Drug Czar Blasts Canadian Policy

U.S. Drug Czar John P. Walters said in Detroit this week that Canadian decriminalization of marijuana would increase drug problems in the United States, causing one Canadian justice official to accuse Walters of "selective use of information."

"The kind of marijuana coming from Canada is essentially the crack of marijuana," Walters said in a news conference at a Detroit drug treatment center the Detroit News reported. "It is dangerous. It is destructive."

"The problem is the political leadership in Canada has been utterly unable to come to grips with this," he said. "They're talking about (decriminalization) while Rome burns."

But a spokesman for the Canadian Justice Ministry pointed out that the Canadian proposal would actually boost penalties for growing and trafficking marijuana. Possession of marijuana would still be illegal, but possession of less than a half ounce would carry the weight of a traffic citation.

Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, also said Canada's proposal is similar to decriminalization laws adopted in several U.S. states. "We all have to be careful about the selective use of information," he said.

Canadian pot growers use selective breeding to produce marijuana that has up to 30 percent content of THC, Walters said. Much of the marijuana used in the 1970s had less than 1 percent content of THC. High-potency marijuana is more likely to cause addiction and health problems, he said.

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