The Good and Bad: Glaucoma Reliever, Social Lubricant, Cancer And Depression Promoter. and a Lot More As a teenager, Dom Cramer's anti-drug attitudes would have made any parent proud. He bought into the "Just Say No" government campaigns and the warnings from the police who visited his high school that marijuana was a surefire gateway to more hard-core drugs. Today, Cramer owns the Toronto Hemp Company, a Yonge Street store that sells everything from hemp soaps and lip balms to rolling machines and "defunk smell remover spray." Cramer, now 30, began smoking pot in university, after he stopped believing "all the lies I was taught in high school." He smokes marijuana frequently, although says he can go for weeks or months without it. [continues 1834 words]
Small Margin Between Good, Bad Effects As a teenager, Dom Cramer's anti-drug attitudes would have made any parent proud. He bought into the "Just Say No" government campaigns and the warnings from the police who visited his high school that marijuana was a surefire gateway to more hardcore drugs. Today, Cramer owns the Toronto Hemp Company, a Yonge Street store that sells everything from hemp soaps and lip balms to rolling machines and "defunk smell remover spray." Cramer, now 30, began smoking pot in university, after he stopped believing "all the lies I was taught in high school." He smokes marijuana frequently, although says he can go for weeks or months without it. [continues 1054 words]
On the 18th of February, Health Canada organized a large-scale consultation on its highly criticized federal medical marijuana program. For the first time since it's creation over 5 years ago, the Office of Cannabis Medical Access (OCMA) had the foresight to invite a small number of Canadian drug policy reform and medicinal cannabis advocates. Philippe Lucas, editor of the DSW's hemp and cannabis section, was in attendance at this meeting as Director of Canadians for Safe Access http://www.safeaccess.ca The following feature article is based on an online report he compiled for fellow activists. [continues 1248 words]
Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2004/ds04.n339.html TABLE OF CONTENTS: * This Just In (1) Court Allows Medicinal Use Of Marijuana (2) Committee Says Yes To Small Amounts Of Ganja For Private Use (3) Views Aired On Forfeiture Proposal (4) Candlelight Vigil Held In San Jose For Slain Man * Weekly News in Review Drug Policy (5) Tax Allocation Bypassed Guidelines (6) Police Again May Get to Seize Assets (7) Editorial: Drugs, Money & Plans (8) Man Who Sold Urine Sent To Prison (9) Roadside Drugs Tests 'Could Be Flawed' Say Researchers [continues 768 words]
Re "Tide is high on prevention" (Jan. 29): The number of grow ops and seizures itself reveals a problem that is out of control. Clandestine marijuana grow ops are a symptom of prohibition, not of marijuana use itself. If people want to get rid of the grow ops, Canada better start looking at the issue of marijuana seriously. Prohibition has seen a skyrocketing use of marijuana, proliferation of grow ops, and pot is easier to get in high schools than alcohol or tobacco. Prohibition is achieving the opposite of what it is purported to do. [continues 375 words]
Health Canada Wants To Pass On Personal Information To Police OTTAWA - Health Canada is threatening to force licensed users of medicinal marijuana to give the agency permission to pass on personal information to the police. Letters "strongly urging" medicinal users to sign and return the disclosure consent forms were sent out last week by Health Canada. But users of medicinal marijuana say that is an invasion of privacy and are afraid the information could be misused. "This unsolicited letter shows Health Canada more than strongly urging. It is bullying and threatening," said Philippe Lucas, Director of Canadians for Safe Access to Medicinal Marijuana, a non-profit organization. [continues 806 words]
Health Canada Wants To Pass On Licensed Users' Data To Police Health Canada is threatening to force licensed users of medicinal marijuana to give the agency permission to pass on personal information to the police. But users of medicinal marijuana claim the measure is an invasion of their privacy, and worry the information Health Canada provides could be misused. Letters "strongly encouraging" medicinal users to sign and return the disclosure consent forms were sent out last week by Health Canada. "This unsolicited letter shows Health Canada more than strongly urging, it is bullying and threatening. And this is a matter of fairness," said Philippe Lucas, director of Canadians for Safe Access to Medicinal Marijuana, a non-profit organization. [continues 723 words]
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has just issued one of the most disturbing-and entertaining-reminders that civil rights should never be taken for granted. Looks like a lot of people aren't too clear on the subject. The BCCLA awarded its annual brickbats and bouquets to many we want to forget-and others we'd like to remember. The group reminds us that if former Immigration Minister Denis Coderre had his way, we'd all be carrying around compulsory identification cards. [continues 639 words]
TORONTO - For a while it looked like we were poised to become Amsterdam West: cafes with patrons openly enjoying joints alongside lattes, activists toking up outside police stations with impunity, and government plans to make marijuana available to the chronically ill. But while that pipedream has apparently gone up in smoke, the ongoing debate over the sweet leaf's place in Canadian society - whether for medicine or for pleasure - promises to grow more heated in the coming year. With the federal government courting decriminalization - still a thorny issue among the ruling Liberals themselves - Canadians have found reason to voice their opinions on the contentious topic. [continues 939 words]
For a while it looked like we were poised to become Amsterdam West: cafes with patrons openly enjoying joints alongside lattes, activists toking up outside police stations with impunity, and government plans to make marijuana available to the chronically ill. But while that pipedream has apparently gone up in smoke, the ongoing debate over the sweet leaf's place in Canadian society -- whether for medicine or for pleasure -- promises to grow more heated in the coming year. With the federal government courting decriminalization -- still a thorny issue among the ruling Liberals themselves -- Canadians have found reason to voice their opinions on the contentious topic. [continues 1291 words]
Prominent American medical marijuana activist Steve Kubby (http://www.kubby.com), who fled the US saying an impending jail sentence would cause his death, has been denied refugee status by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board. An adrenal cancer patient, Kubby has smoked a dozen joints a day for year, which he says keeps him alive, and would have been denied that medication while serving a misdemeanor sentence in California. But Kubby did not have a well-founded fear of being persecuted or tortured, nor was there any risk to his life if he returned to his home state of California, the board ruled Monday. [continues 1124 words]
A high court gavel may have ordered the feds to keep doling out weed to the nation's sick last week, but it looks like the government's perpetually problematic stash is in trouble again. Medicinal marijuana advocates say that Ottawa's herb is laced with high levels of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. That's yet another chapter in the tragicomedy of Canada's medical pot saga, marked by years of judicial tug of war, flip-flopping government support and notorious delays in the production of certifiably weak greens. Most recently, Canadians for Safe Access (CSA) decided to act on their mounting suspicion that growing medicinal herbs in an abandoned zinc and copper mine shaft could lead to contamination. The organization sent a sample of federal bud (as well as organic herb for comparison) out to three labs for independent testing. When results uncovered much higher levels of toxic compounds like lead and arsenic in the government stash, the advocacy group started sounding alarms. [continues 601 words]
Despite US Drug Czar John Walters' recent assertions that Canada is "the one place in the hemisphere where things are going the wrong (way) rapidly," Canada is moving towards stricter marijuana policies. After a summer of defacto legalized marijuana use lead to no apparent increase in anarchy, violence or crime on Canadian streets, the Ontario Appeals Court effectively recriminalized recreational use on October 7, 2003, while ordering that the Canadian government insure patients can more easily obtain their medicinal marijuana by allowing businesses and individuals to grow their own for medical use. At the same time, Canada's proposed "decrim" bill seeks to further tighten rather than relax Canada's pot laws. [continues 942 words]
Victoria's Two Medical Marijuana Outlets Carry On Despite Raids On a Friday afternoon, the Vancouver Island Compassion Society's downtown street-front office is lively, with half a dozen or so people taking a turn of a few minutes each in the back room with Robin, a wiry-looking man with glasses and hair in a pony tail. Potted plants, worn but comfortable seating, and a coffee table spread with magazines make the waiting area feel a lot like any other alternative health clinic. But after the clients have been served and shuffled out into the street, and after passing through the curtain for a tour, you're hit by a pungent, slightly skunky smell. [continues 867 words]
"Hello. Bonjour. Welcome to Health Canada's customer service and complaint line. This is Dave speaking. How can I help you?" "Uh . . . Yeah, man. This is Jimmy. I've got a problem with my medication. I suffer from . . . um . . . glaucoma. Yeah, that's it." "Well, let's see what we can do to help. What exactly is the problem?" "It's about this new dope you guys sent me, Dave. It tastes terrible and it ain't even getting me high, dude." [continues 713 words]
Is Ottawa's Medical Mary Jane Laced With Heavy Metals? A high court gavel may have ordered the feds to keep doling out weed to the nation's sick this week, but it looks like the government's perpetually problematic stash is in trouble again. Medicinal marijuana advocates say that Ottawa's herb is laced with high levels of toxic chemicals and heavy metals. It's yet another chapter in the tragicomedy of Canada's medical pot saga, marked by years of judicial tug of war, flip-flopping government support and notorious delays in the production of certifiably weak greens. Most recently, Canadians for Safe Access (CSA) decided to act on their mounting suspicion that growing medicinal herbs in an abandoned zinc and copper mine shaft could lead to contamination. The organization sent a sample of federal bud (as well organic herb for comparison) out to three labs for independent testing. When results uncovered much higher levels of toxic compounds like lead and arsenic in the government stash, the advocacy group started sounding alarms. [continues 603 words]
Critics Say The Bureaucracy Is So Taxing For The Sick That Medicinal Marijuana Is Hardly Worth It Phillipe Lucas is legally entitled to possess marijuana to cope with Hepatitis C, but getting it legally is about as tough as getting a drink from a prohibitionist. If you have chronic back pain, are undergoing chemotherapy or dealing with another medical condition and want to see if "medicinal marijuana" might help, bringing the option up with your family doctor might seem a little awkward. Actually getting the stuff, it turns out, is even harder. [continues 2543 words]
A DrugSense Focus Alert. http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0278.html By Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1499/a05.html Rick Doblin, PhD, is president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and Publisher of their quarterly magazine. MP3: http://www.cultural-baggage.com/Audio/FDBCB_093003.mp3 RealAudio: http://www.cultural-baggage.com/ramtorm/to093003.ram [continues 192 words]
"Hello. Bonjour. Welcome to Health Canada's customer service and complaint line. This is Dave speaking. How can I help you?" "Uh... Yeah, man. This is Jimmy. I've got a problem with my medication. I suffer from... um... glaucoma. Yeah, that's it." "Well, let's see what we can do to help. What exactly is the problem?" "It's about this new dope you guys sent me, Dave. It tastes terrible and it ain't even getting me high, dude." [continues 724 words]
"Hello. Bonjour. Welcome to Health Canada's customer service and complaint line. This is Dave speaking. How can I help you?" "Uh... Yeah, man. This is Jimmy. I've got a problem with my medication. I suffer from ... um... glaucoma. Yeah, that's it." "Well, let's see what we can do to help. What exactly is the problem?" "It's about this new dope you guys sent me, Dave. It tastes terrible and it ain't even getting me high, dude." [continues 716 words]
