Pubdate: Thu, 12 Dec 2002
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Hacker Press Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.abbynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1155
Author: Russ Akins

POT DECRIMINALIZATION PLANS SPUR MORE DEBATE

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said this week he intends to go ahead with 
plans to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana so that those caught 
with small amounts of the drug won't face a criminal record - but what 
amount is "small" is open to debate, according to a local Alliance MP who 
served on committee looking into a national drug strategy.

The 40-year-old Cauchon has admitted to smoking pot in his youth.

A parliamentary committee vice-chaired by Langley-Abbotsford MP Randy White 
recommended that those caught with less than 30 grams of marijuana should 
be fined, not criminally charged.

White is on record as supporting fines for possession of small amounts. The 
committee's recommendation is not as radical as the one made in August by a 
Senate committee, which said pot should be legalized outright. "There's 
room for the concept of decriminalization," White said this week.

"It would mean marijuana is illegal, but if you're caught you get a fine 
that has to be paid."

However, the 30 gram limit proposed by the committee is wrong, believes the MP.

"That's 25 or 30 joints. Nobody carries that many joints on them unless 
they're going to sell them."

White said the fine should escalate after the second or third offence, and 
fining offenders would keep people out of the courtrooms. The Canadian 
Alliance is scheduled to release the party's position paper on marijuana today.

The Canadian Police Association is staunchly opposed to removing possession 
from the Criminal Code.

Norm Siefken, a local health worker who is a member of the Marijuana Party 
of Canada, told the Abbotsford News the 30 gram proposal doesn't go far 
enough, and fines for possession are basically a "cash grab" from marijuana 
users.

He said he is a legal user of cannabis, and is a member of the Vancouver 
Compassion Club. Siekfen uses cannabis to ease the symptoms of a back injury.

"It's a basically a bogus decriminalization," he said after Cauchon's 
statements were made public. "It's already been tried in Australia, and the 
bottom line is it didn't work. Nobody paid the fines and the courts became 
backlogged."

A recent study by the criminology department of the University College of 
the Fraser Valley found Abbotsford ranks in the top 10 of B.C. cities in 
terms of marijuana cultivation.

Meanwhile, White has been facing criticism for his stance on the harm 
reduction approach favoured by the Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use 
of Drugs, of which he was vice-chair.

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell favours safe injection sites for intravenous 
drug users, and has mocked White's view it is "harm extension."

"That's too damn bad what Larry Campbell thinks, but if you don't agree 
with somebody on this, you're some kind of crazy," said the MP.

"Vancouver is going to have a serious problem. They will have not one, but 
several ghettos. Nowadays, us conservatives are called extremists."
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