OF COURSE I INHALED. SO WHAT?

Yes, of course, I did, and I inhaled, too. Not very often, though. For some
reason, marijuana didn't agree with me. During the pot-filled parties of
the '70s, I would occasionally take a puff from a passing joint -- more to
avoid standing out than for pleasure. I never rolled a joint in my life. I
wouldn't even know how to do it.

So it's kind of weird to think that I came very close to being jailed for
owning pot. The story came back to my mind last week, when Justice Minister
Martin Cauchon said he might decriminalize marijuana possession.

Some 25 years ago, an acquaintance to whom I had done a favor gave me some
of her home-grown pot as a gift. It weighed maybe 80 grams. I politely
thanked her and put the plastic pouch in my tote bag, intending to pass it
on to someone who really liked the stuff. Then I completely forgot about it.

The following day, I left for the airport with my then-boyfriend to visit
his brother in Boston. I was in a feisty mood. When we got to customs, I
chided the officer for asking too many questions. Risky behaviour, indeed
- -- because an angry customs officer can do anything, including search your
bags. Mercifully, this didn't happen.

We got to Boston. As we were driving out of the airport in my boyfriend's
brother's car, I rummaged through my bag for my lipstick and hairbrush --
and found the pot I had forgotten about.

"Hey," I exclaimed joyfully, "look what I have for you! Marijuana from
Quebec!" My boyfriend turned to me with a horrified look. "What? You had
this in your bag when we crossed the border? And you were foolish enough to
argue with the customs agent?"

Only then did I realize the trouble I could have been in if the pouch of
pot had been discovered.

I later told the story to Serge Menard, then one of Quebec's top criminal
defence lawyers. (He later went into politics and is currently Quebec's
Minister of Transport.)

"You would have received a frantic call from me if I had been caught," I
told him, still laughing at the story, "but I'm sure you would have got me
out of jail in no time at all."

He didn't laugh. "It would have been very serious, Lysiane. Even with a
devoted lawyer, you could have spent quite a few years in jail. Can you
imagine this? Your parents' despair? Your career ruined? You in a jail
cell, forced to watch TV for hours on end with prostitutes and child
murderers?"

I protested. "Listen, I don't like pot, I never rolled a joint in my life,
this is exactly why I forgot I had pot in my bag! So why on earth would I
have been found guilty?"

"It wouldn't have mattered a bit," he said. "Criminals always have alibis."

"But I would have had witnesses! All my friends could have testified that I
never was a pot smoker!"

"All criminals have witnesses," Mr. Menard said.

Needless to say, I can't disagree with the idea of removing possession of
marijuana from the Criminal Code, even though it would undoubtedly put a
wedge in our relations with the United States. Ideally, a higher degree of
tolerance north of the border would have a positive influence on our
neighbours, whose repressive policies are responsible for thousands of
young people spending years in prison for simple possession of small
amounts of soft drugs. Jail being the best school for crime, this system
transforms pot smokers into hardened criminals.

Practically everyone I know smoked pot once, some still do, and none of
them evolved from pot to harder drugs. As for me, I'd rather have a glass
of wine.