The recent announcement of the smoking ban and the growing prominence of the Breathe Easy Campaign has fractured the McMaster community Some seem adamantly opposed to the legalization of weed and its association with an academic community, others feel that we should take a more open-minded perspective. The most interesting feedback were the students who conveyed a stance against excluding weed from the McMaster smoking ban. Given that Canada has made room for marijuana by legalizing it federally in Canada, making room for the substance on campus should also be considered. [continues 635 words]
The stigma needs to be addressed and I'm here to address it In light of a protest promoting medical marijuana on campus, we should reconsider our attitudes and understanding towards weed. The Breathe Easy campaign, on a provincial and national spectrum, seems to have a positive impression on certain audiences. However, on others such as myself, the campaign is not a positive one. Marijuana has long held a stigma comparable to smoking cigarettes but far more dramatic. But Christopher Lawson, the local activist who was responsible for the 4:20 protest on Oct. 6, was onto something. [continues 500 words]
Marijuana Legalization Should Prompt a Discussion on How to Monitor Impaired Drivers I remember heading to a sports tournament with friends a few years ago and having our taxi driver educate us on what drunk driving looked like. He pointed out one car in particular, just a few metres ahead of us. It was weaving in and out of its lane in an unpredictable pattern, travelling at relatively high speeds and the driver never signalled when switching lanes. I was shocked that the driver was drunk or severely impaired, but I was sure that he or she would be pulled over as soon as a cop caught sight of the sign of reckless driving. What would follow would be a brief interrogation and a breathalyser test. If the blood alcohol content was found to be greater than 0.08 mg/ml, then it would be goodbye to the offender's driver's license. [continues 501 words]
A member of the Conservative party in British Columbia has proposed a bill that will help prevent drug-impaired driving on Canadian roads. The bill enables police to test drivers for drugs which could have been smoked, ingested or injected. Police officers have been attempting to attain this ability for some time now, however, the scientific tests required to do so have not been available in Canada for roadside use. The only test currently available in Canada which checks for drugs, in a person's body is a blood test. [continues 620 words]
Of course I couldn't come to Amsterdam and not talk about their liberalized marijuana policy. Not only is this a topic that is near and dear to my heart, but it is also something that Canada is headed toward, and it's important for people like me to deliver firsthand, unbiased opinions of what it actually means to live with pot. Now prior to coming to Amsterdam I had heard many rumours about the marijuana policy, but was unsure about how it actually worked. [continues 836 words]
With a growing number of students on campus below the legal drinking age, a recent study carried out by Queen's University and Health Canada raised concerns that many teens are turning to alternative methods of intoxication. The study confirmed that marijuana has become the drug of choice for Canadian teens, which the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada claims is promoted by the government's confusing stance on legalizing the drug. While the federal government has waffled back and forth on the issue, there has been no flexibility or change in the approach of Mac Security Services to the drug. [continues 659 words]
Weed was in the air this week as leader of the British Columbia Marijuana party, Marc Emery, visited McMaster and sang the praises of smoking pot. Emery, marijuana advocate and supporter of the New Democratic Party, spoke to interested students and members of the public about the benefits of smoking marijuana, and the difficulties pot smokers have with the authorities. Emery presented to a number of self-declared "stoned" audience members, and began the afternoon with free pizza and pop and the reading of a rhyming poem praising marijuana and promoting its legalization. [continues 705 words]
A new campaign was launched earlier this week to encourage Mac students to have 'the time of their lives' at university -- without using drugs. The Time of Your Life, A Natural High kicked off Tuesday, Oct. 14, providing students with information on substance abuse as well as alternate forms of recreational activity. A combined effort between McMaster's Campus Health Centre, the Centre for Student Development and McMaster Security Services, the program aims at conveying an anti-drug message to students and, in turn, reducing the number of fines issued for drug use and possession on campus. [continues 532 words]
Although the Ontario government has been dismissing a large number of drug possession cases for some time, students caught using marijuana at McMaster are being fined $130. According to Tim Meehan, Communications Director for Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis, the fact that the provincial court has been virtually ignoring the issue of drug possession, even though it is listed in the Criminal Code of Canada, implies pot use is no longer illegal in Ontario. For Meehan, this means that, "cannabis is no more illegal in Ontario than possessing Cheerios or Pepsi." [continues 891 words]
