POLICE CHIEF FAVOURS DECRIMINALIZATION, BUT WITH CONDITIONS

Brockville Police Chief Barry King favours making possession of small
amounts of pot punishable by community service or a fine - not a criminal
record.

But the chairman of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse warns the
federal government has to move to import technology to detect drug-impaired
drivers and roll out a new strategy to fight drugs at the same time.

He also believes that the threshold for criminal possession should be five
grams, not the 30 grams proposed.

A Parliamentary committee studying drug laws concluded Thursday that
current penalties for pot possession are too stiff and it should be
punished by fines rather than criminal convictions.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has already said he'll ease marijuana
possession laws early in the new year but stressed Thursday that he favours
decriminalization, not outright legalization.

"We want a less serious means to deal with small amounts and a first
offence but drugs are a lot different from alcohol," said King, who has
chaired the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police drug abuse committee
and long favoured some form of decriminalization.

"We're not saying it's not a problem. We still think young people and all
people should be drug free."

But the current penalty - and the impact a criminal record can have on a
young life - outweighs the seriousness of the offence as minor possession
charges clog Canadian courts, King argued.

Charging and prosecuting people who have small amounts of marijuana takes a
lot of police resources but already ends up with a conditional discharge or
fine in many cases.

Before changing the drug laws, the government has to act to make sure
police can take people impaired by drugs off the road, King argued. A joint
combined with a few beers can result in significant impairment - even if a
breathalyser says a person isn't drunk.

The government should move to change impaired driving laws and import
devices developed in Europe that use a mouth swab or iris scan to determine
if a driver is high, change impaired driving laws and train police officers
to use vital signs and behaviour to detect drug use.

The federal government should also put a comprehensive update of its drug
strategy - encompassing prevention, enforcement and research - in place as
it changes the drug laws so young people don't get the wrong message, King
said.

However, the experience of other countries and the 11 American states who
punish possession with community service or a fine shows there's no
increase in marijuana use, King said.

The special parliamentary committee on the non-medicinal use of drugs
recommended that possession of up 30 grams be punished with a fine - no
court appearance required - even for growing small quantities at home.

"Smoking any amount of marijuana is unhealthy, but the consequences of
conviction for a small amount of marijuana for personal use are
disproportionate to the potential harm," said Liberal MP Paddy Torsney,
chairman of the committee.

The idea of permitting smokers to grow their own would reduce the demand
for dangerous grow operations, Torsney said.

"We would prefer that you have your (own) one plant if you're a Saturday
night smoker."

Critics, both in Canada and the United States, were quick to jump on the
recommendations.

"The message this sends to our youth is that we are trivializing the use of
marijuana," said Mike Niebudek, vice-president of the Canadian Police
Association.

And John Walters, director of the U.S. office of drug control policy, held
a news conference in Buffalo where he warned that softer drug policies in
Canada could create border security problems and contribute to an increased
flow of Canadian-grown pot to the U.S. market.

The Commons committee was clear, however, that pot should not be legalized.
And it excluded hashish and other cannabis-based products.

The committee report also maintains that trafficking in any amount of
marijuana remain a crime.

"What we would like to do is be even tougher on those involved in organized
crime and smuggling drugs and trafficking," Cauchon said. "We want to make
sure we focus our resources where it really counts for society."

An estimated 600,000 Canadians have criminal records for possession of
cannabis products.