Pubdate: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON) Page A11 Copyright: 2003 Guelph Mercury Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.guelphmercury.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) U.S. DRUG CZAR CLAIMS CANADA LAX IN PROSECUTING DRUG CRIME SEATTLE -- While police are aggressive about arresting people for drug crimes north of the border, Canada's court system treats marijuana and methamphetamine producers too leniently, the U.S. drug czar said Thursday. "What Canadian officials tell us is that they have laws on the books that could be used here, but that the Canadian system has developed the practice of not sentencing people to anything approaching serious time unless they commit a violent crime," John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy told The Associated Press. "So you can set up grows, you can ship drugs, you can be caught, and very little happens to you." Paul Kennedy, Canada's senior assistant deputy solicitor general, countered that stiff sentences aren't the only way to crack down on illegal drug use. "One factor is the severity of sentence, but it is not determinative by itself, and not every case calls for a long sentence," Kennedy said, from Ottawa. Convicted drug traffickers can be sentenced to life in prison, Kennedy noted, adding that the Canadian government recently proposed doubling the maximum sentence for cultivating 50 or more pot plants to 14 years. Kennedy acknowledged the U.S. gripes about pot smuggling from British Columbia and other provinces, but he pointed out there's a lot more marijuana coming into the United States from Mexico. U.S. authorities seized 15,400 kilograms of pot along the northern border from October 2002 through July of this year, compared to more than 544,300 kilograms along the southwestern border, according to the latest U.S. Customs figures available. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government proposed a law that would treat possession of small amounts of marijuana much like traffic violations. U.S. officials have called the proposal a horrible idea, saying it would lead to more drug smuggling along the 6,400-kilometre border. Walters criticized Initiative 75, a measure on next Tuesday's ballot in Seattle that would make marijuana possession the city's lowest law-enforcement priority. He acknowledged that marijuana doesn't cause health problems as severe as those caused by cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine, but said that shouldn't make it less of a concern. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk