Dear editor, Re: UBCM marijuana motion divides Comox Valley mayors (Record, Sept. 28). The status quo is NOT breaking bad. With all due respect to Mayor Jangula, I strongly suggest that his position to support the status quo on the topic of marijuana decriminalization is a "bad" one. While the motion that passed at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention in Victoria is indeed largely symbolic, as was acknowledged by the proponents, the call for the government to decriminalize marijuana and research its regulation and taxation is entirely logical, timely and sane. [continues 399 words]
One is a mom, the other a grandmother, and they both use marijuana. Diane-Marie Williams - who started the Canadian chapter of Moms for Marijuana in March this year - and her mother laugh about how Williams got grounded at age 15 for using pot. Now, mother and daughter both use cannabis for medical reasons - and they want to see it decriminalized. It relieves chronic pain and the symptoms of fibromyalgia for Williams, 50, and provides relief for her 68-year-old mom, who has multiple sclerosis and is also in remission from cancer. [continues 1362 words]
Only a policy of taxation and regulation of cannabis similar to the framework of alcohol would eliminate the harms that prohibition is causing our country. The NORML Women's Alliance of Canada is mobilizing the collective voice of women across the country to end the prohibition of cannabis. The Conservative federal government recently released its new drug strategy and many in the cannabis tax and regulate movement see this as the darkness before the dawn. According to the report on plans and priorities tabled with the federal Treasury Board, Canada in the next five years will see a drastic $42-million cut to Health Canada's budget for their Drug Treatment Funding Program, while the budget for police drug enforcement and prosecutors will increase. Five-year funding for RCMP investigation of cannabis growers (and clandestine drug labs) will increase by $28-million up to $113-million. Add the cost of a larger prison population too. [continues 756 words]
The war on drugs may outstrip Iraq and Afghanistan as failed campaigns. Lives are being destroyed. Money is being squandered. And the enemy isn't going away. North American leaders Stephen Harper, Barack Obama and Felipe Calderon are clearly addicted to a worldwide strategy to wipe out drug abuse. Despite the fact that this war - initiated by the late U.S. president Richard Nixon - is now more than 40 years old, drug use continues to escalate in North America and just about everywhere else. [continues 901 words]
'Shiprider' Program Has Been Tested in Juan DE Fuca Strait, Elsewhere Shared waterways along the Canada-u.s. border in the Juan de Fuca Strait and elsewhere soon could be patrolled by vessels staffed with armed Canadian and American officers who have the authority to freely cross into each other's territories in pursuit of suspected criminals or terrorists. Legislative changes awaiting approval by Parliament would allow specially trained and designated officers to participate in "integrated cross-border operations." Advocates say the initiative will give authorities a big boost in their efforts to go after drug and weapon smugglers and human traffickers, who know they can elude capture by making a "run for the border." [continues 407 words]
Re: Legalizing marijuana is a halfbaked idea, Letters, May 3 Ted Cooper of Powell River asserts that "there was a dramatic reduction of documented alcohol-related morbidity and mortality during the Prohibition era." This differs quite radically from the report of the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings on National Prohibition, 1926, which provides statistics indicating that, while deaths due to alcohol consumption in Cook County had declined substantially during the decade before the institution of alcohol prohibition, during Prohibition they rose to the highest level yet. [continues 84 words]
Imagine if governments around the world decided alcohol causes too many social and health problems, and outlawed wine. What would happen? Unlike some products, wine can be produced by individuals or small groups of people - it has been for thousands of years. It would therefore be necessary to ban grapes, as well. Those who wanted to continue growing in regions that are amenable to grape vines - including B.C., Ontario and California - would have to hide their vineyards in unpopulated, mountainous regions, where they could be cloaked in the natural foliage. Others would be forced to grow inside, consuming vast amounts of power and creating fire and health hazards that result from unsafe wiring and indoor irrigation. [continues 741 words]
Canada took a major step backward this week by erasing more than 50 years of prison reform and progressive policies to deal with crime. What we have today is a criminal justice system that is overly simplistic and revenge oriented. The omnibus act, known as Bill C-10, is 150 pages in length and consists of several pieces of legislation. It was rushed through Parliament to meet the Conservatives' campaign promise to pass it within a 100-day time frame. There was no public pressure on the government for speedy passage. This purely was an agenda set by the government itself. [continues 797 words]
The Opposition has successfully delayed the passage of the controversial omnibus crime bill which was set to be voted on Wednesday one last time. The NDP employed procedural -delays following question period that left no more time for further debate and the final vote. But before moving on to a series of votes on private members bills, the Conservatives did manage to pass a time allocation motion to limit - -debate on the bill to one more day. That debate will resume Friday and the final vote will be deferred until Monday. [continues 328 words]
After months of acrimonious debate, the controversial omnibus crime bill is poised to clear a final hurdle Wednesday before becoming law. The Safe Streets and Communities Act returned to the House of Commons Tuesday for one last debate after several minor amendments were approved by the Senate in relation to the State Immunity Act and the ability of terrorism victims to sue their perpetrators. The government promised to pass the bill within 100 sitting days of the 41st Parliament and Postmedia News has learned the final vote on C-10 is expected to happen late Wednesday, 10 days before the Harper Conservatives will mark that milestone. [continues 252 words]
The Conservative government's omnibus crime bill has returned from the Senate to the House of Commons with amendments that will allow terrorism victims and their families to sue state sponsors of terror. The amendments are similar to those proposed by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler when the bill was before the Commons justice committee. They were rejected by the Conservative MPs on that committee and, by the time the government decided they were important additions to the legislation, it was too late to make changes to the bill in the Commons. So it was up to Tories in the Senate, specifically Senator Bob Runciman, to make the amendments. [continues 377 words]
A broad slate of justice measures - many of them contentious for their cost and for the limits they place on judicial discretion - is about to become law as the House of Commons puts an omnibus Conservative crime bill to a final vote. The bill, which the opposition says will fill prisons without making streets safer, has been returned by the Senate to the House of Commons with amendments to allow terrorism victims and their families to sue state sponsors of terror. [continues 444 words]
OTTAWA - After months of acrimonious debate, the controversial omnibus crime bill is poised to clear a final hurdle Wednesday before becoming law. The Safe Streets and Communities Act returned to the Commons Tuesday for one last debate after several minor amendments were approved by the Senate in relation to the State Immunity Act and the ability of terrorism victims to sue their perpetrators. The government promised to pass the bill within 100 sitting days of the 41st Parliament and Postmedia News has learned the final vote on C-10 is expected to happen late Wednesday, 10 days before the Harper Conservatives will mark that milestone. [continues 215 words]
Controversial Law Set to Clear Final Hurdle on Wednesday After months of acrimonious debate, the controversial omnibus crime bill is poised to clear a final hurdle Wednesday before becoming law. The Safe Streets and Communities Act returned to the House of Commons Tuesday for one last debate after several minor amendments were approved by the Senate in relation to the State Immunity Act and the ability of terrorism victims to sue their perpetrators. The government promised to pass the bill within 100 sitting days of the 41st Parliament and Postmedia News has learned the final vote on C-10 is expected to happen late Wednesday, 10 days before the Harper Conservatives will mark that milestone. [continues 377 words]
Global Commission on Drug Policy argues new crime bill's stiffer penalties not the answer An international group of thinkers, business people and former politicians are urging the federal government to change its omnibus crime bill, arguing stiffer sentences for "minor" marijuana crimes won't make Canada safer. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former head of the United Nations Kofi Annan and billionaire Sir Richard Branson, signed an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and senators urging them to amend the crime bill and instead of penalties, make pot legal. [continues 423 words]
Annan, Branson want pot legal OTTAWA An international group of thinkers, business people and former politicians is urging the federal government to change its omnibus crime bill, arguing stiffer sentences for "minor" marijuana crimes won't make Canada safer. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former head of the United Nations Kofi Annan and billionaire Sir Richard Branson, signed an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and senators, urging them to amend the crime bill and, instead of penalties, make pot legal. [continues 335 words]
OTTAWA - An international group of thinkers, business people and former politicians is urging the federal government to change its omnibus crime bill, arguing stiffer sentences for "minor" marijuana crimes won't make Canada safer. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former head of the United Nations Kofi Annan and billionaire Sir Richard Branson, signed an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and senators urging them to amend the crime bill and, instead of penalties, make pot legal. In its letter, released Wednesday, the group asked the government to consider taxing and regulating marijuana "as an alternative strategy to undermine organized crime and improve community health and safety." [continues 304 words]
Regarding: The gateway theory, Feb. 22. The problem with Ted Dever's prohibitionist rhetoric (beyond the obvious, that marijuana induces biochemical changes in the brain - it's why people use marijuana) is that the 'gateway theory' is conjecture. DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young said in 1988 that, 'In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume . . . Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. The 'gateway theory' which says all marijuana users go on to hard drugs has been debunked over and over again. It is nothing more than an attempt to make people fear marijuana. The only reason any association between marijuana and cocaine exists is because of drug prohibition. [continues 213 words]
Few Changes Made in Senate The federal government's omnibus crime bill will be heading back to the House of Commons after senators approved changes to Bill C-10 early Monday. The six changes, proposed by Ontario Conservative Senator Bob Runciman, were approved easily, but changes Liberal senators wanted to the Safe Streets and Communities Act received a tougher ride, including a failed proposal to raise the number of marijuana plants one could legally grow to 20 from six. The Conservative senators on the Senate legal affairs committee used their majority to reject all 17 changes the Liberals proposed. [continues 182 words]
Conservative Runciman's Six Changes Added, but All 17 Liberal Suggestions Shot Down OTTAWA - The federal government's omnibus crime bill will be heading back to the House of Commons after senators approved changes to Bill C- 10 on Monday. The changes, proposed by Ontario Conservative Sen. Bob Runciman, were approved easily, but changes Liberal senators wanted to the Safe Streets and Communities Act received a tougher ride, including a failed proposal to raise the number of marijuana plants one could legally grow to 20 from six. [continues 437 words]
