U.S. WARNS ON POT LAW

Tighter Border Predicted After Softer Marijuana Rules Touted

OTTAWA -- Looser marijuana laws in Canada will lead to even tighter
security at the U.S. border, American officials warned yesterday.

U.S. drug cops could soon be shifting their attention from the Mexican
border north once the Liberal government decriminalizes pot possession,
according to a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

President George Bush's anti-drug czar John Walters also took aim at
yesterday's Commons committee recommendation that possession of 30 grams of
pot should result in nothing more than a ticket and no criminal record.

Thirty grams, or one ounce, of pot can produce about 50 joints.

"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,
chairwoman of the committee.

U.S. DEA spokesman Will Glaspy said American experts still see pot as "an
illegal, harmful and dangerous substance," and he hopes Canadian
authorities get the information they need to make a "good" decision.

"What it would mean for the United States obviously would require us to put
more emphasis and place more security along our northern border," Glaspy said.

CAUCHON READY TO ROLL

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

The committee report, which was not unanimously endorsed, also maintains
that trafficking in any amount of marijuana remain a crime, a point Cauchon
stressed in an attempt to allay U.S. concerns.

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

'A DANGEROUS THREAT'

Walters used a visit to Buffalo to sound off on the evils of marijuana, the
increasing $5-billion US cross-border flow of Canadian-grown high-potency
marijuana known as "B.C. Bud" cultivated by gangs, and the dangers of easy
marijuana laws.

"It makes security at the border tougher because this is a dangerous threat
to our young people, given what we see, and it makes the problem of
controlling the border more difficult," Walters said after being asked
about the committee recommendation.

Walters said the U.S. recognizes Canada is "a sovereign country," but the
American example shows marijuana use is addictive and expensive to society
- -- and it shouldn't be encouraged.

He said the ideas that marijuana isn't a serious drug of abuse and that you
can't become addicted aren't true.

"That's an archaic view of ... marijuana left over from the Cheech and
Chong years of the '70s," he said.

Cauchon rebuffed the U.S. views, insisting the Liberal government is only
talking about decriminalizing "small quantities," not the full legalization
of pot which he agreed would be a cause for concern for the Americans.