CANADIAN GOVERNMENT LOOKS AT TICKETING POT USERS

OTTAWA - The Canadian government said today it was looking at issuing
tickets to marijuana users as a way of avoiding saddling youth with
criminal records.

"Kids are ending up with a criminal conviction," Justice Minister Martin
Cauchon said in a speech in Toronto.

"This can have a devastating impact on their lives -- from the types of
jobs they can get, to travelling or going to university in other countries,
particularly the United States."

Cauchon has long said he was looking at decriminalising the use of
marijuana and intended to go to the United States to explain his plans to
US officials, but postponed his plans because of the Iraq conflict.

US President George W Bush said in a report in January that he was
concerned Canada had become an increasing source of potent marijuana.

And his drug czar, John Walters, has warned that Canadian laxity could lead
to even tighter control being placed on the crucial cross-border of flow of
people and goods.

Cauchon said he was troubled by the inconsistent application of criminal
law to the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"The criminal law is a blunt tool; it is only effective if it is applied
consistently and if it reflects true social consensus on an issue," he said.

"I think we need to question whether our approach of selective enforcement
of the cannabis possession law has been effective."

Hence the concept of having police issue tickets.

"It is likely that if we moved into a ticketing regime there would actually
be more enforcement of the possession offence. That has been the case in
Australia."

About 20,000 of Canada's 30 million people are convicted every year for
possessing or cultivating marijuana.

A committee of the federal legislature recommended in December that it be
decriminalised but not fully legalised.