Pubdate: Thu, 06 Mar 2014
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Lee-Anne Goodman
Page: A 10

LOOSER POT LAWS NOT A PIPE DREAM, MACKAY HINTS

Justice minister considering the option of tickets for marijuana
possession

OTTAWA- The Conservative government is seriously considering looser
marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with
small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter
MacKay said Wednesday.

"We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay
said prior to the weekly Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament
Hill.

"The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would
look at options that would . . . allow police to ticket those types of
offences."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is open to such an approach, he added.
The Justice Department could present draft legislation.

MacKay has hinted in the past that such a move was under
consideration. The country's police chiefs - as well as some Tory
caucus members - have long called for ticketing people for pot
possession instead of laying criminal charges.

But MacKay has also been among the Conservatives' fiercest critics of
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's stance on the issue. Trudeau supports
the legalization of marijuana, a position the Tories have mocked.

MacKay last fall accused the Liberal leader of promoting drug use to
elementary schoolchildren after Trudeau answered a question about his
marijuana policies from First Nations high school students in Sioux
Valley, Man. There were elementary school kids in the audience.

The Liberal Party took great delight Wednesday in MacKay's apparent
change of heart on the issue, tweeting: "Denial, anger, and now
acceptance. Conservatives finally agree with  Trudeau on
reforming ineffective marijuana laws."
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MAP posted-by: Matt