PERSONAL POT OK - MARTIN

But Would-Be Grit Leader Wouldn't Legalize It 'Under Any
Circumstances'

OTTAWA - Decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot for
personal use has the support of Grit leadership frontrunner Paul Martin.

"I think the idea of giving a young person a criminal record because
they happened to get caught with a very, very small quantity (five to
30 grams) once in their life - I don't think that's what we should be
doing," Martin told Sun Media.

But he added: "I would not, under any circumstances, make it
legal."

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon hopes to have legislation before the
Commons before its summer recess. The plan would be to ticket
offenders caught with small amounts for personal use rather than drag
them through the courts and leave them with a criminal record that
could haunt them for a lifetime.

Martin also noted the unequal treatment of the current law across the
country and the estimated 30,000 people charged with simple possession
of pot every year.

"You know, if you take a look at the situation, the backlog of cases
out there is huge and this is part of the problem. The other thing is
in some parts of the country you're prosecuted and in other parts of
the country you're just let go."

Meanwhile, buying new helicopters for the military will be made an
"absolute priority" for a government led by Martin, the top Grit
leadership contender. "We have wasted too much time," Martin declared
in a CBC Newsworld interview yesterday.

The Chretien government cancelled an EH-101 contract signed by the
Tories in 1993 that would have replaced aging Sea King
helicopters.

Martin said so far as he is concerned there is no issue of political
embarassment if a decision was made to go back to the same company for
the choppers.

"The only issue is we want to get the best helicopter that we possibly
can for the money," said Martin, adding, "we want to make sure that
our military has the best equipment that they can have."

The man most likely to succeeed Jean Chretien told Sun Media yesterday
he doesn't want to be thought of as a one-term prime minister.

Martin, who will be 65 by the time of the Liberal leadership
convention this November, said, "I want to be prime minister as long
as I feel I'm dealing with the issues properly."

Asked if he would need a second term to fulfil an activist government
agenda, Martin said, "Those are judgment calls you make along the way.

"I have a pretty clear set of priorities, things that I want to get
done and I want to do them. And once they're done, then I can pass
things on to somebody new."

Asked if he would be satisfied waiting almost three months to take
over the reins of power from Jean Chretien, Martin said, "I don't
think there is any great problem there."

Chretien still plans to leave office in February 2004.