UN NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD QUESTIONS CANADA'S POLICY ON USE OF MARIJUANA

GENEVA (CP) - An official with the UN drug watchdog questions whether
Canada is too hasty in allowing the medical use of marijuana but praised
Ottawa for having legislation in place to control a variety of other narcotics.

"We have to be much more positive about Canada this year because it has
finally put all the psychotropic substances under its national law," says
Herbert Schaepe, secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board.

Canada now "fully complies" with the Convention on Psychotropic Substances
of 1971, which obliges governments to introduce control measures such as
licensing of companies, import-export authorizations, prescription
requirements and inspections.

The board had said last year that Canada was the only developed country
that failed to live up to the treaty, and this "could adversely affect
efforts to control quite a number of substances." Psychotropic drugs such
as benzodiazepines - familiarly known as "bennies" - phenobarbital and
amphetamines were allowed to make their way through Canada to illicit
markets in the United States as a result, it said.

"So, I think with these changes and with the co-operation between the
police authorities of Canada and the United States, this is something which
is probably now solved," Schaepe said.

The board is part of the UN International Drug Control Program based in
Vienna, Austria. It released its latest annual report on the global drug
control situation on Wednesday. A key point is that far from making poor
countries rich, illicit drug production keeps most people in developing
countries trapped in poverty.

As for North America, the report says cannabis remains the most common drug
of abuse and is widely available in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Schaepe said a significant amount of cannabis seized in the United States
"is coming from Canada where probably the attitude of the authorities is
more liberal than on the other side of the border."

The board is concerned that the Canadian government may be jumping the gun
on "the medical use of cannabis," he said, and may be making some
exceptions in this regard "before research into the supposed medical
benefits of cannabis has been completed."

"What we do not understand is why the legislators cannot wait until this
medical research comes up with definite results."

Two years ago, a Canadian court sided with an epileptic who said he needed
marijuana to control his seizures. In response, Ottawa adopted regulations
that allow the use of marijuana for medical reasons under certain
circumstances.

But the regulations have been criticized for being cumbersome and unfair,
and there have been further court rulings and appeals that left an air of
uncertainty over Canadian laws on marijuana.

Schaepe also expressed misgivings about Vancouver's proposed safe-injection
sites for drug users.

"We think it is not in line with international conventions when the
government or local governments just condones the abuse of substances which
are coming from the illicit market and opens up places where this can be
done," he said.

Vancouver officials explained that the city wants to incorporate
harm-reduction measures, such as better health treatment for addicts, in
its drug strategy which includes prevention, treatment and enforcement.

The UN report notes that after the terrorist attacks in the United States
on Sept. 11, 2001, the amount of drugs seized at airports and border
crossings in both Canada and the United States "decreased considerably."

The board says "enhanced border controls" resulted in "reduced availability
of cocaine and heroin on illicit markets" - which has generally led to
increased prices.