon introduce legislation to decriminalise
possession of small amounts of marijuana,'' he said to applause from the
audience.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, who was also at the dinner, told Reuters
the new draft law would be introduced ``as soon as possible'' and definitely
before Parliament broke for its summer recess in mid-June.

The announcement was unlikely to win Chretien any new friends in Washington,
which is still angry at Ottawa's decision not to send troops to Iraq and has
repeatedly expressed concern about the increasing amount of potent Canadian
marijuana flowing south across the long border.

Cauchon is looking into a proposed system whereby people possessing and
cultivating marijuana in amounts less than 30 grams would receive a ticket
- -- similar to that for a traffic violation -- and a fine.

About 20,000 Canadians a year are convicted for the use of marijuana.
Advocates for change say that is unfair and represents an enormous waste of
police resources that could be better spent fighting organised crime.

Last year, US drug czar John Walters described relaxing marijuana laws as a
dangerous and outdated idea and said if Ottawa went ahead, the United States
might have to increase border security to clamp down on trafficking.

That could deal a big blow to the Canadian economy, since more than 85
percent of its exports go to the United States.

US police say Canada, with an estimated illegal drug market of $US9.7
billion ($NZ17.57 billion), has surpassed Mexico as a source of illegal
drugs for the United States.

Chretien joked with his audience it should not try to take advantage of the
new law until it had been passed.

``Don't start to smoke right away. We're not legalising it, we're
decriminalising it. So you will have another ticket, not a traffic ticket
but one for losing your senses, something like that.''