Graham Expects Frank Talks With U.S. Over Pot Law

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Ottawa — Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said Sunday he's not worried that "a fresh source of tension" with United States officials would arise should Canada decide to decriminalize marijuana.

 

"I'm not concerned," he said on CTV Question Period. "It will certainly be an ultimate item of discussion. Some people in the United States have said it will raise problems on the border, so we'll see if that's true.

 

"I honestly, in the end, don't believe it will, because I think we'll do it in a way which reduces the tensions the way we've handled the 30-point border program."

 

On Thursday, a parliamentary committee released a report recommending fines rather than criminal convictions for possessing small amounts of marijuana.

 

The report got a favourable response from Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, who has promised to relax marijuana possession laws in the new year.

 

John Walters, director of the U.S. office of drug-control policy, warned last week that easing penalties would create border security problems and increase the flow of Canadian-grown pot to the U.S. market, a concern echoed by Canadian police officials.

 

Mr. Graham said he has not heard from his U.S. counterparts concerning the report's recommendations.

 

"I haven't heard anything officially and I don't imagine we will for a while because they know that this is just a report of a House committee," he said.

 

Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)

Published: December 15, 2002