Fresh strategy devised for battle against drugs

By: Janice Tibbetts, Ottawa Citizen, 04/14/03

The government is embarking on an anti-drug campaign to stress that marijuana is a health hazard at the same time that the Justice Department decriminalizes its possession.

Legislation to ease marijuana laws, expected late this spring, will be one part of a new multimillion-dollar national drug strategy that will focus on public education, enforcement of drug laws and revamped treatment and rehabilitation programs.

The drug bill, which will include initiatives from the justice, solicitor general's and health departments, will be based on a report from a special committee that late last year recommended a sweeping new system for the way the federal government manages Canada's illegal drug problem.

The committee said the federal government should appoint a drug commissioner, similar to the U.S.'s drug czar, and establish safe injection sites for drug addicts. "We're looking at all the recommendations that were made, but we can't rule anything in or out at this time," said Alex Swann, a spokesman for Health Minister Anne McLellan, whose department is overseeing the drug strategy.

The new initiative, including marijuana decriminalization, is still in the works, and it is not yet ready to take to the federal cabinet for approval before it is introduced in legislation.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, mindful of U.S. opposition to Canada's relaxing its marijuana laws, said it's significant that the overall strategy will stress that marijuana is still illegal and police will be instructed to be more vigilant in enforcing law.

Possession of small amounts of marijuana will be punishable by a fine instead of a criminal record. The government's idea is that it should not waste time and resources going after smalltime users, but instead focus on trafficking and dealing with serious addictions to harmful drugs.

Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Mr. Cauchon, said Canada is not backing away from decriminalization plans to satisfy the United States, which has publicly warned that Canadians could face problems at the border if laws are eased. He also pointed out that 12 American states have some degree of marijuana decriminalization.

The current national drug strategy has been widely criticized for poor leadership, shoddy research and lack of measurable results. Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser, in a scathing 2001 report, said Canada is ill-informed on the size of its drug problem because nobody is in charge