POT PROMOTER SMOKING MAD

OTTAWA -- Police and the government will milk the proposed
decriminalization of pot like a cash cow, warns the leader of the
Marijuana Party.

"The day that the government realizes there's money to be made by
fining marijuana users, I guarantee there's going to be an increase in
repression," said Marc-Boris St-Maurice.

Agreeing it's a step toward legalization, St-Maurice is fuming about a
Commons committee recommendation that would see those caught
possessing 30 grams or less get off with a ticket and no criminal record.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he's ready to roll on the
decriminalization of marijuana for personal use by early next year.

St-Maurice, a former Montreal musician who now works full-time to
legalize pot, said the decriminalization proposed by the Commons
committee could make life "potentially worse" for pot users.

"Like we have with speeding tickets where at the end of the month
they've got to up the quota, so they put out radar traps, I wouldn't
be surprised to see groups of police ... go out and hustle up some
marijuana users ... because (they) need money to buy bullets for
(their) guns," St-Maurice said.

He came fourth in the 2000 election -- ahead of the Tories, the
Canadian Alliance and the NDP -- but failed to beat Bloc Quebecois
Leader Gilles Duceppe in his Montreal riding.

St-Maurice said a "daily user" could be expected to burn up about 30
grams a month.

St-Maurice said another problem comes from its recommendation that the
30-gram limit include plants being grown by users.

"A 30-gram plant is tiny and may only produce a gram or half a gram of
usable product, so in order to grow your 30 grams, you're going to
have to have 700 grams of plant material," St-Maurice said.

"How much weight of a corn plant do you need to get one ear of corn?"
he said, adding he's also upset that MPs failed to recommend amnesty
for those with criminal records for pot convictions.