Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Reuters NewMedia - Thursday December 12, 2002
David Ljunggren

The special committee on the non-medical use of drugs said in a report that marijuana should be decriminalized, though not legalized. This means people possessing and cultivating pot in amounts less than 1.1 ounces would be fined if caught, rather than getting a criminal record as is the case at present.

Some 20,000 Canadians a year are convicted for possession or cultivation of marijuana but committee chairwoman Paddy Torsney said this was a waste of police resources, given that current laws seemed to be having no effect.

"We concluded that the possession of marijuana should remain illegal and trafficking in any amount of cannabis should remain a crime," she told a news conference.

"Smoking any amount of marijuana is unhealthy but the consequences of conviction of a small amount of marijuana for personal use are disproportionate to the potential harm," she said, pointing out that 30 percent of Canadians admitted to having smoked pot.

The report provides more ammunition for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, who said this week he planned to introduce legislation early next year to decriminalize marijuana.

Torsney's committee -- comprising legislators from the House of Commons -- recommended against the full legalization of marijuana, an idea that Cauchon has already rejected.

In September a Senate committee said marijuana should be legalized and regulated, as is the case with alcohol.

Torsney said decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana would help strike at organized crime gangs -- especially in the western province of British Columbia -- which have turned pot growing into a multibillion-dollar industry.

"The committee hopes that these (proposed) changes will free police and judicial resources to pursue other more serious criminal activity," she said.

Police say Canada, which has an estimated illegal drug market of $9 billion a year, has surpassed Mexico as a source of illegal drugs for the United States.

U.S. officials -- already unhappy about the amount of pot being exported south from British Columbia -- expressed unhappiness about the proposals, saying a limit of 1.1 ounces of marijuana was far too high and would encourage trafficking.

"I think it creates some trade problems and some perception problems, especially in the U.S., with regard to whether or not Canada is engaged in reducing drug use rather than contributing to drug use," said Robert Maginnis, a drug policy adviser to the White House.

"We're going to have to clamp down even stronger on our border if you liberalize and contribute to what we consider as a drug tourism problem," he told CBC television.

This could deal a major blow to Canada's economy, given than 85 percent of its exports go to the United States.

Kevin Sorenson of the official opposition Canadian Alliance, a right-wing law-and-order party, backed the overall thrust of the report but said the limit for marijuana possession should be set at 0.2 ounces.

Torsney's committee on Monday recommended Ottawa establish "safe" injection sites as a way to cut the spread of diseases such as HIV and AIDS among drug addicts, a proposal that generated criticism from police and opposition politicians.

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