Decriminalizing marijuana may rid the city of a few illegal pot growing operations but Mayor John Ruttan doesn't believe it will reduce gang activity. Four former Vancouver mayors endorsed a coalition that wants to end pot prohibition which they blame for rampant gang violence. Larry Campbell, Mike Harcourt, Sam Sullivan and Philip Owen all signed an open letter to B.C. politicians Wednesday that claims a change in the law will reduce gang violence. The former mayors support the position of the Stop the Violence B.C. Coalition, which recently released a survey showing most B.C. residents favour an end to the current marijuana laws. The letter says "marijuana prohibition is - without question - a failed policy," and creates "violent, gang-related crime" that feeds public fear and drives up policing costs. [continues 156 words]
Re: Ex-mayors call for end to pot prohibition, Nov. 24 The way to stop the majority of violence which is associated with prohibition is to end prohibition. Murder rates declined for 10 years after ending the original prohibition with alcohol and there's reason to believe ending the sequel will have the same results. That includes the plant cannabis (marijuana) but may or may not include hard drugs. As long as the relatively safe plant cannabis is prohibited, citizen have contempt for drug laws; not all substances may need to be completely legalized to drastically reduce violence. Statistics show a fast growing majority of Canadians and Americans support completely relegalizing the plant cannabis. Ending cannabis prohibition is one of the most important issues of our time. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
On television or in the movies, the climax usually comes when a judge or jury pronounces an accused criminal guilty or innocent. As a reporter, though, one quickly learns that most of the drama comes during the sentencing hearing, after that supposed climax. There's a couple reasons for this. First, of course, is the fact that in the vast majority of cases, the accused pleads guilty to a selection of charges. When cases do go to trial, there is usually little dispute of the core facts, e.g. whether A stabbed B. Instead, cases usually revolve around matters of intent, constitutional rights, and what can be proven and what is just inferred. [continues 419 words]
Thanks to Winston Smith for his letter and his views. Please accept my humble opinion about the matter of legalizing pot. Although we had suspicions about a certain house in our neighbourhood, almost all of the residents in our vicinity were surprised when large steel garbage bins showed up on the gravel driveway of an older house. For all those folks who have written to The Daily News and expressed their desire to legalize pot, please help me to come to terms with some of the problems associated with grow ops and specifically, how legalizing pot would address these issues. [continues 255 words]
In the six weeks leading up to his death Istvan Marton ate nothing and thought a lot. The 69-year-old was on a hunger strike, appealing to the Canadian government to legalize marijuana, said his sister Juliana Bazso. Bazso disapproved of her younger brother's lifestyle - she says he was the local supplier of weed to the small Malcolm Island community of Sointula off the coast of B.C. - but went to visit Marton as he became progressively more sick. [continues 456 words]
Four Vancouver ex-mayors currently advocate the end of laws which create networks of criminal organizations that use violence and intimidation to conduct their trade. Nearly 70% of BC residents believe that our current crime control policies are ineffective. The message is clear: it's time to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Marijuana has never been a serious health concern, nor has law enforcement had any lasting impact on its availability. Recent Canadian research shows the criminalization of marijuana creates and sustains violence between criminal organizations. [continues 217 words]
Re: Ex-mayors call for end to pot prohibition, Nov. 24 While it's hopeful that four former mayors have made crystal clear the urgency and necessity of ending prohibition to restore justice, the safety of our streets, and our individual freedom to choose, it remains disturbing that virtually no politician currently in elected office at any level advocates this. It is a political irony that these former mayors, former presidents of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, former governors, hundreds of other previously elected and now former officials throughout the world, along with hundreds of former police officers, all declare the war on drugs a counterproductive failure, a gift to organized crime and a threat to the stability of several nations, but none of them acted on this while in the political authority of their elected or appointed office. [continues 89 words]
Re: Ex-mayors call for end to pot prohibition, Nov. 24 Young British Columbians should beware the advice of the ex-mayors of Vancouver. As a neuroscientist, I have never been able to understand why anybody would be so foolish as to monkey with the biochemistry of their most precious organ, their brain. Our laboratory first reported on the damage done to the brain by marijuana in 1972. I later had the opportunity to testify before a U.S. Congressional Committee on our findings. [continues 118 words]
Re: Ex-mayors call for end to pot prohibition, Nov. 24 Richard Nixon declared a "war" on drugs in 1970. Since then we have spent over a trillion dollars arresting, trying, and incarcerating North Americans. The result? Drugs are now cheaper and more plentiful than ever. And our civil liberties are more vulnerable than ever. Little has changed over the last 40 years. Police chiefs across the country, come equipped with an array of statistics and PowerPoint presentations in the attempt to increase their budgets, but instead demonstrate their wasted effort and wasted money of the four decade-long drug war: In 1970, four million North Americans (U.S. and Canada) had used drugs; today it's 114 million. [continues 128 words]
Re: Ex-mayors call for end to pot prohibition, Nov. 24 So the ex-mayors of Vancouver want to legalize marijuana? What have they been smoking? Perhaps they could answer the following questions, in the context of driving of automobiles: 1. Does marijuana cause impairment? 2. Is there, at this point, a defined level of impairment (like the alcohol 0.05 measurement)? 3. Is there a quick and reliable testing procedure to determine the level of impairment? 4. Would someone who has been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, and below the impairment level for either, be impaired by the combination of both? [continues 85 words]
Local medical marijuana users staged a "smoke-in" in Kamloops Saturday to mark the death of a B.C. marijuana activist who died following a hunger strike. Carl Anderson said about 50 people gathered at Spirit Square at 4:20 p.m. to pay tribute to Istvan Marton, 69, who died Nov. 20 after suffering a heart attack following a month-long hunger strike. Marton was fighting for changes to Canada's medical marijuana laws. His hunger strike divided his home village on Malcolm Island, off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, where he was also known as Steve, the local fair-deal marijuana seller. [continues 226 words]
It's Monday morning and I'm a bit confused. It has become the norm to shun and ostracize people who smoke. They are to be sneered at, vilified and generally held in contempt. Meanwhile, we are supposed to respond to heroin, cocaine and other addicts with support and compassion. So let me get this straight. Cigarette smokers are supposed to go and huddle and shiver in the rain if they need their nicotine. But apparently we now have a Supreme Court ordered duty to supply intravenous drug users with government funded, climate controlled injection facilities? [continues 455 words]
DARE Program Teaching Local Students Consequences of Substance Abuse It's a subject that some parents don't like to broach with their children, but the Ladysmith RCMP is taking a proactive approach to educating kids about drugs and alcohol. Students in Grade 5 are currently participating in the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, a 10-week curriculum that will teach them facts about marijuana, alcohol and inhalants. They'll learn about self esteem, the value of friendships, and making good choices by using the Define, Assess, Respond, Evaluate decision making model. [continues 377 words]
To the Editor, Re: Citizens rally over federal crime stance, Nov. 26, and Federal crime bill a step backward, Letters, Nov. 26. I believe Barbara Kohlman's comment "the public is not as knowledgeable on the crime bill as it should be" , including those doing the rallying. I haven't seen anything in the media that supports scare-mongering ideas like "sending teens to jail for shoplifting" or "jailing the mentally ill, addicted or poverty stricken" . Is this speculation or did I miss a government announcement? [continues 178 words]
To open I would like to state that I am not now, nor ever have been, a user of marijuana. While I support its legalization I hope I never feel the need to use it. I would hope that my son does not choose to use it for non-medical purposes. I would hope, however, that if anyone in my family felt it was medically beneficial to use marijuana that there is a safe and legal way to do so. John Noakes outlines the reasons why indoor marijuana growing is not desired. I agree with him that growing marijuana indoors is not desirable. I would add that large-scale indoor grow operation of any plant is not desirable, with the obvious exception of greenhouse growing. [continues 297 words]
Marijuana: Prohibition Of Drug, The Group Writes, Leads To Illegal Trade And Violence Four former Vancouver mayors "" Larry Campbell, Michael Harcourt, Sam Sullivan and Philip Owen "" released a letter on Wednesday, urging the province's politicians to legalize and regulate marijuana use in B.C. Prohibition only leads to illegal trade and gang violence, the former mayors said. "oeMarijuana prohibition is "" without question "" a failed policy," the letter states. "oeIt is creating violent, gang-related crime in our communities and fear among our citizens, and adding financial costs for all levels of government at a time when we can least afford them. Politicians cannot ignore the status quo any longer, and must develop and deliver alternative marijuana policies that avoid the social and criminal harms that stem directly from cannabis prohibition." [continues 149 words]
Could it be that Canadian politicians are finally going to have an intelligent conversation about whether marijuana should be legalized? Wednesday's call by four former Vancouver mayors for an end to cannabis prohibition suggests that the country is finally going to have that long-awaited and desperately needed public policy debate. As Sam Sullivan, Mike Harcourt, Larry Campbell and Philip Owen "" politicians from the left, right and centre "" say in their call for Canadian politicians to speak out against prohibitions, the criminalization of the pot trade is a "oefailed policy" that is "oecreating violent, gang-related crime in our communities and fear among our citizens, and adding financial costs for all levels of government at a time when we can least afford them." [continues 63 words]
VANCOUVER - Four former Vancouver mayors have endorsed a coalition calling for an end to pot prohibition in Canada that they blame for rampant gang violence. Larry Campbell, Mike Harcourt, Sam Sullivan and Philip Owen all signed an open letter to politicians in B.C. Wednesday that says a change in the law will reduce gang violence. The former mayors support the position of the Stop the Violence B.C. coalition, which recently released a survey showing most B.C. residents favour an end to the current marijuana laws. [continues 154 words]
A federal judge has ruled that a Vancouver man was blowing smoke when he claimed that he should be allowed to smoke up to seven grams of marijuana - about 35 joints - every day for religious purposes. Christopher Bennett is a member of the Church of the Universe, which believes cannabis is the "tree of life." He tried to argue that Canada's drug laws infringed upon his religious rights. But in a detailed 21-page ruling, Judge Michel Shore said Bennett failed to show that his marijuana consumption "has any nexus with religion." [continues 534 words]
Four former Vancouver mayors of varying political stripes have endorsed a coalition calling for an end to pot prohibition in Canada, which they blame for rampant gang violence. Larry Campbell, Mike Harcourt, Sam Sullivan and Philip Owen all signed an open letter to politicians in B. C. on Wednesday claiming a change in the law will reduce gang slayings on public streets. The former mayors support the position of the Stop the Violence B. C. coalition, which recently released a survey showing most B. C. residents favoured an end to the current marijuana laws. [continues 598 words]
Inside British Columbia
