CANADIAN PANEL URGES LEGALIZING MARIJUANA USE

TORONTO - A parliamentary committee called for legalizing marijuana use
among adults, increasing pressure on the government to shift drug laws away
from the zero-tolerance policy of the United States. The report by the
Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs recommended that Canada adopt a system
that regulates marijuana the same way as alcohol, and expunge criminal
records for marijuana possession.

"There is no good reason to subject the consumers of cannabis to the
application of criminal law," said Sen. Pierre Nolin of the Progressive
Conservative party. "In a free society as ours, it's up to the individual
to decide whether to consume cannabis or not."

Though not binding, the report will force Prime Minister Jean Chretien's
Liberal Party to explain what provisions it accepts or rejects and why.

Under current law, marijuana possession is illegal in Canada. Last year,
the government passed rules allowing eligible medical patients to grow and
possess marijuana, but it has yet to create a distribution network.

U.S. antidrug groups say liberalizing Canadian drug laws would increase
access to illegal drugs in the United States.