POT LAW CHANGES MAY HAVE MERIT

Local Lawyer Involved in Prosecution of Drug Offences Pushes Move for
Consistency

A proposal to change Canada's drug laws to make the punishments cannabis
consumers face more consistent is being defended by the Grande Prairie
lawyer who spent the past five years prosecuting them.

Until April of this year, local attorney Morris Golden was the federal
agent for the Grande Prairie area, prosecuting any cases that fell under
Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

He says the leeway allowed for each court in determining sentencing for
charges under current drug laws means some small-time users get off easy,
while others are slapped with a hefty fine, depending mainly on where
they're caught.

"Throughout the province and the country you have different fines in
different jurisdictions, ranging from around $100 to $500 for a simple
possession charge," said Golden.

"Each individual jurisdiction has developed their own policies for dealing
with these cases."

Although Golden says he agreed with changes being discussed in government
that would replace the patchwork of punishments with a flat fee - much like
a traffic ticket - he stops short of endorsing decriminalization of
marijuana completely.

"I'm not sure if I support it yet because I'm not sure what's being
proposed. But to just suggest we decriminalize it could create another set
of problems to deal with," said Golden.

Making possession of pot no worse an offence than breaking the speed limit
could lead to a boom in grow operations and trafficking, which would both
remain illegal under decriminalization.

Golden said the only logical step would be for government to start growing
and marketing marijuana itself.

"Is the state going into the growing and distribution of it? If you're
going to (decriminalize marijuana) you might as well make the revenue off
of it the same as with cigarettes."

Proponents of marijuana decriminalization say people busted for having
small amounts of the drug shouldn't be penalized with a criminal record.

But Golden said Canadian criminal law has already been moving slowly
towards making possession almost a non-crime with amendments to federal
drug laws.

Possession charges under 30 grams of marijuana don't show up on the
standard criminal records check, he said, and won't prevent people from
crossing the Canada-U.S. border.

"In some situations there has been a movement towards decriminalization
anyway."

The debate over decriminalization was fueled last week by an admission from
Canada's justice minister that he will consider the possibility after the
senate releases a report later this summer.

But one of his main reasons for easing-off small-time users - to free up
police resources - isn't valid, said Golden.

"I don't think that argument makes any difference," he said.

Police would still need to respond to infractions to issue the tickets, and
the courts would still be forced to handle challenges to the fines.

"There is a fair bit of police time spent on simple possession, but I don't
think (decriminalization) will free up anything."

The current federal agent for the Grande Prairie area - Robert Wadey -
declined to comment.