Marijuana bill fading out--for now.

Ottawa -- Bill C-7, dating back to the Jean Chretien government, intends to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. Although it also increases penalties for large-scale trafficking, this bill has met continued opposition throughout its existence.

It is still on the order paper in the House of Commons, but likely to die again. The ruling Liberals are not keen to put such a contentious law on the statute books with a federal election due within six months.

John Maloney, MP, chairman of the Commons Justice Committee, proposes to put it on the back burner in order to tackle some other commonplace criminal justice bills that have been lying around for some time.