VALLEY MP HAS MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT MARIJUANA CHANGE

Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Reed Elley has mixed feelings about the potential
decriminalization of marijuana in Canada.

Unless it's shown that relaxing drug laws will free up court and police
time, he warns it won't serve any greater purpose for society or help
people's battle with addiction.

"There are only a couple of good reasons for decriminalization -- if it
unclogs the court system and if there's a good use for marijuana," said Elley.

"We would favour the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes if its
demonstrated to have a benefit."

The decriminalization debate began last month, based on a Commons committee
recommendation to treat marijuana possession of 30 grams or less for
personal use as a civil rather than a criminal offence. An earlier report
by a Senate committee called for the legalization of pot altogether.

The federal government is expected to make a decision on the issue before
the end of April, although the grey area around possession is already
cropping up in the legal system.

An Ontario court recently threw out a marijuana charge because of an
existing loophole in Canada's drug laws for cases involving the possession
30 grams of marijuana or less.

Giving the courts a firm position is needed, says Elley, but the MP remains
uneasy about the ramifications.

"I'm still of the opinion that just like smoking and drinking, marijuana is
a harmful substance and should not be legalized," he said. "I'd really want
to see decriminalization make a difference in law enforcement and in the
courts. We should be giving more thought to putting more money into
prevention and education."

Elley also expressed some trepidation about the U.S. government's potential
reaction to Canada easing up on its pot laws.

It's already threatened to make border crossings more onerous, or pursue
tougher measures like trade action.

"There's no question that everything we do in this country we have to take
into consideration how the U.S., as our biggest trading partner, is going
to react to it," said Elley.

"If we don't deal with this effectively, they'll deal with it effectively
for us. That's the honest God's truth of it "