Pubdate: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2002 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 BULLYING TACTICS AT U.S. BORDER WON'T HELP The Bush administration is waving a big diplomatic stick at Canada. White House drug "czar" John P. Walters says U.S. border agents will intensify routine searches of people and goods entering the U.S. if Canada follows through on recent proposals to end criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana. This U.S. threat is designed to get our attention, indeed, to scare us. "Ensuring access to the U.S. market is, arguably, the single most important policy consideration facing Canada in the coming decade," says Anne Golden, president and CEO of the Conference Board of Canada, reflecting a consensus among business groups. But there's no place in Canada-U.S. relations for this kind of bullying, and no need for it, either. We're not a U.S. state; we're a sovereign country. Every country, of course, is wise to consider domestic policy issues in the context of their real-world implications. But Canadian law is supposed to reflect Canadian values and the evolution of those values. As it is, 600,000 Canadians have criminal records for simple cannabis possession and are effectively barred from the U.S Mr. Walter's threat borders on the vulgar, not to say insulting. From this side of the border, we see it as emblematic of the simplistic approach of the U.S. in its so-called War on Drugs - a war, it's worth noting, that has plenty of critics within the U.S. Canadians need not hasten to bend to this clumsy American pressure, because the U.S. government should see the folly of this tactic soon enough. For one thing, there's no real reason to believe that decriminalization will lead to more smuggling of drugs; marijuana markets in both countries seem to be amply supplied already. And even at the current level of spot-checking and other enforcement, anyone caught carrying marijuana into the U.S., in large amounts or small, with or without decriminalization here, should expect to bear the full consequences of U.S. justice. And longer delays at the border - whatever the reason - would be costly for both countries. As we have said before, decriminalization makes sense for Canada. We don't insist that the Americans also decriminalize; they should avoid insisting, too. So we would like to see the Americans take a deep breath (of fresh air) and calm down a little. There are many border issues these days; they all demand thoughtful discussion. Bullying tactics won't help. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex