Re: Welcome to 'legalized dope-pushing' (SP, July 24). With respect, I must disagree with Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), regarding medical marijuana. His comments in the cited article are misinformed and misleading. After I recently reviewed the medical literature on cannabis for a presentation to my colleagues, I can attest that there are, in fact, hundreds of studies that show the benefits of cannabis in treating conditions as varied as cancer and the effects of chemotherapy, chronic pain, HIV, multiple sclerosis, intractable epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, and many others. [continues 484 words]
The political debate over marijuana legalization in Canada could soon intensify following a New York Times editorial that calls for the U.S. federal government to repeal its 44-year ban on pot. The influential newspaper, which says the question of legalization should be left up to individual U.S. states, is running a six-day series on the issue and has reignited a hot debate among Americans. It concluded the ban has inflicted "great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol." [continues 291 words]
OTTAWA - Licensed medical marijuana companies are sending representatives to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, leaving them caught between at least some patients looking to score drugs and the vendors looking to peddle them. "I'm actually quite frightened," he said. [continues 699 words]
Veterans Affairs Canada is considering capping its medical marijuana program, limiting how many grams of pot former military personnel can receive, and how much the government will pay. Veterans Affairs wants to ensure costs for the burgeoning program don't spiral out of control. The cap, proposed last month, is also aimed at addressing medical concerns over the efficacy and safety of using marijuana for medicinal reasons. Federally, Veterans Affairs Canada is the only publicly funded payer for medical marijuana. Veterans who have a doctor's note for marijuana can receive regular benefits from the government to cover all, or most, of the costs. [continues 184 words]
Police in Ontario search a car and discover almost $30,000 cash and items suggestive of marijuana production. There isn't enough evidence to charge the driver under federal criminal laws, but authorities seize the cash under provincial civil forfeiture laws. In Edmonton, a man and woman get into a fight at a nightclub. Police do not file assault charges. Instead, they slap a $500 fine against one of them under a municipal bylaw that prohibits public fighting. In Canada, the authority to create criminal laws is supposed to be the exclusive domain of the federal government. Yet there has been a worrisome and "growing trend" of provinces and municipalities enacting "criminal law through the back door," says a newly published article in the journal Canadian Public Administration. [continues 468 words]
Canada's health regulator is proposing new rules to prevent abuse of the medical marijuana system by patients and doctors. Health Canada is proposing that licensed commercial medical marijuana suppliers be required to periodically hand over to provincial authorities records showing the names of doctors who have authorized marijuana use, as well as basic information about their patients, including the quantities prescribed to them and period of use. These measures, officials say, will help to monitor for and prevent doctors from prescribing "high dosages" and patients from going to more than one doctor to get prescriptions ("double doctoring") or going to more than one producer. [continues 138 words]
Hard Evidence Sought An upcoming clinical trial from Saskatoon's CanniMed Ltd. will test the safety and efficacy of using medical marijuana to manage arthritic pain, the first study of its kind. Health Canada recently approved an application from Prairie Plant Systems, CanniMed's parent company, to test the use of cannabis in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. With scant medical evidence to back up anecdotal evidence, doctors are looking for reliable proof cannabis can help pain management, said company president and CEO Brent Zettl. [continues 485 words]
WASHINGTON - A pair of newly released reports show two countries moving in opposite directions on law and order: Canada gearing up for stricter sentencing laws just as the tough-on-crime era winds down in the United States. Canada's auditor general issued a warning last week about increasingly overcrowded prisons in an era of stiffer jail terms. Meanwhile, in the U.S., these are tough times to be tough on crime. The prison population actually receded in the U.S. in recent years, a new study shows - a dramatic shift from a decades-long trend that made the United States the undisputed world leader in incarceration with more than two million prisoners, or one-quarter of the entire international total. [continues 743 words]
Given Saskatchewan's dubious distinction of being a national leader with a rate of impaired driving fatalities that's more than three times the Canadian average, the Traffic Safety Act changes in June that will adopt zero tolerance for drug or alcohol use by novices behind the wheel is laudable. Although further provisions that will subject all drug-impaired drivers to the same sanctions as alcohol-impaired drivers - such as roadside licence suspensions and vehicle impoundment - also are in keeping with the spirit of protecting the public as well as the drivers themselves from the consequences of their actions, SGI could be creating a lot of business for lawyers on cases that end up being tossed out of court. [continues 411 words]
Province toughens consequences for high drivers despite uphill battle to convict A heavy hammer will come down on new drivers who use any amount of alcohol or drugs after changes to the Traffic Safety Act take effect June 27. Vehicles will be impounded immediately for three days and driving suspensions will double to 60 days for drivers charged with driving over the legal limit, refusing to give a breath sample or driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Drivers under the age of 19 or in the graduated licensing programs for vehicles or motorcycles will also be required to take driving without impairment courses within four months of being charged, even if they are not found guilty in court. [continues 679 words]
Explosive hash oil extraction operations that cater to electronic cigarette users wanting to get high are not yet a concern in Saskatchewan, law enforcement officials say. Provincial RCMP shared its view on the problem shortly after the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team warned citizens about the dangers of volatile hash oil production operations, which are believed to be increasing in number as the popularity of electronic cigarettes surges. Hash oil - which can be produced by soaking marijuana leaves, stems and buds in liquid butane or isopropyl alcohol and then boiling away the liquid to leave a potent resin - can be easily and inconspicuously "vaped" through the vapour-cigarettes. The process of extracting the resin is highly volatile and has been blamed for a handful of fatal fires in the United States and Alberta. [continues 432 words]
PENTICTON, B.C. - When a retired police officer from Summerland, B.C., left his job after 25 years, he hardly imagined fighting for his little granddaughter to be given marijuana. Chris Nuessler, along with his wife, Elaine, wants Canada to allow two-year-old Kyla Williams to be given a form of medical marijuana known to prevent seizures resulting from epilepsy. The girl's parents, Jared and Courtney Williams, along with the Nuesslers, have been researching medical pot use and speaking with experts to build what they're calling "Kyla's medical team." [continues 549 words]
OTTAWA - They might have a temporary reprieve, but pain-stricken Canadians who grow their own medical marijuana say they could soon face a difficult choice: go without the weed they need or break the law to get it. A Federal Court judge recently granted an injunction that allows thousands of patients to continue cultivating their own marijuana at home, or designate someone to grow it for them - at least until their legal challenge of planned new rules can be argued more fully. [continues 683 words]
A Corporation. a Family Farm. Two Views on the Coming Boom in Medical Marijuana Come harvest time at Saskatoon's CanniMed Ltd., six employees wearing masks and gloves crowd around a short conveyor belt handpicking stems from mounds of dried marijuana as the product is pushed into a large, clear plastic bag. It's not a common site anywhere in Canada, and to see it is a revelation of industrial marijuana production. It's also one of 281 points of quality control CanniMed's parent company, Prairie Plant Systems (PPS), developed in its 13 years of supplying Health Canada with medical marijuana. [continues 1695 words]
Unlike politicians who are riding high in the polls, I have never used pot, or any other illegal drug for that matter. That puts me out of touch with voters both north and south of the border, which more or less is the story of my life. I am in good shape locally, as Saskatoon has the highest percentage of arrests for pot possession in the country. In Halifax you have an 82 per cent chance of being let off by the police if you are caught with a small amount of marijuana, while in Saskatoon you have an 82 per cent chance of being charged. You are 35 per cent more likely to be charged if you are in possession of some pot in Saskatoon than anywhere else in Canada. [continues 664 words]
In City police lay most pot charges (SP, Jan. 18) Dana Larsen, director for a group campaigning to decriminalize cannabis in B.C., denigrated Saskatoon police for charging 82 per cent of people they encountered in possession of marijuana compared to police in cities such as Halifax who only charged 18 per cent. The story had a negative connotation toward Saskatoon police when in reality the people of Saskatoon can be very proud of the officers they have hired to enforce the laws. Those of us whose brain cells are not yet fried understand that Canadians make the laws and we hire and train police officers to enforce those laws until we decide to change them. [continues 112 words]
Far Above National Average Pot activists say new data shows Saskatoon police have a chronic urge to charge people for lighting up. "Saskatoon is known as being one of the prohibitionist places in Canada," said Dana Larsen, the director of Sensible B.C., which is campaigning to decriminalize cannabis in that province. Saskatoon police are more likely to charge someone caught with small amounts of marijuana than authorities in any other big city. Incident reports obtained from Statistics Canada for 2012 show that police in Saskatoon laid marijuana possession charges in more than 82 per cent of incidents involving possession of less than 30 grams. [continues 495 words]
VANCOUVER - As it turns out, Nov. 6, 2012, was a big day for marijuana laws. Voters in Colorado and Washington state approved initiatives to legalize pot, setting the stage for the regulated production and sale of the drug. Several other jurisdictions in the U.S. have since followed suit. In Canada, the same day two American states were effectively abandoning part of the war on drugs, provisions of a new federal law came into effect that imposed strict mandatory minimums for drug-related crimes, including marijuana production. [continues 286 words]
Although it is an idea that has percolated for decades and has grown in acceptance even in the traditionally conservative United States of late, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau appears to have kicked over a can of worms with his apparently off-the-cuff call for legalizing marijuana. Mr. Trudeau's declaration to a crowd in Kelowna last month that his thinking has evolved from one of supporting decriminalization to legalization, regulation and taxation of the drug may have been a cynical attempt to tap into potential young voters who almost overwhelmingly support more liberal drug laws. But his position is neither radical nor unique - it reflects a growing global movement to shift from the decade-old, failed war on drugs to more pragmatic and less harmful strategies. [continues 402 words]
By promising to legalize marijuana, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau seeks to capture the all-important stoner vote. Stoners will want to think twice, however, before they power down the Xbox, haul themselves off the couch, brush the Oreo crumbs off their chests and rush out to vote for Trudeau's Liberals. Trudeau says marijuana should be legalized so it can be regulated and taxed by government. The result almost certainly will be higher prices, lower quality and reduced availability. The opposite of what stoners want, in other words. [continues 586 words]
In the heart of Alberta's oilpatch, at remote work camps across the province, one of the worst kept secrets is a general problem exists with the use of alcohol and drugs between or even during shifts. It's an issue that oil and gas companies have been trying for years to get a handle on to ensure the safe operations of their facilities and the safety of their workers. The issue of random alcohol and drug testing has come into the spotlight in recent months with two high-profile cases and it's a subject that has many employers wondering if their policies are legal, effective and will reduce accidents. [continues 422 words]
Health Canada Reacting OTTAWA - The RCMP says organized criminal networks are taking advantage of Canada's medical marijuana program to produce the drug and supply it to the illicit market. A newly released intelligence report by the national police force warns that criminals are using family members and associates with clean police records to get around program safeguards. "Gaining access to or control of a medical marijuana grow operation is highly desirable for criminal networks due to the array of opportunities it would present for the illicit production and diversion of high-grade medical marijuana," says the report, which was completed in May 2012. [continues 471 words]
VANCOUVER - Harm reduction - not a war on drugs - has reduced illicit drug use and improved public safety in what was once ground zero for an HIV and overdose epidemic that cost many lives, says a 15-year study of drug use in Vancouver's impoverished Downtown Eastside. The report by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/ AIDS found that from 1996 to 2011, fewer people were using drugs and, of those who were, fewer were injecting drugs, said Dr. Thomas Kerr, co-author of the report and co-director of the centre's Urban Health Research Initiative. [continues 361 words]
It's difficult to imagine a more cynical and dangerous response to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that Ottawa has a constitutional duty to protect Canadians than the Harper government's Respect for Communities Act announced Thursday. As Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq was holding a press conference to announce details of the act that sets conditions for new safe injection sites, the Conservative party was emailing its faithful to organize opposition to such facilities. The legislation ostensibly is in response to the ruling that said persistent federal efforts to close Insite, Canada's only supervised [continues 430 words]
Some Backlash REGINA - Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says safe injection sites aren't part of the government's HIV strategy, and therefore tough new federal rules about such sites won't affect the province. "We're very happy with how our strategy is proceeding," said Dr. Saqib Shahab, noting prevention, testing, treatment, harm reduction and integration with other services are part of the province's approach. Safe injection sites such as Vancouver's Insite are not on the list. [continues 529 words]
De Marcus Sanders lives in the small city of Waterloo, smack in the middle of Iowa farm country. Several years ago, he was driving his car through town playing his music a little too loud, so a police officer pulled him over. "My music was up," he later told a researcher with the American Civil Liberties Union. "So I didn't argue with him." The officer said he smelled marijuana and searched Sanders' car. When he found one marijuana seed on the floor, he arrested him. Sanders pleaded guilty to possession and got 30 days in jail. [continues 786 words]
Fascinated though I am by the scandals unfolding in Ottawa, the more compelling Canadian train wreck is in Toronto, where the city's cartoonish mayor now stands accused of smoking crack cocaine. At least three reputable reporters claim to have seen Rob Ford's monumental indiscretion on a smartphone video being shopped around by Somali drug dealers. You normally have to go to California or Florida to find this level of civic craziness. It's un-Canadian, and all the more jarring in a city that regards itself as the beating heart of Canada. [continues 664 words]
Faced with a future in which doctors have the power to both prescribe and sell medicinal marijuana, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan is contemplating what restrictions, if any, it should place on the province's physicians. Bryan Salte, the college's lawyer and associate registrar, told the regulatory body's governing council Friday that it needs a plan in light of Health Canada's proposal to step away from deciding who has access to medicinal marijuana. The Canadian Medical Association and the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada have spoken against the move, saying it's unfair to ask doctors to decide who should get a substance that's not well-researched or understood. [continues 466 words]
Regina Man Faces Weapons, Drug Charges If convicted of drug offences, Health Canada says a Regina man could have his medical marijuana privileges revoked for up to 10 years. On Friday, Dale Patrick Baumet, owner of Regina's Vintage Vinyl and Hemp Emporium, was arrested and charged with several weapons offences as well as offences involving the production and possession of marijuana, hashish, hashish oil, magic mushrooms and LSD for the purpose of trafficking. Police also seized $53,000 in Canadian and Chinese currency. [continues 535 words]
OTTAWA - Canada's conservative movement was warned Friday that America's war on drugs - now being emulated by the Harper government with tough mandatory jail terms - has been an expensive disaster that has stripped millions of people of their civil liberties. The message came from Ron Paul, a former U.S. congressman and failed contender for the Republic presidential nomination last year. Paul delivered the opening address to hundreds of conservatives gathered at an annual conference sponsored by the Manning Centre for Building Democracy. [continues 436 words]
Today, we're going to play You Be the Judge. You are only competing against The Honourable Martel Popescul, chief justice of Saskatchewan's Court of Queen's Bench, who presided over the trial. The following details are from his written judgment, issued last week: The case begins in the fall of 2010 with a young woman driving alone in her sister's 2002 Acura from Calgary to Winnipeg. Near Swift Current on Highway 1, she is seen by a patrolling RCMP officer to be using a handheld cellphone. She stops promptly when the red and blue lights come on behind her. [continues 592 words]
The RCMP is becoming increasingly concerned about potential liability from longterm storage of hazardous materials seized from drug labs. Mounties are especially concerned about the potential for leaks, explosions or unforeseen chemical reactions from the extended storage of certain precursor chemicals - the ingredients used to make synthetic drugs. Their concerns are contained in a report commissioned by Health Canada to examine the costs of managing controlled substances, production equipment and other related items seized by police. Growing domestic production of drugs has led to increased seizures, which have "created pressures on the management and disposal" of controlled substances and related items, said the December 2011 report, obtained by Postmedia News under access-to-information laws. [continues 519 words]
Liberal leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay, supports full legalization of marijuana. Prohibition has never worked and marijuana should be regulated and taxed, the Toronto lawyer and businesswoman, who emerged as one of three front-runners after this month's candidates' debate, told members of The Star-Phoenix editorial board Monday. The former Ontario MP also advocates private delivery health care in a publicly funded system, elimination of supply management for dairy, poultry and egg producers and repealing the Indian Act. "When we talk about evidence-based (policy), let's walk the walk and show Canadians that we have the guts to say, if that's what the evidence is, that's what we should do," she said. [continues 438 words]
The question of whether an iPod Touch is a mobile communication device could turn out to be an expensive one for an alleged Saskatoon drug dealer. Christopher Chu, 32, was out on $25,000 bail on a cocaine trafficking charge on April 17, 2012, when police saw him using an iPod to listen to music while he worked out at a Saskatoon gym. They arrested him for breaching a condition of his bail that he "not possess or use any cellphone, pager, Blackberry or any other mobile communication device" - a condition that is standard on release conditions for people facing drug trafficking charges. [continues 385 words]
The recent issue of Paediatrics and Child Health contains two articles on health and risky behaviours of children who live on reserves in Saskatchewan. The first reviews the prevalence of suicide ideation and its causes. The second article determines the extent of alcohol abuse and drug use and its causes. The research project had the children completing a number of validated surveys. These were: the National Longitudinal Survey for Children and Youth; the Centre of Epidemiological Studies depression scale; the Reasons for Depression questionnaire; the Parenting Relationship scale; the Health Behaviour in School Aged Children survey; the Marsh Self Description questionnaire for self-esteem; the Safe School Study to review the impact of bullying; the Youth Smoking Survey, and so on. [continues 641 words]
SASKATOON - A grieving Saskatoon mother wants the community to join her in demanding the government help parents protect their teenage children from lethal drug addictions. Chantaey Katchmar was 16 when she died from an overdose last July. Her mother, Carla Fenton Katchmar, wonders why the law gives teens the right to refuse treatment that could save their lives when their adolescent brains haven't finished developing and they're incapacitated by a physical disease that's overtaken their rational decision making. [continues 334 words]
The debate on needle exchanges returned during last week's city council meeting, with a lot of the opposition focused on the needle exchange at AIDS Saskatoon on 33rd Street. I have lived a couple of blocks from AIDS Saskatoon for the past 14 years and have seen the deterioration of the neighbourhood. People who lived in the area have decided to build in the suburbs and sold their homes to investors looking to rent. People who called the place home were replaced by people who drove through the neighbourhood periodically. [continues 726 words]
Re: Welcome report (Dec 7). We can all agree with Tanis Kershaw that decreasing HIV is an important endeavour. In fact, it is so important that we should put a needle exchange on her street corner so that she can see firsthand how well this program is working. Having drug users in front of homes and businesses is intimidating. Taxpayers deserve better treatment. Margaret Fehr Martensville [end]
Old Dopers Seem to Be Returning to the Pot Habits of Their Youth Paula has quit. At 68, the manager of a health-food store has put away the rolling paper, stopped buying her beloved hashish and is going straight. "I'm trying to find more peace," she says. Her adult children, now with children of their own, used to smoke pot but have stopped, as has her husband, also a former hard-core indulger. But Barry, a 65-year-old Ottawa radiologist, has no intention of giving up his one or two or maybe three-joints-a-day habit. Semi-retired, five minutes after looking at the last X-ray, Barry is in his car and firing up the marijuana joint he keeps in the ashtray for the ride home. [continues 1109 words]
The City of Saskatoon will soon "clarify" the definition of medical clinics to include needle exchanges, with a report saying Saskatoon's harm reduction efforts are working to reduce the spread of HIV. The report - tabled Monday with city council's executive committee - is a response to a vocal group of residents and business owners in Caswell Hill and Mayfair who spoke out against the 601 Outreach Centre needle exchange operated by AIDS Saskatoon earlier this year. The AIDS Saskatoon needle exchange has operated for 3 1/2 years out of a nondescript building at 33rd Street and Avenue F. A number of nearby business owners say the needle exchange has residents and business owners fighting perceptions the area is unsafe. [continues 437 words]
VANCOUVER (The Canadian Press) - A B.C. marijuana activist has withdrawn his petition to decriminalize pot, saying he will spend the next 10 months gathering volunteers and support before submitting it again. Elections BC approved a petition in September by Dana Larsen, who wants to use B.C.'s unique citizen's initiative legislation to force a debate on the issue or even a referendum. The petition calls for changes to the Police Act to prohibit the use of provincial police resources to enforce simple possession-and-use laws for adults. [continues 134 words]
New measures given to police a few years ago to go after drug impaired drivers have turned out to be "cumbersome, time-consuming, expensive" and vulnerable to court challenges, according to a new report by the advocacy group MADD Canada. The report obtained by Postmedia News also says even though hundreds of police officers across the country have been trained in techniques for evaluating drivers suspected of drug impairment, the law remains "grossly underenforced." A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Thursday the government looks forward to reviewing the report and monitoring developments in this area. [continues 437 words]
OTTAWA - Due to a lack of resources, Canadian border agents have been told to stop looking for illegal drugs leaving the country and instead focus on stopping the export of illicit nuclear material and stolen cars. The directive, contained in an internal memo to Canada Border Services Agency managers that was obtained by Postmedia News, is unlikely to make officials in the United States and other countries very happy. But analysts say that in an age of finite resources, the agency has decided it makes more sense to target areas where it thinks it can make a difference. [continues 308 words]
Considering that Saskatoon ranks among the most violent, crime-ridden cities in Canada and Toronto among its safest, it would seem that Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the wrong mayor. Canada's top politician dropped in on Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Tuesday to talk about gun violence. As has traditionally been the political response to issues of crime, however, they weren't meeting to talk solutions as much as to capitalize on the attention. Meanwhile, back in Saskatoon, where according to Statistics Canada's latest report, the overall and violent crime rates lag only those of nation leading Regina and Winnipeg, the debate over how to turn things around must be a little more grounded than mugging for the cameras. Police Chief Clive Weighill took some solace in the fact that, as bad as the numbers are in Saskatoon, things are improving. [continues 652 words]
The Saskatoon Health Region will review its methadone program with an eye to reducing the gridlock doctors say is causing patients to be turned away. "I think we have an opportunity to take a closer look with how methadone (patients) are moving through our system," said Tracy Muggli, the health region's director of mental health and addiction services. The health region has had success improving wait times in its adult community mental health services through Lean management practices, a provincewide initiative that aims to eliminate waste in the system, Muggli said. The wait list for that program, which had been nine months, was eliminated, she said. [continues 365 words]
Saskatoon's methadone program is gridlocked, according to a number of concerned physicians. The lack of addictions counsellors to support recovering addicts and the small number of physicians able to prescribe methadone means patients who aren't HIV-positive or pregnant are being turned away too often, the doctors said. "The capacity has never been adequate to meet the need," said Dr. Peter Butt, head of methadone assisted recovery services, the Saskatoon Health Region's program. "When we add the explosion in (needle) drug use, compounded by the explosion in HIV-AIDS to the fact we weren't keeping up to begin with, it's a struggle. The tragedy here is that some of the people we're not able to provide service to ... are at very high risk of becoming HIV-positive." [continues 695 words]
Saskatchewan's exempted medical marijuana users and growers are criticizing a decision by the federal government to stop individuals from growing the plant. "I will be forced to purchase it from the government and that restricts me because I cannot produce the type that I like and that helps (dull the pain)," said Jason Hiltz, a medicinal marijuana advocate in Saskatoon who received an exemption in 2008 to grow the plants and take the drug. Health Canada will no longer allow individuals to grow marijuana for medical use by 2014, federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq told CBC News on Friday. [continues 433 words]
Programs Failed to Save Daughter The mother of a teen who died from a drug overdose wants help for young people with addictions. The mother of a teen who died from a drug overdose is frustrated with rules that prevent parents from enforcing drug treatment and with addictions programs that she says are not long enough to rescue a life sliding into the abyss. Carla Fenton Katchmar is busy this week preparing to bury her 17-year-old daughter, Chantaey Katchmar, who died in Edmonton on July 1, after she and four young adults became ill after taking an unknown drug. [continues 704 words]
OTTAWA - Two-thirds of Canadians think the law should be changed so that people caught with small amounts of marijuana no longer face criminal penalties or fines, a new poll has found. The nationwide survey for Postmedia News and Global TV, which examined the state of Canadian values, revealed the public is distinctly offside with the Harper government on the issue. Earlier this spring, Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended a summit of leaders from the Americas, where some called for a major review of the so-called "war on drugs," and perhaps even the decriminalization of some drug use. Also this year, Liberals at a policy conference passed a resolution endorsing the legalization of marijuana. [continues 704 words]
Canada's drug strategy has came under attack by two international reports that point out a "tough on drugs" approach creates more problems than it solves. In separate and independent reports this week, the World Health Organization and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which is led by six former national presidents, business magnate Richard Branson and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, detailed how the global war on drugs not only has failed but also fuelled and sustained the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. [continues 435 words]
