Drug policy experts often say that the health risks of marijuana use are relatively minor compared to the steep costs of marijuana enforcement: expensive policing, disrupted lives, violence and even death. Law enforcement agencies, however, have often been at the forefront of opposition to marijuana legalization. One reason is that the drug, with its pungent, long-lasting aroma, is relatively easy to detect in the course of a traffic stop or other routine interaction. It's an ideal pretext for initiating a search that otherwise wouldn't be justified -- even if that search only turns up evidence of marijuana use and nothing more. [continues 354 words]
New Jersey is gearing up for an intense campaign for marijuana legalization. Senate Bill 3195 and Assembly Bill 4872, which would legalize marijuana in New Jersey, have been introduced by state Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari, D-Union, and Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer. The Drug Policy Alliance commends the sponsors for their leadership on this issue and we will be working with them to ensure that the final legislation contains provisions missing from the bill that are essential to establishing a fair and equitable marijuana market and repairing the disproportionate harm that marijuana prohibition has inflicted on communities of color. To highlight the need for these provisions, the Drug Policy Alliance is releasing a short video, made in collaboration with Brave New Films, which explores the current and historical impacts of marijuana prohibition on communities of color. The video features racial and social justice advocates from across New Jersey. [continues 575 words]
Protesters take issue with concentration of proposed sites within Edmonton's core Nearly 200 protestors gathered outside of the Alberta Legislature on Saturday to speak out against a concentration of safe injection sites in the Boyle, McCauley and Central McDougall neighbourhoods that they say is part of a larger issue of "systemic ghettoization." "We know the situation is dire, and we do not minimize the issue, but Chinatown and the surrounding communities are already saturated with all shelter beds and over 60 social agencies that contribute to chaos, disorder and crime because the homeless and vulnerable are drawn to our communities by these agencies," said Georgina Fiddler, a resident of McCauley for seven years, addressing the rally. [continues 401 words]
The legalization of small amounts of marijuana for people 21 and over came before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday as the committee considers abill introduced by Sen. Nicolas Scutari, D-Union. According to Scutari's office, no vote was taken. (To listen to the hearing, click here.) In the bill, Scutari mentions the cost to New Jersey for enforcement. Marijuana possession arrests made up three out of every five drug arrests in New Jersey in 2012. The state shells out about $127 million per year on marijuana possession enforcement efforts. [continues 809 words]
It's long been apparent that the Liberal legalization of marijuana in this country is not going to provide the mellow buzz the government had sought. We're more than a year out from promised legislation, but there's smoke on the horizon. The Canadian Medical Association has condemned the legal age of 18 being set by the federal Liberals, citing data that shows early marijuana use leads to everything from depression and anxiety to a lifetime dependency rate of 17 per cent for those who start smoking as teenagers. That's almost double the rate of those who begin use after their brains mature at age 25. [continues 630 words]
Mandatory Minimums Don't Deserve Your Ire Jeff Sessions's policy won't lock up harmless stoners, but it will help dismantle drug-trafficking networks. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is being tarred as a racist-again-for bringing the law fully to bear on illegal drug traffickers. Mr. Sessions has instructed federal prosecutors to disclose in court the actual amount of drugs that trafficking defendants possessed at the time of arrest. That disclosure will trigger the mandatory penalties set by Congress for large-scale dealers. [continues 796 words]
OTTAWA * Demanding a breath sample from a motorist is no different than asking for their licence and registration, Canada's justice minister argued Thursday as the federal government defended its proposed crackdown on impaired driving. Jody Wilson-Raybould tabled a "charter statement" in the House of Commons comprising the arguments why the government believes the new measures are permissible under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized as reasonable the authority, under provincial law and common law, of police officers to stop vehicles at random to ensure that drivers are licensed and insured, that the vehicle is mechanically fit, and to check for sobriety," Wilson-Raybould's statement says. "The information revealed from a breath sample is, like the production of a driver's licence, simply information about whether a driver is complying with one of the conditions imposed in the highly regulated contexts of driving." [continues 439 words]
This time next year will be the last 4/20 - the unofficial cannabis holiday known by its numeric calendar date - when possessing weed for personal use will be a crime. Legalization is coming to Canada in the summer of 2018. So far, reactions to legalized cannabis have ranged from healthy concern to outright fearmongering. Some people have claimed it will lead the youth astray, make our roads less safe and harm our overall health. Legalizing cannabis is not without risk. But legalization can also address how risky our current approach, the so-called War On Drugs, has been. [continues 461 words]
We cannot have a future pot policy that doesn't deal with criminalized pasts. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has said that the new pot legislation will not include any special amnesty for past convictions. This is a mistake. The government's proposed legislation follows a public health approach of reducing harm and preventing problematic drug use. But the legislation, which is slated to come into effect by July 1, 2018, cannot just serve future drug users - and businesses, for that matter. It should also serve the health and wellbeing of the young, racialized men and women who are currently in court and in prison on drug charges. [continues 363 words]
After more than 90 minutes of debate and no consensus, the Atlanta City Council on Monday put off a vote on a measure that would have eliminated jail time for those caught with small quantities of marijuana. Advocates of the Atlanta legislation said the move is necessary to address the disproportionate number of black Americans incarcerated because of pot possession. The proposal, which also would reduce the fine for possession of an ounce or less to a maximum of $75, mirrors actions taken in cities across the nation, including Dallas, Kansas City and St. Louis. In DeKalb County, Clarkson also has reduced penalties. [continues 67 words]
"Far out, man!" That's likely what teenaged me would have said if a visitor from the future had said Prime Minister Trudeau had legalized marijuana in 2018. Then I might have said "What? Trudeau is still prime minister?" Then, "Wow, this is some boss weed if I'm talking to some dude from the future." I might have added "Hey, visitor, when did the Leafs win their next Cup?" Truth be told, your scribe was not much of stoner in his youth, though he effected some of the look and lifestyle. Long hair. Check. Tie-dyed shirts. Check. Bare-foot summers. Check. But a regular consumer of marijuana products? Pas a mon gout. Didn't really have the mental constitution for it. In fact, it's always been a mystery, and the subject of mountains of research, how people react differently when tetrahydrocannabinol hits their bloodstream. [continues 555 words]
The Liberal government's pot legislation looks like a handdrawn roadmap of how marijuana will be legalized, instead of the efficient GPS system it should be. It offers tougher criminal penalties in some cases. It expands some police powers. It downloads a lot of responsibility on to provinces and municipalities. Yet it doesn't address important aspects of legalization. In short, legislators know what they want to do: protect children and reduce illegal sales of pot. How they're going to do it, well, details are either hazy, missing or highly debatable. Here are three outstanding issues: [continues 308 words]
The Liberal government's pot legislation looks like a hand-drawn roadmap of how marijuana will be legalized, instead of the efficient GPS system it should be. It offers tougher criminal penalties in some cases. It expands some police powers. It downloads a lot of responsibility to provinces and municipalities. Yet it doesn't address important aspects of legalization. In short, legislators know what they want to do: protect children and reduce illegal sales of pot. How they're going to do it, well, details are either hazy, missing or highly debatable. [continues 298 words]
Tomorrow, the Liberal Government of Justin Trudeau is expected to fulfill one of its most well-publicised campaign promises and present its much anticipated legislation to legalize the possession and use of cannabis for recreational purposes. Why they couldn't wait another week until April 20 (420) is a question worth pondering, but then again, that might have required a sense of humour. The history of drug prohibition in Canada goes back to the early 20th Century when authorities became concerned about the use of certain substances among Asian immigrant communities. Marijuana was added to the ever-increasing list of banned substances in the 1920s and once again, race was an integral component. Drug use became associated with decadence, jazz, racial mixing, and sexual license - all things designed to send shivers through middle-class society and its concept of propriety. [continues 951 words]
Canada is preparing to legalize and regulate possession of marijuana - with a target date of July 1, 2018. It's a long overdue public policy with sound economic and health arguments to back it up, notably: More harm is caused by criminal prohibition and prosecution than the use of marijuana itself; Criminal laws prohibiting possession do not deter use; Decriminalization of possession does not lead to greater use; Decriminalization frees up resources for police and the courts to deal with more serious crimes; [continues 689 words]
Editor: One must ask the lawmakers and backers, "Whose side are you on?" Each time a cop busts a compassion club, they hand power back to the underground economy. I don't believe this is the effect they were aiming for. What does kicking in the door of compassion say about our laws and their views on medical care? Under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPRR), a patient can acquire any source of cannabis material, but recently only from licensed producers (LPs). There are currently almost 130,000 Canadians registered in the program. When these doors are shut, patients are left out on the street at risk of purchasing contaminated or spiked cannabis to treat their condition. [continues 585 words]
He doesn't seek the limelight and he doesn't look any too comfortable in it, but former Toronto top cop Bill Blair is adapting to life in Ottawa. As the Liberals' point man for decriminalization of marijuana, he's steering radical changes . . . cautiously OTTAWA- Bill Blair, the former undercover drug cop who rose to become Toronto police chief and now leads Justin Trudeau's charge to legalize marijuana, long ago gave up his gun and uniform. But his guard is still up. He defensively shifts position in a room when he's with a minister, switching to what he calls "protective mode." He tries to be casual: "I didn't have a first name for a decade," he tells a reporter. "Now that I've got it back" - just call him "Bill." And yet he's still all "Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am." [continues 2894 words]
With battering rams and flash-bang grenades, SWAT teams fuel the risk of violence as they forcibly enter suspects' homes. Five months and 85 miles apart, two cases took starkly divergent legal paths. SOMERVILLE, Tex. - Joshua Aaron Hall had been a resident of the Burleson County Jail for about a week when he requested a meeting with Gene Hermes, the sheriff's investigator who had locked him up for violating probation. The stocky lawman arrived in the featureless interview room on the morning of Dec. 13, 2013, placed his soda cup on the table and apologized for not getting there sooner. He asked in his gravelly drawl if they would be talking about Mr. Hall's own case. [continues 6445 words]
Issue: BCMJ, Vol. 59, No. 2, March 2017, page(s) 89 BC Centre for Disease Control Mark W. Tyndall, MD, ScD, FRCPC British Columbia is in the midst of a public health crisis, with 914 documented overdose deaths in 2016. While there has been a steady increase in overdose deaths over the past 2 years, December 2016 had the highest monthly total of deaths ever recorded (128 deaths).[1] This is particularly alarming as it is happening despite a public health emergency announcement in April 2016 and a massive scale-up of the take-home naloxone program that has been used in over 3000 overdose reversals. [continues 574 words]
Disease control director says more should be prescribed One of British Columbia's top experts on diseases has slammed longstanding "drug policies that criminalize drug users," in an op-ed in the B.C. Medical Journal's new issue, and pushed for the expansion of government-prescribed opioids. Dr. Mark Tyndall, provincial medical director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, wrote about the province's opioid overdose epidemic, which has killed almost 1,000 people in the last year "despite a public-health emergency announcement in April 2016." [continues 355 words]
