U.S. FEARS POT INFLUX

Canada Set to Relax Its Laws

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

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

President George Bush's anti-drug czar John Walthers 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.

U.S. DEA spokesman Will Glaspy said American experts still see pot as
"an illegal, harmful and dangerous substance," and he hopes that
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.

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

Walthers 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," Walthers said after
being asked about the committee recommendation.

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