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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canadian government looks at ticketing pot users
Reuters New Zealand Herald
Friday 21 Mar 2003 OTTAWA - The Canadian government said today it was looking at issuing tickets to marijuana users as a way of avoiding saddling youth with criminal records. "Kids are ending up with a criminal conviction," Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said in a speech in Toronto. "This can have a devastating impact on their lives -- from the types of jobs they can get, to travelling or going to university in other countries, particularly the United States." Cauchon has long said he was looking at decriminalising the use of marijuana and intended to go to the United States to explain his plans to US officials, but postponed his plans because of the Iraq conflict. US President George W Bush said in a report in January that he was concerned Canada had become an increasing source of potent marijuana. And his drug czar, John Walters, has warned that Canadian laxity could lead to even tighter control being placed on the crucial cross-border of flow of people and goods. Cauchon said he was troubled by the inconsistent application of criminal law to the possession of small amounts of marijuana. "The criminal law is a blunt tool; it is only effective if it is applied consistently and if it reflects true social consensus on an issue," he said. "I think we need to question whether our approach of selective enforcement of the cannabis possession law has been effective." Hence the concept of having police issue tickets. "It is likely that if we moved into a ticketing regime there would actually be more enforcement of the possession offence. That has been the case in Australia." About 20,000 of Canada's 30 million people are convicted every year for possessing or cultivating marijuana. A committee of the federal legislature recommended in December that it be decriminalised but not fully legalised. - REUTERS
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