RELAXED POT LAWS WILL BOOST SECURITY: GRAHAM

But U.S. Says Proposed Law Just Dangerous

OTTAWA -- Loosening Canada's pot laws will improve security at the
border, not bog it down, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said
yesterday.

Graham played down reports that the U.S. is prepared to re-assign
border guards working the U.S.-Mexico border, to work on the northern
border should Canada go ahead and decriminalize possession of small
amounts of pot.

"Some people in the United States have said it will raise problems at
the border, so we'll see if that's true," Graham told CTV's Question
Period. "I don't believe it will because I think we'll do it in a way
which reduces the tensions."

New legislation proposed

Last week a Commons committee recommended Canada bring in legislation
that would mean possession of 30 grams of pot would result in nothing
more than a ticket and no criminal record.

In an earlier report, a Senate committee went farther and recommended
Ottawa legalize pot altogether.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon responded to the Commons report by
announcing he's prepared to introduce new pot laws by March. But U.S.
drug czar John Walters said an estimated 95% of the
high-grade pot, from provinces like British Columbia, is already
making its way into his country.

"It's a dangerous phenomenon and it's making Canada a supply country,"
Walters said yesterday.

"It's complicating our security at the border, and it's obviously
already compounding a problem we're trying to deal with."

Burlington Liberal MP Paddy Torsney, who chaired the Commons
committee, argued Canadians are ready for decriminalization, but not
legalization.

"We don't think Canadians are there at this point in time. If at some
point in the future ... Canadians say 'yeah that makes sense for us,'
then I'm all for looking at that," Torsney said.