BORDER WON'T GO TO POT: GRIT

Graham Downplays U.S. Fears About Ottawa's Marijuana Law

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

Graham downplayed reports that the U.S. is prepared to reassign border
guards working the U.S.-Mexico border, to 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."

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 further 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 phenomena and it's
making Canada a supply country," Walters said yesterday. "It's already
compounding a problem we're trying to deal with."

NO LEGALIZATION YET

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.

"There's already other countries in the world that have done some
decriminalization, and we need to see if these programs are going to work
for Canada."