COMMITTEE INVITES ADVICE ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Testing, Research Should Precede Any Decision, Committee Told

A Senate committee studying illegal drugs made its way to Mount Pearl
Monday looking for answers.

The committee, which is stopping in only five cities across the country,
will prepare a senate report that will look at decriminalizing marijuana
use in Canada.

RCMP Sgt. Jim Power presented his view to the committee, chaired by Senator
Pierre Claude Nolin, and was adamant he, and the other members of the RCMP,
do not support legalizing marijuana in any way.

He suggested that before the RCMP would even consider supporting the issue
many things would have to happen, such as a national drug policy review,
research determining the effect on the justice and policing systems, and
the implementation of an effective legislation enabling testing measures
and detection for drivers.

"In Newfoundland and Labrador the most popular illicit drug is marijuana,"
he said. "What message are we sending to youth as we try to educate them on
the harms of drugs while changing the laws to legalize?"

Power told the committee, which includes senators Tommy Banks and Ethel
Cochrane, that marijuana is everywhere in this province. There are several
grow operations which he said are getting more and more sophisticated every
day.

"It is easy to get in the schools and on the street," he said.

In his presentation to the senate committee, Power said the Association of
Canadian Police Chiefs supported the RCMP's position on the issue.

However, in April 1999 that association came out and asked the federal
government to consider decriminalizing simple possession of marijuana and
hashish.

Dr. Bill McKim is a professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, who
lectures on the topic of drugs and behaviour.

He presented a more philosophical approach.

McKim, author of Drugs and Behavior -- now in it's fifth printing -- spoke
of the correlation to drug use and the way one lives his or her life.

"The way the brain is, drugs are attractive and we are drawn to repeat acts
(like that), anyone who smokes knows that," he said.

"It increases power over them and the drug itself is not the issue."

Banks quizzed both on their thoughts regarding research and whether or not
it was the government's responsibility to pay for it.

Both agreed before any decisions were made, extensive testing and research
would have to be done to study the effects of the drug on the body, and on
a society.

The only member of the public to express an opinion was retired economist
Gerald Royce.

He expressed concerns over the stigma surrounding marijuana and what it can
do to the employability of a person.

The committee continues this morning with expert testimony relating to the
issue.

The committee's report will be released to the public in August.