NATIONS' DRUG POLICIES ON COLLISION COURSE

Canada's Marijuana Policies May Put It On A Collision Course With The United States

The two countries share the world's longest unprotected border and
annual trade tops $400 million, but they have clashed before over such
issues as Cuba, eliminating land mines and the death penalty.

Add marijuana to the list.

"It will be a sticking point between the two countries," said Eric
Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, in Maryland.

Although marijuana is illegal in both countries, enforcement is a
lower priority in Canada and the criminal penalties are less severe.

Canada has also instituted a nationwide medical marijuana program,
precluding the kind of conflict now flaring between the U.S.
government and states that have adopted their own medical marijuana
laws.

At the same time, President Bush has stepped up the U.S. war on
drugs.

As a result, more Americans -- medical pot users, activists, some who
face criminal charges, others who don't -- are heading to Canada.

Sterling and other experts say the migration will increase conflicts
between the two countries, especially if people facing U.S. charges
successfully resist attempts to extradite them from Canada.

The U.S. Justice Department won't comment on ongoing extradition
cases. It refused to say if it plans to pursue extradition of Ken
Hayes, a former Petaluma resident who faces federal charges in San
Francisco.

Hayes' attorney said U.S. officials haven't asked Canada to return
Hayes, nor has Canada moved to deport him.

Sterling, a former counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, thinks
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will lobby hard for
extradition.

"They know how dangerous it would be, if they seem to be allowing
people to flee to Canada on a marijuana case," he said. "I think you
could make a very safe bet that the United States will seek
extradition of these people."

The United States has been trying to have Renee Boje extradited since
1999. Two years ago, a Canadian judge ordered her returned to the
United States.

Boje appealed the decision, and filed for political refugee status in
Canada under guidelines of the United Nations Convention on Refugees.

She is waiting for a ruling by the Canadian minister of justice on her
appeal and for a special refugee board to schedule a hearing on her
application.

"Once someone puts that claim in for refugee status, everything else
is put on hold, including the extradition," said Gary Botting, a
visiting scholar at the University of Washington law school who
specializes in extradition.

Some suggest Canada will walk a tightrope, trying to avoid angering
its neighbor to the south or returning Americans to face criminal
charges in U.S. courts.

"I think this Liberal government would be embarrassed" to return
people like Hayes and Boje, said Inky Mark, a member of the opposition
in the Canadian Parliament.

"That's probably true, and was probably the same case during the
Vietnam War," said Melvin Small, who teaches Canadian-American
relations at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Rather than rule on fleeing Americans' requests outright, Mark said
Canada may "just let them float" in the application process.

"My opinion is that they're probably pretty safe," said Mark, his
party's spokesman on immigration affairs.

In response, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Denis Coderre said:
"We won't start judging why you want to extradite a person, that's up
to the courts. The government will not decide that."