Justice Minister Martin Cauchon created a stir on Monday by saying he wants to take steps to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana within the next four months.

A Commons committee is due to release a report on Thursday calling for the government to relax current marijuana laws and possibly even allow Canadians to grow marijuana for personal use.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the report," said Cauchon, who has admitted to smoking marijuana in his youth. "Of course, we'll have to analyze all the recommendations. If we're talking about decriminalizing marijuana, we may move ahead quickly as a government."

Cauchon declined to give a firm time frame, but pointed to possible action in the early part of 2003.

"Give me the four first months of next year," he said.

In September, a senate committee report recommended decriminalizing marijuana possession and making it legal for those over the age of 16. The throne speech in September also promised changes to drug laws.

Alliance MP Randy White, who is on the drug committee, said his party remains opposed to the decriminalization of marijuana possession.

But in a conversation with CTV's Mike Duffy, Alliance Leader Stephen Harper contradicted White, saying he was prepared to go along with decriminalization under certain conditions.

"Our caucus is prepared to support decriminalization of small amounts, but only if the government does a whole lot of things to make that practical," said Harper. "Even with decriminalization we still expect the law to be enforced."

Harper said one condition would be tests for people driving while impaired by marijuana, which affects concentration and coordination.

The Canadian Police Association expressed concern about the possibility of relaxed drug laws.

"We're sliding down a slippery slope," said David Griffin, the association's executive officer. "We have to keep the focus as well on the needs of all the other Canadians, ensuring that we're not creating a culture that suggests drug use is OK and that there's no harmful effects."

The head of the committee, Liberal MP Paddy Torsney, said she did not expect the government to be soft on drug use. Torsney said that while illicit drug use is a crime, it's also a health issue and drug addicts need help to deal with their problem.

"Whether a substance is legal or illegal is really not the issue," said Torsney. "The issue is how do we reduce people's use and misuse of substances."

Before he makes a decision, Cauchon said he wants to see what the Commons report says about marijuana laws in other countries.

If decriminalized, possession of small amounts of marijuana, likely anything less than an ounce, would still be illegal. But rather than face a court date, offenders would get a ticket and a fine instead. Rather than a criminal matter, it's more like a speeding or a parking ticket.

The same Commons committee studying the non-medicinal use of drugs released a report Monday urging the government to set up safe injection sites in cities across the country -- an idea Cauchon was lukewarm about.

Cauchon also said Monday he wants to make changes to the Divorce Act aimed at making divorce "less adversarial."

The proposed Family Law Reform Act would likely eliminate the terms "access" and "custody" and replace them with "parenting orders." The aim is to do away with connotations of winning and losing custody of children.

With reports from CTV's Cortney Pasternak and The Canadian Press