U.S. WARNS AGAINST LIBERALIZING LAWS ON POT

OTTAWA -- A move toward possibly decriminalizing marijuana brought warnings
yesterday from U.S. officials and lawmakers, who cautioned that Canada
should not succumb to "myths" and warned of new disruptions to border trade.

The Bush administration's drug czar, John Walters, said decriminalization
would be a mistake based on misinformation. "I hope the Canadian government
does not head down the risky path of decriminalization or legalization," he
said in a statement sent to The Globe and Mail.

While Mr. Walters said that he respects Canada's right to set its own
policy, the chairman of a congressional drug-policy committee said he
believes decriminalization would prompt U.S. lawmakers to tighten border
controls, disrupting Canada-U.S. trade.

Representative Mark Souder said decriminalization would make Canada a
centre of supply and traffic of marijuana that would likely cause Congress
and the Bush administration to take tougher measures to police the border.

"Obviously Canada can do whatever it wants with its laws," Mr. Souder,
chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on criminal justice,
drug policy and human resources, said in an interview with The Globe and
Mail. "But to the degree there's less harmonization with our laws, it means
that the border traffic is going to slow down.

"If there's a higher risk of illegal drugs moving, because
decriminalization functions as de facto legalization . . . we're not going
to sit idly by and not check."

The prospect of riling the United States, which maintains a strict policy
at the federal level against marijuana, is one of the concerns that has
held the government back from an outright promise to decriminalize the drug.

But in Monday's Speech from the Throne, the government signalled it is
moving toward liberalizing marijuana laws by including the "possibility" of
decriminalization in its blueprint of priorities.

Decriminalization would end jail terms, heavy fines and criminal records
for simple possession of marijuana, replacing them with a minor sanction
similar to a traffic ticket. That would stop short of full legalization,
which would allow the open, commercial sale of pot.

Mr. Walters, President George W. Bush's director of national drug control
policy, argued that moves toward liberalizing pot laws have been fuelled by
misinformation that suggests marijuana use is not a danger.

"We recognize Canada's sovereignty, but caution the Canadian people not to
fall for the same myths about marijuana that far too many Americans have
fallen for," he said in the statement.

"We have learned through hard experience that marijuana is a dangerous drug
with serious public health and social consequences, and I hope the Canadian
government does not head down the risky path of decriminalization or
legalization."

The political momentum for relaxing pot laws is growing in Canada, however.
The Canadian Medical Association has estimated that 1.5 million Canadians
regularly smoke pot, and polls show that almost half of Canadians favour
legalization while more -- some surveys say seven in 10 -- want
decriminalization.

Last month, a Senate committee called for full legalization, citing several
studies in rejecting arguments that marijuana is addictive, extremely
harmful or leads to stronger drugs.

Mr. Souder, an Indiana Republican Indiana, acknowledged that the same
debate over pot laws is brewing in his country.

But he predicted that those in the administration and Congress who would
favour tightening border controls in response to decriminalization in
Canada would win out.