Editorial -

OVERDUE REFORM

A House of Commons committee studying illegal drugs is expected to release
a report on Thursday recommending the decriminalization of the personal use
of marijuana.

That it will make such a recommendation seems to be pretty much of a
lead-pipe cinch. There would be no other reason for Justice Minister Martin
Cauchon to borrow trouble by announcing on Monday that the federal
government would quickly introduce legislation to pass it into law.

And there will be trouble, even though what is proposed would not make
growing, selling, buying or using the drug legal. It would mean that people
caught with a small amount of it in their possession would simply pay a
fine; they would no longer acquire a criminal record to haunt their lives
and hamper their careers for years afterward.

What amount constitutes "for personal use" seems likely be a subject of
dispute. Liberal MPs on the committee are reported to favour a limit of 30
grams, an amount that the Canadian Alliance regards as excessive. But
setting that level may be the least of Mr. Cauchon's problems.

Even so, decriminalizing marijuana is a half-measure that is not likely to
satisfy anyone who feels that he has a stake in the debate, and the
minister can expect to attacked from all sides -- by those who argue for
outright legalization of the drug; and by those, both here and in the
United States, who believe that the possession of any amount, however
small, must remain a criminal offence, although that war was clearly lost
long ago.

Those who would legalize marijuana say that this would solve more problems
than Mr. Cauchon's proposed approach: It would take this part of the drug
trade and the immense profits it generates out of criminal hands, give the
profits to the public purse and allow safe regulation and marketing in the
manner that alcohol and tobacco are sold. Legalization should be the
ultimate objective, but Canada does not exist in a vacuum; it must consider
its international treaty obligations and it must take into account the
reaction of the United States, where the war on drugs has become analogous
to the stubborn debacle of Vietnam.

In the weeks ahead, Mr. Cauchon will meet with fierce opposition from the
Americans. He must carefully explain to them that what Canada proposes to
do with marijuana today is not much different than what other American
allies have done, nor even from what some American states would do. He
should explain this reasonably and reassuringly; but he should not be
dissuaded by critics at home or abroad from pursuing this long overdue reform.