PHILADELPHIA - New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnsonbrought his crusade for drug legalization to Philadelphia on Tuesday, winning a hero's welcome from hundreds of participants at a so-called Shadow Convention. The Republican governor, in a 20-minute speech, outlined the controversial argument now familiar to many New Mexicans: The drug war is ruining lives and unnecessarily costing society billions of dollars. "Marijuana should be legal," Johnson said. "Drug prohibition is tearing this country apart," Johnson said, drawing heavy applause and shouts of encouragement from the audience. "Prohibition is the bogeyman." [continues 664 words]
Marijuana has therapeutic uses the federal government has come to recognize as useful for some ill Canadians. More than a year ago, Ottawa gave permission to two men with AIDS to use marijuana for medical purposes. Since then, 35 Canadians have been granted similar exemptions. But marijuana remains a banned substance. Those who use it to soften the harsh effects of the chemical cocktails that treat AIDS, or for nausea, seizures or lost appetite in epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other chronic illness, are still breaking the law. [continues 302 words]
Parliament Should Make A Useful Drug Available -- And Go A Step Further The Ontario Court of Appeal has decided that Terrance Parker can be both a legal pot grower and a legal pot user -- he, and everyone like him who requires the drug for medical purposes. The court reasoned on Monday that, since the federal law on marijuana possession and cultivation doesn't recognize the paramount nature of Mr. Parker's need to use the drug to control the epileptic seizures that have afflicted him for almost 40 years, it is "forcing Parker to choose between his health and imprisonment." This does not accord with "principles of fundamental justice," and therefore the law should be struck down. The effect of the judgment on everyone but Mr. Parker is stayed for a year to give Ottawa an opportunity to redraft the law to include a medical marijuana exemption. [continues 617 words]
The law prohibiting possession of marijuana was declared unconstitutional Monday by Ontario's top court -- a decision hailed by some as a step toward decriminalizing the drug across the country. In an unanimous decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled the possession law violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it fails to make exceptions for people who require marijuana for medicinal purposes. But rather than strike down the law outright, the court gave the federal government one year to rewrite its legislation to comply with the Charter. Possession will remain a criminal offence for 12 months, but if the government fails to act in that time, the law will cease to exist and simple possession will become legal in Canada. [continues 581 words]
SANTA FE — Gov. Gary Johnson is back on the national stage today in Philadelphia to promote a pet cause — the legalization of marijuana and reform of drug laws. Johnson, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and rap star Chuck D of Public Enemy, is to be a featured speaker at a so-called "shadow" convention. The shadow convention, running simultaneously with the Republican National Convention, is designed to focus attention on issues the major political parties won't touch, organizers said. Those issues include drug law reform and campaign finance reform. [continues 386 words]
Sports: Officials Hope To Screen For Substance Known As Epo In Sydney. The Move Underscores The Games' Battle Against Doping Only weeks before the Sydney Games, Olympic officials have given preliminary approval for a test that they hope will detect one of the most rampant, and potent, drugs in sports. The International Olympic Committee's medical panel, meeting Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, voted unanimously to recommend a combined blood and urine procedure that checks for erythropoietin, or EPO, a performance-enhancing substance. The recommendation is expected to be adopted later this month, just in time for the Games. Some anti-drug crusaders hope that it is a sign that the Olympic movement--which by most accounts has lagged badly in the war on doping--is finally getting tough on drugs. [continues 857 words]
Toronto---Ontario's highest court ruled yesterday that prohibiting the possession of marijuana is unconstitutional. The Ontario court of appeal held the decision for a year to allow Canada to loosen it's federal marijuana laws, but failing that, laws against the drug's use in the province of Ontario will be struck down, the court said. [end]
LONDON---- Fifteen years ago, long before Barry McCaffery became a general, I was riding the hills south of San Agustin with my teenaged sons when a Colombian army skirmish line swept up over the lip of the plateau. They passed us without a word, and vanished down the other side of the mountain, searching for the FARC guerillas who also operated in the area. Small incident, nobody hurt. But the point is that the war in Colombia is 36 years old. The guerillas have been around far longer than the current government or the drug cartels, and it is neither America's fault nor America's business. [continues 477 words]
Booed for Backing Bush, McCain Gets Squeeze From Huffington As the anti-Bush Unity 2000 demonstration in downtown Philadelphia almost sputtered out on Sunday, John McCain, the much touted opening speaker of Arianna Huffington's Shadow Convention, enthusiastically and unexpectedly endorsed George W. Bush for president and urged the 300-odd conventiongoers to back the GOP as the "party of reform." To a chorus of boos and calls of "Gong! Gong! Gong!" McCain proudly trumpeted Shrub's conservatism, warmly spoke of the United States as the "last best hope on earth," and saluted Theodore Roosevelt. As the calls of "get him out of here" rose, McCain threatened to walk off the podium, but Arianna rushed to the stage and comforted the senator and one-time candidate. "This is a convention where you can hear everything with respect," she declared. [continues 209 words]
She says the New York penal system is sympathetic, but unresponsive. Her husband is in solitary confinement, regularly strip-searched, and now Amalia Richardson is fighting back. "Having left this poor, thin, dejected man in this awful prison in New York state, I just had to do something. I don't care how many cages I have to rattle, I'm going to rattle them," an exhausted Richardson said from her West Vancouver home Sunday. Today, she'll hold a news conference announcing plans to fight a legal and penal system that sympathizes with her husband's plight but is unwilling to help him. [continues 539 words]
