POT DECRIMINALIZATION PLANS SPUR MORE DEBATE

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said this week he intends to go ahead with
plans to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana so that those caught
with small amounts of the drug won't face a criminal record - but what
amount is "small" is open to debate, according to a local Alliance MP who
served on committee looking into a national drug strategy.

The 40-year-old Cauchon has admitted to smoking pot in his youth.

A parliamentary committee vice-chaired by Langley-Abbotsford MP Randy White
recommended that those caught with less than 30 grams of marijuana should
be fined, not criminally charged.

White is on record as supporting fines for possession of small amounts. The
committee's recommendation is not as radical as the one made in August by a
Senate committee, which said pot should be legalized outright. "There's
room for the concept of decriminalization," White said this week.

"It would mean marijuana is illegal, but if you're caught you get a fine
that has to be paid."

However, the 30 gram limit proposed by the committee is wrong, believes the MP.

"That's 25 or 30 joints. Nobody carries that many joints on them unless
they're going to sell them."

White said the fine should escalate after the second or third offence, and
fining offenders would keep people out of the courtrooms. The Canadian
Alliance is scheduled to release the party's position paper on marijuana today.

The Canadian Police Association is staunchly opposed to removing possession
from the Criminal Code.

Norm Siefken, a local health worker who is a member of the Marijuana Party
of Canada, told the Abbotsford News the 30 gram proposal doesn't go far
enough, and fines for possession are basically a "cash grab" from marijuana
users.

He said he is a legal user of cannabis, and is a member of the Vancouver
Compassion Club. Siekfen uses cannabis to ease the symptoms of a back injury.

"It's a basically a bogus decriminalization," he said after Cauchon's
statements were made public. "It's already been tried in Australia, and the
bottom line is it didn't work. Nobody paid the fines and the courts became
backlogged."

A recent study by the criminology department of the University College of
the Fraser Valley found Abbotsford ranks in the top 10 of B.C. cities in
terms of marijuana cultivation.

Meanwhile, White has been facing criticism for his stance on the harm
reduction approach favoured by the Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use
of Drugs, of which he was vice-chair.

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell favours safe injection sites for intravenous
drug users, and has mocked White's view it is "harm extension."

"That's too damn bad what Larry Campbell thinks, but if you don't agree
with somebody on this, you're some kind of crazy," said the MP.

"Vancouver is going to have a serious problem. They will have not one, but
several ghettos. Nowadays, us conservatives are called extremists."