[DIV id=headline] [H2]Marijuana legislation goes up in smoke[/H2]
[DIV id=author] [P class=source]Associated Press
[DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"] [!-- dateline --]OTTAWA[!-- /dateline --] — Canada's new Conservative Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday that Ottawa does not intend to reintroduce legislation to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.
Speaking to the Canadian Professional Police Association, Harper received applause when he reiterated that the legislation drawn up by the previous Liberal Party government would not be reintroduced when the new Parliament sits Monday.
The bill, which had alarmed law enforcement officials in Canada and the United States, died on the floor of the House of Commons after the Liberal Party lost elections in January.
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Under the bill, getting caught with about half an ounce or less of marijuana would have brought a citation akin to a traffic ticket, not a criminal record. While possession of marijuana would have remained illegal, the bill was intended to prevent young people from being saddled with a lifelong criminal record.
U.S. authorities worried the legislation would have weakened their efforts to curb marijuana exports from Canada, which has numerous marijuana farms, particularly in the lush western province of British Columbia.
Canadian marijuana activist Marc Emery of Vancouver, known as "the prince of pot" and recently profiled by the CBS' "60 Minutes," is under U.S. indictment targeting his multimillion-dollar marijuana seed business. He claims to make $3-million a year from selling marijuana seeds on line and by mail, mostly to buyers south of the border.
Mr. Harper, who was to later address the first Conservative-led Parliament in 13 years, told the police association that fighting crime was one of his top five priorities.
He vowed to keep his campaign pledge to demand tougher sentences for gun and drug offences.
He also won prolonged applause for his campaign promises to crack down on parole and do away with mandatory supervision, the practice of releasing most convicts after two-thirds of their sentences.
"We are going to hold criminals to account," said Mr. Harper. "This government will send a strong message to criminals: If you do a serious crime, you're going to start doing serious time."
Mr. Harper also promised to get tough on child pornography and improve the national databank of DNA samples of convicted criminals.
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