TORONTO -- Drug offenses in Canada, which have been increasing for nearly a decade, are at a 20-year high as overall crime remained virtually unchanged from the previous year, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The 93,000 incidents in 2002 was a three-percent rise over the previous year, driven by increases in the number of offenses involving marijuana, cocaine and synthetic drugs.

About three-quarters of marijuana offenses were for possession, 15 percent for trafficking, 12 percent for production and one percent for importation, Statistics Canada said.

"The rate of incidents involving possession of cannabis rose three percent in 2002, and has now doubled since 1991," the government agency said.

The Canadian government earlier this year proposed decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, while increasing penalties for growers and traffickers.

Overall, Canada's national crime rate remained virtually unchanged in 2002, with nearly 2.4 million non-traffic criminal infractions. It is now some 27 percent below its peak in 1991.

Of these, 13 percent were violent crimes, including 582 homicides, 29 more than in the previous year, AFP reported.

British Columbia saw the biggest jump among the provinces, with 126 homicides last year, up from 84 in 2001. Fifteen homicides reported in 2002 in Canada's westernmost province are linked to the police's ongoing investigation into some 60 women who went missing since the mid-1980s.

A judge Wednesday ruled Robert William Pickton must stand trial in the murder of 15 missing women as Canada's largest ever serial killer investigation continues at his ranch in Port Coquitlam.