Simple drug possession in Vancouver will no longer be prosecuted, under new federal government guidelines, The Province has learned. Senior federal drug prosecutor Lindsay Smith wrote to Vancouver police on May 17 advising them of the relaxed stance. The letter said the Crown would only approve possession charges if there was an aggravating factor, such as if the person was "a known gang member."

"We were simply indicating the system is badly overtaxed and we have more drug cases than we can deal with", explained Tony Dohm, of the justice department.

Dohm is in charge of federal prosecutions in B.C. All drug charges are handled by federally appointed prosecutors. He said the edict applies to Vancouver, where drug prosecutions have overloaded the courts.

"We have to look at the effect on the community", he said. "It may be different if someone is caught outside a school in West Vancouver or North Vancouver with drugs."

Drugs, from marijuana to cocaine and heroin, are part of the culture of the downtown area, he said. Dohm defended the new position.

We're not giving people carte blanche. It's not a licence to do drugs and we're not telling police to turn a blind eye.

Two provincial courtrooms run almost full-time in downtown Vancouver exclusively for drug cases, and there can be several dozen new drug-possession cases a day.

Vancouver police deputy chief Rich Rollins agrees with Dohm: "We have to be practical; that is the bottom line", Rollins said. He confirmed the latter had come after a number of meetings with federal justice department officials and drug prosecutors.

Members of the drug squad had complained about the number of recent drug cases being dropped or refused by federal prosecutors.

"It was discussed at an executive meeting of the police department", Rollins said. Mayor Philip Owen, chairman of the Vancouver police board, could not be reached for comment last night, but Prof. Neil Boyd, head of Simon Fraser University's criminology department, said giving up on drug-possession charges is "probably the right way to go."

He advocated decriminalizing drug possession, saying drug use should not be a criminal offence.

It doesn't make sense to criminalize the chemical alteration of consciousness with some drugs when we allow people to do it with tobacco and alcohol

The people at Hemp B.C. answered phone calls yesterday by calling themselves "the happiest store in the world." New federal guidelines calling for a relaxed stance on prosecuting drug possession cases had Vancouver's hempsters jumping for joy.

"Today we are the happiest store in the world", said Hilary Black, who has worked at the West Hastings Street outlet for four months.

The 19-year-old from West Vancouver figured it would take years of lobbying before government would deliver such an edict. "It almost feels like a fantasy and a dream", said Black. "It's a step towards using hemp for paper and fibre and using the seed for fuel."

Marc Emery, Hemp B.C.'s owner, was reeling from the news: "It's an electric situation. It's posted on the Internet and people around the country are very excited about it", said the 37-year-old. Emery said it frees thousands of Vancouver pot smokers "from the awful fear of being arrested and having lives ruined for smoking a joint."

The store owner, who sold about 5,000 marijuana growing guides last year, said he hopes the new freedoms won't be flaunted.

Senior federal drug prosecutor Lindsay Smith wrote to Vancouver police on May 17 saying they would only approve possession charges if there was an "aggravating factor."

The ruling applied to Vancouver because of its overworked courts, but Mayor Philip Owen, chairman of the Vancouver police board, was puzzled. "They are saying there is a law but we are going to ignore it", said Owen yesterday. "You either legalize the drugs or enforce the law. I don't understand what the federal government has in mind."

Owen said the new guidelines "encourage the thug drug dealers" while the city and province are forced to deal with social problems caused by addiction.

B.C.'s chief coroner Vince Cain, who in February called the war on drugs an expensive failure, said not approving every possession charge is a small step.

"It's one aspect of a very, very large picture", he said yesterday.

Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen blasted the federal government Sunday over a report that says minor drug-possession charges in Vancouver will no longer be prosecuted. Owen, chair of the Vancouver police board, said the new guidelines - intended to alleviate a backlog of drug cases in the courts - "make a mockery of the judicial system" and send a "frightening" message to society.

"If they don't like the way things are functioning, then change the law, but don't tell us we have a law that we're going to ignore", said Owen. "If we don't have any respect for the law, we're saying, 'Here you go, we're just going to look the other way.' That's just fundamentally and basically wrong."

Owen described drugs as one of Vancouver's biggest problems, particularly on the Downtown Eastside. He said relaxing the prohibition on drugs will lead to social decay. "The winner is the drug-dealing punk who makes off with all this tax-free money and leaves us with the social chaos and destruction in his wake. I have great difficulty with that", the mayor said.

He said he will raise the matter with Vancouver Police Chief Ray Canuel and John Blatherwick, the city's chief medical health officer. Owen was reacting to a weekend report that said federal Crown prosecutors will only act on possession charges in cases where the suspect is "a known gang member", or is arrested near a schoolyard.

The guidelines were written after federal justice officials met with Crown prosecutors, who handle all drug cases. Members of the Vancouver police drug squad had complained about the number of drug cases being dropped or refused by federal prosecutors.

Tony Dohm, head of federal prosecutions in B.C., defended the guidelines. He said the justice department was responding to an overtaxed court system - not telling police to look the other way.

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