JUSTICE MINISTER HINTS AT EASING OF DRUG LAWS

Cauchon says decriminalizing marijuana could be first step in reforms

Ottawa - Decriminalizing marijuana might be a "first step" in reforming
drug laws that seem out of date, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said Thursday.

The marijuana law needs to be changed, he said, and decriminalization -
which would let people possess and use small quantities of cannabis without
facing a criminal record - is a logical option.

"It probably would be feasible as a first step," Cauchon said outside a
cabinet meeting.

"I feel that there is a strong support. I feel that the population is there.

"To keep it the way it is now doesn't make any sense to me in the year
2002. . . . The legislation in place is sort of disconnected with
Canadian reality."

Cauchon's musing didn't sit well with Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen
Harper, who told reporters he'd rather see his kids drinking booze than
smoking pot.

Harper, father of a three-year-old girl and five-year-old boy, said he
doesn't buy the argument that alcohol is more harmful than marijuana.

"As a parent, I would be more concerned about pot use than alcohol use by
my children, even in moderation," said Harper, an asthmatic who has never
smoked.

Cauchon said he'll have a new policy ready early next year, but first he
wants to see the report of a Commons committee that has been studying the
issue of illicit drugs. That report is expected in November.

A special Senate committee recommended Wednesday that cannabis be
legalized, but Cauchon said that may be going too far.

Legalizing pot - which would allow for the open sale of the drug - might
promote a global ruckus, he said, because Canada has signed a number of
international treaties outlawing various drugs.

"At this point in time, the notion of legalizing marijuana is just not
possible from an international point of view," he said. "We have to proceed
on a step-by-step basis."

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White, vice-chairman of the Commons committee on
drugs, said his colleagues don't support the Senate idea of legalization.

"The general consensus is that legalization is not the route to follow," he
said.