REPORT POTS MIXED REVIEWS

A new Senate committee report that recommends legalizing marijuana got
mixed reviews Wednesday in Nova Scotia.

A marijuana activist awaiting sentencing on drug charges supports the move
but police don't.

"We're not for legalizing any of the current illicit drugs in Canada, which
includes cannabis (marijuana)," Sgt. Don Spicer, Halifax Regional Police
spokesman, said Wednesday.

RCMP provincial spokesman Sgt. Wayne Noonan had little comment about the
report released Wednesday.

"We've always taken the stance that it's a gateway drug," Sgt. Noonan said.
"That's all I can really say. Nothing's been enacted yet."

Sgt. Spicer sees marijuana as a step toward use of harder drugs.

"Former addicts would say to me: 'Well, I started out with marijuana and
gradually I got into cocaine and crack and it went from there to
prostitution, whatever,'" he said.

The regional force believes other measures are needed to deal with drug
users and those caught possessing drugs, Sgt. Spicer said, such as
diversion programs and other preventive measures to keep them out of the
justice system.

But until the law changes, drug use and possession are still criminal
offences and will be treated as such.

Michael Patriquen of Middle Sackville was obviously pleased with the Senate
committee's recommendations.

A member of the Marijuana Party of Canada and owner of Med Marijuana Inc.,
which is soliciting dealers for a food supplement made from marijuana
seeds, Mr. Patriquen presented his views June 5 to the committee in Moncton.

"Everything that I recommended to the committee is what they recommended,"
he said Wednesday.

"The Marijuana Party doesn't want decriminalization. We want legalization,
but with legalization must come a regulatory framework and that's exactly
what Senator (Pierre Claude) Nolin said today."

Mr. Patriquen was charged in February 2000 with conspiracy to possess
marijuana in Nova Scotia and conspiracy to traffic it here and in Newfoundland.

The charges have nothing to do with Mr. Patriquen's company.

He pleaded guilty in March and will be sentenced today.

He and his wife, Melanie Stephen, also face proceeds-of-crime charges.

In August 2001 and this July, he was also granted federal exemptions that
allow him to legally use marijuana to control chronic pain that stems from
a neck injury and a 1999 car accident that caused nerve damage.

Despite Wednesday's announcement, Mr. Patriquen is not convinced the
federal government has the political will to act upon the recommendations.

"It's a political hot potato," he said. "It's the same as when abortion was
brought to a head.

"There's no political positive end for them to do anything," he later said.
"They'll leave it in the hands of the Supreme Court."