Following in the wake of a Canadian Senate recommendation to end marijuana prohibition, Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s government has expressed willingness to consider decriminalizing marijuana. Unlike the tax and regulate proposal outlined by the Senate, decriminalization would leave the distribution of marijuana in the hands of organized crime, but reduce or eliminate penalties for personal use. According to an Associated Press report, U.S. drug policy "experts" in the Bush administration say decriminalizing marijuana in Canada will increase drug use in America and trafficking by organized crime elements on both sides of the border. Washington would respond with tighter border checks that could hinder trade crucial to the Canadian economy. "We intend to protect our citizens. We would have no choice," said John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The United States and Canada share the world’s largest trade partnership, worth more than $1 billion a day.

Decriminalization north of the border will create new headaches for the United States, said Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources. "We’re still finding it hard to believe this could actually happen," he said, but added that if it does, tougher border security would follow. The U.S.-Canadian border is the largest undefended border in the world. It is unclear how a Canadian policy of personal use decriminalization would affect an already porous border. Apparently under the impression that drug traffickers actually pass through customs check points, Souder cited a trade hampering controls as a possibility. "Probably it would be some sort of change in, at the very least, spot-checking, more aggressive checking, possibly background checking" of trucks and other vehicles crossing the border, he said. Mexican marijuana continues to account for the majority of imported marijuana consumed in the US, despite strict border controls and a policy of marijuana prohibition. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration "Mexican marijuana remains readily available within every DEA Field Division’s area of responsibility."