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Canada Renews Plan To Decriminalise Pot Possession.
By admin | November 1, 2004
Reuters (UK)
November 1, 2004.
Canada’s Liberal government has reintroduced legislation to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of marijuana, drawing criticism that this could prompt a clampdown at the U.S. border.
The bill would replace criminal sanctions with fines for small amounts, 15 grams or about half an ounce, with youths getting smaller fines than adults.
Opposition Conservative Member of Parliament Vic Toews voiced fears that the legislation could end up jeopardizing the world’s richest trading relationship, valued at more than $1 billion (545.2 million pounds) a day.
“We know that the Americans are very opposed to this bill,” he told reporters in the lobby outside the House of Commons. “How does this government guarantee us that there won’t be retaliatory action by the Americans?”
U.S. drug enforcement officials have warned that the relaxed laws could mean a surge in smuggling of potent Canadian marijuana — a business already worth about C$5 billion (2.2 billion pounds) in the Pacific province of British Columbia.
Opponents in both countries have also warned this could lead to longer waits at the border if the United States tightens security further.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said he did not want young users to have criminal records, which could hurt their job prospects and block entry into the United States.
Similar legislation got scuttled by the June federal election, which automatically killed all outstanding bills.
Canadian police had also warned that reliable tests needed to be developed for marijuana-impaired driving before decriminalizing the drug.
To that end, Cotler reintroduced a separate bill on Monday on drug-impaired driving, granting police the authority to force suspects to submit to tests.
Government officials said there was no reliable machine that police can use at the roadside to determine drug impairment, but they can look for involuntary jerking of the eyes and make drivers try to stand on one leg.
If they suspect drug use, they can take the driver to a police station to conduct further physical tests, and possibly to give blood, saliva or urine samples.
Officials also said police did not have enough training yet to be able to administer these tests across the country but Cotler pledged C$6.5 million for new training.
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