Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, set to retire in February 2004, said in an interview published today that he may smoke marijuana after he leaves office. “I don’t know what is marijuana,” Chretien told the Winnipeg Free Press. “Perhaps I will try it when it will no longer be criminal.”

The prime minister was referring to a law – currently being debated – that would reduce the penalties for minor marijuana possession to a small fine. Last year Canada’s Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs released a report recommending that the drug be legalized. Unlike the U.S., Canada has been leading the world in progressive drug policy reform. Most recently, Canada became the first country in the world to sell marijuana to patients suffering from serious illnesses and Vancouver opened North America’s first legal and supervised drug-injection clinic.

The sixty-nine-year old Chretien, who has led the Liberal Party since 1990, said of his plans, “I will have my money in one hand and a joint in the other hand.”