More arrests likely as Tories stonewall calls for loosened pot laws
[DIV class=storyhdr][SPAN]SUE BAILEY[/SPAN][EM class=timedate]Tue Mar 7, 5:51 PM ET[/i]
[DIV class=spacer][/DIV][/DIV]OTTAWA (CP) - Potheads beware: the Conservative government has no plans to relax marijuana laws as arrests in some regions are expected to rise.
A spokesman for Justice Minister Vic Toews was brusk when asked if the Tories would resurrect Liberal efforts to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana. "It is a very short answer and the answer is No," said Mike Storeshaw. "We have no plans to bring any bill forward."
Public toking became more common in parts of Canada as the former government moved to loosen laws. Three young men walking along Ottawa's Wellington Street openly passed a joint between them Tuesday as they strolled through the shadow of Parliament's Peace Tower.
But police in some areas are once again cracking down.
"I think we're in a dark period right now," said Alan Young, a marijuana activist and professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.
"They're going after growers and seed dealers, and more people are being charged with simple possession."
Liberals moved to treat possession of less than 15 grams of pot - roughly 20 joints - as a minor offence punishable by fines of $100 to $400, much like traffic tickets.
But the most recent related bill died when the last federal election was called in November.
Before that, the Liberals were harshly rebuked by legislators in the United States. Former American ambassador Paul Cellucci hinted of border tie-ups if Canadian pot laws were eased.
U.S. protests continued despite the fact that several U.S. states have already decriminalized marijuana in much the same way.
Young says pot activists fighting to keep the cause alive are out of luck, but not forever.
"It's dead - for the time being," he said. "This issue goes in cycles."
Young predicts that Ottawa won't be able to indefinitely ignore a growing number of pot users.
"We're a drug-consuming culture and we've got to start regulating it."
Pot is the most popular illicit drug in the country, says the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.
A comprehensive national survey of drug use, released in 2004, found that about 15 per cent of the adult population had used cannibis in the past year, up from seven per cent in 1994.
The centre warns of side-effects ranging from impaired concentration to respiratory damage, depression, paranoia and the possible aggravation of pre-existing psychiatric symptoms.
While in opposition, Toews assailed the Liberals for moving to increase pot demand while at the same time cracking down on suppliers with tougher trafficking penalties. Critics stressed the fact that police still have no reliable roadside test to snag stoned drivers. Also missing is a national drug strategy to discourage use. Still, pot advocates say marijuana on the whole is a lesser social hazard than alcohol. "It's much less harmful to our society than other legal activities and substances," says Kirk Tousaw, general counsel to the B.C. Marijuana Party. "Unfortunately, (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper ran on a get-tough-on-crime, lock-'em-up platform that isn't going to do anyone in Canada any good - except for perhaps those in the prison-building industry." Tousaw, a criminal defence lawyer, says marijuana prohibition flies in the face of bedrock conservative principles. "It's the antithesis of individual liberty. It is an economic program that's just dumping good money after bad: the courts, the jails, the police time." Moreover, pot laws are inconsistently applied across Canada, Tousaw says. "I'm a white, middle-class father of two. If I'm using marijuana in my own home, I run virtually no risk of being arrested." The homeless who smoke up in parks, for example, are much more likely to be charged, he says. "It's just another way that the law discriminates against both visible minorities and those with lower socio-economic standing." Toews barely stopped Tuesday when asked about such inconsistencies. "We have a law on the books don't we?" he said before brushing past reporters.
