AREA MPS DIVIDED ON MARIJUANA ISSUE

Telegdi supports decriminalization; says moderate use carries little risk

WATERLOO REGION -- It's been a long time since Kitchener-Waterloo MP Andrew
Telegdi smoked a joint.

But that doesn't mean he has anything against people who do choose to use
marijuana.

Telegdi supports the movement to decriminalize the use of moderate amounts
of marijuana. He would like to see it made an infraction punishable with
fines or community service rather than an offence met with harsher
punishments and a criminal record.

So many Canadians are using pot, he says, it's silly to consider all of them
criminals. Plus, he believes police resources are wasted on trying to bust
marijuana users when there are more serious crimes to worry about.

Telegdi admits that during his young and adventurous years at the University
of Waterloo -- where he served twice as president of the federation of
students -- he occasionally indulged in recreational puffs of pot.

Used in moderation, he says, pot is no more harmful than legal vices such as
alcohol, tobacco or junk food.

"In terms of the harmful activities you can do, I'd say it's on the low end
of the scale," he said.

Telegdi's views are backed up by the report of a recent parliamentary
committee that suggested the decriminalization of possession of up to 30
grams (roughly 60 joints' worth) of marijuana.

The debate was fuelled Friday when an Ontario Court judge in Windsor threw
out a marijuana possession charge against a teenager based on a loophole in
the current drug laws.

The decision was seen by many as another step toward the eventual lifting of
the prohibition against marijuana in Canada.

Current court cases involving possession of small amounts of marijuana will
likely be put on hold until an appeal launched by the federal Justice
Department is heard.

Cambridge MP Janko Peric says he will vote against any motion put forward to
decriminalize marijuana, because he feels reducing the potential penalties
would promote the use of a harmful substance among young people.

"The fact is, we are spending a huge amount of money to tell people young
people not to smoke tobacco," he said yesterday. "Why would we want to
encourage young people to poison themselves with (marijuana)?"

Peric says he has never smoked pot, nor even "tried anything harder than a
cigar."

He says decriminalizing pot would be a big step in the wrong direction.

"If you open the door today for marijuana, tomorrow it will be hash, and
then who-knows-what other chemicals," he said.

Karen Redman, MP for Kitchener Centre, insists that more careful debate and
discussion is necessary before jumping to conclusions about the
decriminalization issue.

"A lot of people equate decriminalization with legalization -- and that has
trouble written all over it," she said.

She believes marijuana likely has positive medicinal value for many people
suffering from debilitating diseases, and that there are more dangerous bad
guys for police to nab than recreational pot smokers.

Personally, however, she stays away from the stuff.

"I have never tried marijuana. I have had lots of friends who did, but it
had no appeal to me. For me, to lose the acuity of your senses has no
particular appeal. It sounds corny . . . but you can just get high on life."

Waterloo-Wellington MP Lynn Myers said yesterday he is deliberately sitting
on the fence over the issue, since he serves on the justice committee of the
House of Commons that will likely address the question within the next
several months.

"I have to go in with my eyes open and ears open and listen to all sides of
the debate," he said.