O CANNABIS

It's Sunday morning and the joint is packed.

A quick scan of the room finds a group of four teens so committed to getting
high they smoke eight power-packed joints in just more than five minutes,
double-fisting spliffs in between bites of chicken sandwiches.

This is the most comfortable spot in Vancouver for these 19-year-olds to get
high without hassles.

Behind them, four battle-scarred loggers dump seven grams, or "a quarter",
of crystal-covered B.C. Bud on a foosball table.

Each man takes his turn dipping meaty, calloused hands into the pile of weed
to start rolling several morning cannons.

They're talking about the weather with a city stock broker whose wife won't
let him toke at home in front of his two children.

At this popular cafe in downtown Vancouver, there is no reason to hide your
stash. The cops just shrug anyway, resigned to let pot smokers have their
way. That's a good thing because there's too much smoke being produced by
the 50-odd customers to keep things undercover.

Within arm's reach, on some plush leather couches under a Jerry Garcia
image, a pack of college students from Seattle whittle away the brunch hour,
smoking pot and marvelling at what has become accepted practice in Canada.

'JUST LIKE AMSTERDAM'

"We love the atmosphere here, it's just like Amsterdam, but in a way it kind
of makes me sad," said Jamie Lalli, 21, who chose Canada as a vacation spot
after reading about its acceptance of marijuana.

"Canada has all this freedom. It seems so progressive. And here we are
coming from the United States which was supposedly built on freedom and
progression but instead, in comparison now, it's like we're from a very
conservative, backward country."

It's a sign of Canada's high times.

What would have landed these people in handcuffs 10 years ago is now common.
It's a reflection of how this country's view of marijuana has dramatically
changed in 20 years, thanks to a wave of pot popularity started on the West
Coast more than a decade ago.

In recent interviews with The Toronto Sun, various drug cops and police
chiefs in the Toronto area have described the marijuana problem in Ontario
as "an epidemic", "out of control", "a crisis", "a disaster" and "currently
uncontainable."

The numbers they have are startling. Three years ago 200 grow operations
were searched in Ontario; last year there were 1,400. Three years ago in
Durham there were 27 grow operations busted; last year 150. In York Region
there were 40 grow operation-based search warrants executed. Last year: 170.

"It was like the growers were here overnight," said York Region morality and
vice Det. Mike Klimm, who said there are now about 1,500 grow operations in
the region.

"All of a sudden they were everywhere."

The police say they are undermanned, working without enough resources to
track and catch an increasingly intelligent and organized collection of
growers, smugglers and dealers.

They claim it is mostly organized crime syndicates who have stretched their
tentacles from B.C. into Ontario.

Police said the criminals are smuggling billions of dollars' worth of
Canadian pot into the U.S. each year.

Those they do arrest are consistently receiving conditional sentences. Jail
time right now is rare.

The most comprehensive study on arrests and convictions was completed last
year in B.C. by researchers at the International Centre for Criminal Law
Reform and Criminal Justice Policy.

Of 8,010 cases involving people arrested for alleged marijuana cultivation,
25% of those associated with a case were convicted and only 18% of those
convicted were sentenced to jail time, with an average length of 4.5 months.

"The penalties and the consequences from the courts are absolutely
insignificant. There seems to be no consequences and (the growers) know
that," Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino said in a recent interview.

"The way the courts have been dealing with this is telling criminals they
have little to be concerned about. My viewpoint is that Canadian society has
to make a choice now. If this is what society wants, then the public and the
policy makers should say this is fine. They would have to change the law
because the way it is written now it's a very serious offence."

Fantino understands what polls have been tracking for more than a decade.
The public seems to be craving change and an overwhelming majority are
losing appetite for prohibition at a steady rate.

The Canadian Medical Association estimates that up to two million Canadians
smoke marijuana recreationally.

In the drug war for the hearts and minds of Canadians, the proverbial worm
seems to have turned solidly toward legalizing the leaf and the government
is preparing to respond.

Last fall, a Canadian Senate committee shook the foundations of the debate
when it recommended legalizing marijuana immediately after a comprehensive
study that dispelled many long-standing marijuana myths in its conclusions:

* Marijuana is "not a gateway" to harder drug, such as cocaine and heroine.

* Fewer than 10% of users become addicted.

* Policing and prosecuting dope smokers is costing Canadian taxpayers
$300-$500 million a year, with 70% of that used to deal with possession
charges.

The Senate committee found "scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates
that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be
treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue."

Under the report's guidelines, marijuana use would be restricted to adults,
and criminal law would still apply to those producing and selling it.

"It is time to recognize what is patently obvious; our policies have been
ineffective because they are poor policies," the committee concluded.

Now the federal government is poised to take its swing with new legislation
expected in June, which would decriminalize marijuana possession as part of
a revamped National Drug Strategy.

Early indications were that Justice Minister Martin Cauchon would
decriminalize the possession of 30 grams of pot, making it subject to fines.

The Senate report said an average of 20,000 Canadians a year are charged
with possession and currently 600,000 of us have a criminal record for it.

When Marc-Boris St. Maurice spent 24 hours in jail in 1991 for smoking pot,
it changed his life forever.

He vowed to be an activist for the legalization of marijuana and he hasn't
let himself down.

He created the Bloc Pot organization in 1997 and co-founded Canada's
Marijuana Party in 2000, a week before he was arrested as a volunteer for
the Club Compassion of Montreal.

You would think a man dedicated to marijuana freedom would be ecstatic the
government is moving forward with decriminalization plans.

You would be wrong.

"It still equates to prohibition," St. Maurice said.

"It's an illusion, smoke and mirrors. It could set the movement back and
steal our thunder because if it does go through, then where does that leave
the pro-marijuana movement?

"The prohibitionists will be able to say, 'We already have
decriminalization, what more do you want?' "

The Canadian marijuana movement has never been stronger. They have
established a powerful network bankrolled with millions of dollars, tied
together via the Internet.

"The movement across this country is vibrant," St. Maurice said.

"I remember when there was nothing happening in Ontario just a few years ago
and now its Million Marijuana March is the biggest in Canada."

Doctors who are fighting to keep marijuana banned say the information
emanating from lobby groups like Canada's Marijuana Party is dangerous.

"People don't perceive marijuana as harmful anymore and I think that's
happened largely because of a powerful propaganda machine which has led to a
general ignorance," said Dr. Raju Hajela, a past president of the Canadian
Society of Addiction Medicine.

Hajela is at the forefront of the medical movement against marijuana, even
for medicinal purposes.

He was one of the first to claim publicly that one joint is as dangerous as
10 cigarettes.

"There is a real discrepancy between what scientific evidence has proven and
what the public perception is," Hajela said.

"There is an allure that it is natural. People try it and they think there
is nothing wrong with it. Even for people trying it for the first time,
there are devastating consequences."

Hajela said the public, and even the media, have been seduced by the
pro-marijuana marketing campaign.

"The media is not interested in the facts anymore," Hajela said.

"There are a lot of marijuana smokers amongst the media. They don't like to
look at something that would make themselves look in the mirror."

He said marijuana is of great concern because of 420-odd chemicals in the
plant resulting in more than 2,000 substances unleashed upon lighting, many
of which are toxic and carcinogenic, and made worse by the fact tokers
generally inhale marijuana smoke deeper than tobacco.

According to scientific evidence Hajela cites, regular marijuana use can
induce mental illness such as anxiety and panic disorders, dysthymia, major
depressive, bipolar and delusional disorders and paranoid schizophrenia.

But these illnesses aren't even part of the debate, rarely even in the
medical world, Hajela acknowledged.

"Yes, tobacco is bad and yes alcohol is dangerous but just because these
things are legal doesn't mean marijuana should be legal. But the public
isn't understanding that a lot of the time," Hajela said.

"On the public front, it doesn't look very optimistic that things will
change and people will understand the dangers.

"We are in an age of marketing and the pro-marijuana lobby has a lot of
money devoted to this."

Police Chief Julian Fantino, unabashedly frustrated by the way governments
and courts are treating marijuana, is determined to change public opinion.
Once in favour of decriminalization, he is now having second thoughts.

"I have to tell you I was in favour provided there are very small amounts
involved but having said that, I don't think we can be doing this without
addressing the business end of marijuana -- the organized crime -- which is
the real problem around the drug," Fantino said.

Police organizations maintain that 75% of the marijuana in Ontario is being
grown by organized crime networks, most notably the Hell's Angels and
Vietnamese groups first rooted in B.C. in the late 1980s.

"The violence associated with these grow operations -- the murders, the
rip-offs, the electricity thefts -- that's what's going on here," Fantino
said.

"If the government wants to blink and wink and turn its backs on organized
crime and endanger the lives of ... law-abiding citizens, then they should
just legalize it and get it over with and the police will be done with it."

For all the concern about Canada-U.S. relations regarding marijuana,
consider this: The U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center estimates Canada
produces 800 metric tons of pot annually while Mexico produces 10,000 metric
tons.

U.S. officials said they were not overly concerned with a decriminalization
policy in Canada but vowed to bump up border patrols if it happens.

WHO'S SMOKING

The majority of Canadians over the age of 45 have never smoked marijuana.
The majority of Canadians under the age of 25 have smoked marijuana in the
past ten years (54%) with a third having smoked it in the last year.
Canadians in the 35- to 44-year-old age category are likely to have either
not smoked it at all, or smoked it more than ten years ago. Those surveyed
were asked, "Which of the following statements best represents your
feelings?":

(18-24) (25-34) (35-44) (45-54) (55-64) (65+)

Never smoked 42% 42% 42% 52% 77% 89%

Smoked in past year 36 24 8 8 3 1

Smoked in past ten years 18 18 9 6 4 3

Smoked, but not in past ten years 2 15 39 32 16 7

PUFFING BY PROVINCE

People living in British Columbia are most likely to have smoked marijuana,
while people living in Ontario are least likely. Those surveyed were asked,
"Which of the following statements best describes you?":

Maritimes Que. Ont. Prairies Alta. B.C.

Never smoked 58% 56% 60% 53% 56% 47%

Smoked in past year 11 13 10 12 8 14

Smoked in past ten years 11 11 7 8 9 10

Smoked, but not in past ten years 18 19 20 25 25 29