(Re: 'Cameron figures he'd rule as PM for a day' in the Sept. 1 edition of the Examiner) "First, I'd legalize marijuana." This will never, ever, happen. When -- not if, but when -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets his majority government, he will shut down the Medical Marijuana Program at Health Canada the very next day. This will be in open violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but we all know how Harper feels about that pesky Charter. [continues 261 words]
Re: The needle hunter, Aug. 29. If Ottawa had an INSITE safe-injection facility like the one in Vancouver, we would have a lot less of this kind of mess. The RCMP even admitted that they were wrong and that INSITE is actually a benefit to the community -- or they would have, if the ideological federal government hadn't prevented them from doing so. In spite of the evidence of how safe-injection sites reduce crime, costs, death, and the spread of diseases, our police chief and city counsel will work hard to keep INSITE out of our community. Russell Barth, Ottawa Educators for Sensible Drug Policy [end]
With no real crime to go after, RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Keane busies himself and his buddies with the outrageously counterproductive drug-enforcement policy. Just think, if he wasn't out busting small-time dealers, we might have to lay him off. "When you look at it from other priorities, such as youth, traffic, the increase in property crime, it seems to be at the core of everything," said Keane. True enough: drug prohibition is the root cause of just about all crimes. Over beers later on, Keane would probably insist - despite any science to support it - that it is the drugs themselves, and not the precious prohibition that is the problem. Informed people know better, as Keane himself surely does. It leads me to wonder just which side of the law this clown is really on. [continues 75 words]
RE: "Call for prisons clashes with crime stats", Dave Breakenridge, Aug. 9. By now, it should be apparent that what the Harperites are doing is trying to manufacture inmates. They want to impose a U.S.-style, for-profit prison system onto Canada. This policy has been wildly successful in the U.S. - what with more inmates than any country in the history of the world and enormous debts. Meanwhile, a handful of jailers get rich at taxpayers' expense. The really scary part is almost a third of the country is willing to ignore these facts and allow Harper to blow $10 billion on jails, instead of making $10 billion off of legalized pot. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Drug Reform Analyst and Consultant Educators for Sensible Drug Policy Pubdate: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB) [end]
Re: "McCartney honours body of work in Montreal" (Gazette, Aug. 14). I feel bad for Sir Paul Mc-Cartney. His long history of marijuana use has so badly screwed up his life that he still has to work for a living while most of his contemporaries are in retirement homes. Sad. Say no to drugs, kids! You don't want to suffer this poor old codger's fate. Russell Barth, Ottawa [end]
Re: A ghastly reminder of our great moral progress, Aug. 7 Columnist Dan Gardner writes that "In colonial Massachusetts -- a mere 400 years ago -- telling a lie, criticizing the governor, failing to attend church, or courting a girl without her parents' permission were crimes punishable by whipping." In modern day Canada, simple possession of a medicinal flower can get you fined and slapped with a permanent criminal record. Grow the plant, you could go to jail. Either one could ruin any chances you have of travel, or advancing in your employment. Either one could have your kids taken away, cause you to become homeless, and maybe even die if you are not healthy enough to withstand such a punishment. But that is perfectly reasonable, because pot is illegal and we should all obey our government like they do in Afghanistan. [continues 105 words]
RE: It all boils down to oil: Look up "industrial hemp" on Google and you soon find out humans don't even need crude oil. Seriously: All of our energy needs could be met without the use of crude oil, if we simply added hemp to the mix. In the southern U.S., one acre of hemp produces 3,000 gallons of ethanol per year. That means if the U.S. were to sow just 10% of their current farmland as hemp, they would not need to buy any foreign oil. Not Iraq's, not Canada's, not anyone's. The notion we have no choice but to use oil is an epic scam, a boondoggle that has been going on for 100 years, and the evidence is widely available. But you won't even look it up. You think it is a lot of hippie tree-hugger nonsense, so you won't even take 10 minutes to Google something that might change your mind. This is called "willful ignorance", and it is an epidemic in Canada. Russell Barth (Newsflash Russell: Don't believe everything you see on the web.) [end]
RE: "Call for prisons clashes with crime stats", Dave Breakenridge, Aug. 9. By now, it should be apparent that what the Harperites are doing is trying to manufacture inmates. They want to impose a U.S.-style, for-profit prison system onto Canada. This policy has been wildly successful in the U.S. - what with more inmates than any country in the history of the world and enormous debts. Meanwhile, a handful of jailers get rich at taxpayers' expense. The really scary part is almost a third of the country is willing to ignore these facts and allow Harper to blow $10 billion on jails, instead of making $10 billion off of legalized pot. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Drug Reform Analyst and Consultant Educators for Sensible Drug Policy (Privatized prisons likely won't be on the agenda.) [end]
Re: I write in response to the news that charges have been dropped against one suspect in Guelph's medical marijuana club bust. This pogrom against sick people and their caregivers is just the beginning. When, not if, Stephen Harper gets his majority government - - and with low voter turnout and the wide splitting of the vote on the left will that will likely make a Harper majority inevitable - the medical marijuana office at Health Canada will be shut down, the RCMP will be told to round up all soon-to-be-former-licence-holders, and we will all be put into one of the 12 new jails he will build specifically for the purpose of housing pot people. [continues 159 words]
Editor: Re: 'Spinning Wheels' on grow ops, TIMES, July 13 The Conservative government has no interest in legalizing marijuana because prohibition makes crime, and crime necessitates cops. The whole thing is a scam designed to accustom the public to an ongoing and ever-increasing police presence in their daily lives. It has nothing at all to do with public safety, it is all about control. "King said marijuana is so highly used it's hard to regulate." Nonsense. This is cut-and-paste legislation. A twelve-year-old could figure it out. [continues 570 words]
"Wherever we go, we try to reach out to young people. We're going coast to coast and going to the high schools, colleges and universities. That's key." But everywhere Iggy goes, he has managed to alienate everyone under the age of 30 by sticking to the outdated, scientifically-unsound status quo on marijuana legalization. This spineless fop is so afraid of being painted as "soft" on crime, that he is willing to misrepresent history and science in an effort to pander to the dumbest third of Canadian voters. We already know that Harper is a bully and an ideologue - that is what his supporters love about him. But do Canadians really want to replace Harper with this bumbling coward? Russell Barth Nepean, Ont. (Keep trying to spark the debate.) [end]
To the Editor: (Re: "A day in the death of a grow-op", July 15 Advance, page 3) This is how I imagine a pot grower might respond to this article: "Dear police: "Thanks large for cutting down all those pot plants. Tearing out five to 10 per cent of the area's pot crop each year secures our continued funding like no other policy. "Legalizing pot would cripple us, because everyone who wanted to could simply grow some in their yards, and that would put us right out of business. But your ongoing eradication efforts secure future customers coming to us for this oh-so-easy-to-grow medicinal herb. [continues 202 words]
RE: Drug counselling for man who grew pot to deal with pain (The News, July 22). This is sickening and obscene. Forcing a sick person into some Orwellian anti-pot indoctrination program that will likely be filled with lies about how pot causes all manner of health issues is so evil it defies words. You know what? To hell with Nova Scotia. I was thinking of visiting, but after this - yet another story of cultural stupidity and legal madness - I will be telling everyone I know to stay off of that corrupt and uncivilized pit. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Drug Reform Analyst and Consultant Educators for Sensible Drug Policy [end]
Re: Medical marijuana I read with interest the story about the case in the Woodstock area of Todd Leclair standing trial for marijuana possession despite having been issued a prescription for the drug for medical use. Because New Brunswick is still stuck in the 1940s, the authorities will ruin this guy and violate his Charter rights and the law to do it. Of that I have no doubt. Canada's judiciary is systematically, fundamentally and irreparably corrupt. The fact that this judge is even hearing a case like this is proof of that. I will never set foot in that backwards province and will urge everyone I meet to avoid it. Russell Barth Ottawa, Ont. [end]
It is not necessary to make a lot of stink being a medical pot user. My wife and I go through 8 to 10 grams of cannabis every day. We smoke some, but mostly, we use the Volcano Vaporizer. If you were in our 700 square-foot apartment, the only thing you would smell is the faint aroma of raw ground cannabis in our bowl. Russell Barth, Ontario [end]
Re: 'Examine idea of legalization' (Daily News, July 26) There have already been numerous studies about the pros and cons of legalizing pot, and they all come to the same conclusion: prohibition is not only failing, it is, in fact, outrageously counterproductive. We need look no further than the 2002 Senate Committee Report (which has been summarily ignored) for proof. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Nepean, Ont. [end]
RE : "HIV only winner in useless drug war," July 27. Perhaps it's our politicians -- not our drug addicts -- who should be in jail, writes Mindelle Jacobs. Prohibition is the perfect litmus test for any politician: if you cannot fathom the Grade-three level math required to understand that prohibition is counterproductive, then you should not be allowed to vote, let alone hold office. But -- worse than stupid -- prohibitionists are like religious fanatics. They will ignore any and all data that doesn't fit their belief, and accuse anyone who doesn't agree with them of "wanting to legalize murder and rape, too". Seriously. Ontario Provincial Police Chief Julian Fantino actually said that once. Russell Barth, Ottawa (Public opinion on this seems thoroughly behind Mindy.) [end]
Dear Editor: Re: Young, chronic pot smokers more at risk, Burnaby NOW, July 14. Why are we trying to prevent marijuana use? Even when smoked, the benefits far outweigh any dangers. Pot reduces stress, it lowers blood pressure, relieves anxiety, is an anti-inflammatory, and recent science out of Saskatchewan shows how pot actually stimulates tissue growth in certain sections in the brain. Other science shows how pot shrinks tumors and prevents cancer. Look it up. All this hokum about mental illness has been exaggerated and repeatedly debunked. Face it - marijuana isn't illegal because it is "dangerous," it is illegal because it presents stiff market competition to dozens of less effective medicines. The public is being bamboozled on an epic scale. Russell Barth, drug reform analyst, Educators for Sensible Drug Policy [end]
Dear Editor, Please send this to Jeff Waddell: http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0630/g20-cops-threatened-women-rape/ and tell him to stick up for the police to these women and children's faces [Police critique utter garbage, July 9 Letters, Langley Advance]. When all the evidence about the G20 abuses finally comes out, Canadians will learn something about their police forces that marijuana people have known for years: that they simply cannot be trusted. Russell Barth, Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User [end]
Re: Tolerance of viewpoints goes both ways (June 20 Herald) If a child insists on the existence of the Easter Bunny, we let it go. But when an adult insists that Santa is real, we medicate them for mental illness. This illustrates the point that only informed and sane "opinions" are worthy of adult consideration. For example, Geoffrey Capp says: "There is documented medical evidence that marijuana is harmful, particularly to the brain and body of developing children and adolescents." No there isn't. This has been soundly and repeatedly debunked by more recent science, and recent science shows how cannabis stimulates tissue production in certain parts of the brain. That is fact, not opinion. [continues 218 words]
