Re. "A joint effort on marijuana," Just a Thought, Chief, Sept. 27. The vote by B.C. municipal leaders to decriminalize marijuana is a step in the right direction. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. The marijuana plant is relatively harmless. Marijuana prohibition is deadly. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
Re: Potent marijuana is a danger to society, Letters, Oct. 1 Letter writer Rob Brandreth-Gibbs aptly demonstrated the disconnect in the public debate over cannabis policy. Diehard defenders of the perpetual war on weed allege that cannabis causes cancer, psychosis and carnage on our highways. Cannabis consumers naturally come to the defence of their drug of choice with peer-reviewed research proving the opposite, as though we were arguing over whether or not cannabis should exist. The question we need to ask our-selves is: What is the optimal (not utopian) regulatory model for reducing the costs and maximizing the benefits of cannabis in society? [continues 207 words]
THE Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) has maintained that marijuana is an illegal substance that shall continue to attract punishment by law in Zambia. The DEC was responding to an opinion authored by US-based Zambian Professor Kenneth Mwenda who wants to see the drug legalised. Marijuana is a dry, shredded green, brown or grey mixture of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves obtained from the hemp plant scientifically known as Cannabis sativa. DEC public relations officer Samuel Silomba told the Zambia Daily Mail in a statement that there is no credible research both locally and abroad that supports Prof. Mwenda's desire to have the drug legalised. [continues 388 words]
No, pot's not legal yet. With a raise of hands, B.C. local politicians passed a motion to ask the federal government to decriminalize marijuana. The motion passed at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, Sept. 26. Marijuana laws are held at the federal level. "It was about 70 per cent of hands in favour, it wasn't close. If it was close it would go to electric voting," said Metchosin Coun. Moralea Milne. "I would hope UBCM takes it to another level. We don't really have any jurisdiction." [continues 580 words]
So, the annual gabfest at the Union of BC Municipalities resolved to work for the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana. Well, in the annals of historic futility, that motion may compete for top spot. Drug policy is federal jurisdiction and potholes and playgrounds are the purview of the elected officials and petty bureaucrats of the UBCM. But the motion did get the talking heads going. On weekend talk radio, yet another lawyer and so-called 'expert,' trotted out the usual arguments to legalize marijuana starting with: It will deal a body blow to organized crime. A specious, but often-repeated argument. [continues 314 words]
Lawsuits part of effort to get state officials to comply with medical marijuana law Medical marijuana laws generally get bureaucratic pushback from administrators, politicians and law enforcement unhappy with the changes made by citizens' initiatives. Michigan medical marijuana activists claim that is the case with the Michigan Bureau of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), which oversees the Michigan Medical Marihuana program (MMMP). LARA has definitely been remiss in processing applications and issuing registration cards to patients and caregivers in the past. Although Rae Ramsdell, director of LARA's Bureau of Health Professions, claims to have caught up on a backlog of applications since buying new card-printing machines, complaints about receiving cards late still circulate among activists. [continues 1151 words]
Re: "Municipal leaders show some spine," editorial, Friday, Sept. 28. The vote by B.C. municipal leaders to decriminalize marijuana is a step in the right direction. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. The marijuana plant is relatively harmless. Marijuana prohibition is deadly. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, DC [end]
Re: "Pot resolution sets B.C. on a new path," Sept. 27. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs such as cocaine, meth and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. [continues 80 words]
Mayor Stu Wells and every member of Town of Osoyoos council were unanimous in their support of a resolution presented at last week's Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) asking the federal government to decriminalize longstanding legislation for possession of marijuana. The province's municipal politicians voted in favour of a resolution supporting marijuana decriminalization during a vocal debate last Wednesday at the UCBM annual conference in Victoria. UBCM delegates heard health policy advocates, police officers and former B.C. attorney general Geoff Plant call on municipal politicians to lead efforts that could change what they call Canada's outdated pot laws. [continues 623 words]
The vote by B.C. municipal leaders to decriminalize marijuana is a step in the right direction. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. The marijuana plant is relatively harmless. Marijuana prohibition is deadly. As long as drug cartels and biker gangs control marijuana distribution, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will come into contact with hard drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Robert Sharpe Washington, DC [end]
Mainstream B.C. stood up in public Wednesday and moved the marijuana debate much closer to decriminalization than ever before. The resolution passed at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria is the clearest indication yet of how far the "get tough with criminal pot smokers" stance has eroded. More than 500 delegates considered a motion that declared the status quo a failure and urged decriminalization of marijuana, coupled with research on regulation and taxation. After a passionate debate, they passed it by open show of hands. It was endorsed by such a clear margin - probably 60 per cent plus - they didn't even bother to count the votes. [continues 652 words]
Contrary to what baby boomers believe, marijuana is addictive and voters should reject Initiative 502 to legalize it, according to guest columnists Robert DuPont and Andrea Barthwell. MANY baby boomers and their children still believe the folklore of the 1960s and '70s that marijuana can't be addictive, because it's just an herb. But several decades of research clearly show that what we believed 40 years ago is wrong. Marijuana addiction is common. About 9 percent of people who smoke marijuana even once become addicted to it, and that figure approximately doubles when people begin using the drug as adolescents. [continues 553 words]
Re: "Drug dealers protecting their turf," by David Sirota, column, Sept. 24 Former beer brewer and current hypocrite Gov. John Hickenlooper needs to prioritize children over political messaging. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls as provided for by Amendment 64. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. [continues 91 words]
To the editor: The push by B.C. policy makers to decriminalize marijuana is a step in the right direction. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. The marijuana plant is relatively harmless. Marijuana prohibition is deadly. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine, meth and heroin. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Robert Sharpe, policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC [end]
VICTORIA - After a passionate debate and a close vote, delegates to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention passed a motion Wednesday calling on the federal government to decriminalize marijuana. The UBCM placed major emphasis on the debate this year, staging a debate Monday featuring former B.C. attorney general Geoff Plant, in favour of loosening pot laws, and University of the Fraser Valley criminologist Darryl Plecas opposed. After a lineup of speakers on the impact of marijuana grow-ops on communities and crime impact, a show of hands by hundreds of delegates supported the call for decriminalization. [continues 373 words]
Those who wish to retain the status quo, who wish to retain the abysmal failure that is the war on drugs (and, in particular, marijuana) have pointed to the Canada/U.S. dilemma. That is, prohibition proponents - in reacting to last week's Union of B.C. Municipalities resolution to pressure the federal government to decriminalize pot - are quick to note the U.S. will not follow suit if Canada does decriminalize marijuana. Therefore, argue the prohibitionists, gangsters in Canada will still make obscene amounts of money and violence will still rage as they continue to try to get B.C. bud south of the border. [continues 527 words]
Emily Murphy is often hailed for her ground-breaking work on women's rights. Few realize she was also a trailblazer in another area: stirring up anti-drug hysteria 'The Famous Five were a group of strong-minded, trail-blazing Alberta women who challenged the status quo and created lasting and positive change for every Canadian woman." That's how federal cabinet minister Rona Ambrose recently described the five legendary Western feminists whose appeal to the British Privy Council won women the legal status of "persons" in 1929. Ambrose was speaking in Edmonton, unveiling a giant piece of street art honouring the group. "These women are an important part of our country's history," Ambrose said, "and I am delighted that, through this mural, they are now a permanent part of our city's visual landscape." [continues 1580 words]
When a criminal is sent off to a federal penitentiary -- locked up behind bars, monitored by cameras and roving guards, and with all visitors purportedly patted down for contraband -- coming out the other end as a drug addict is a far cry from rehabilitation. But it happens far too often. Our prisons, in fact, are rife with drug addicts, those who arrived with an dependence on opiates, and those who join the fraternity from the inside. Blame poor body searches, blame rogue guards, blame complicit lawyers. Blame whatever. [continues 312 words]
Either our government has learned nothing from the failed war on drugs, or it lacks the courage to put what it has learned into practice Could the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have gotten it any more backwards? In a statement praising the Canadian government's decision to make the stimulant MDPV illegal, a representative of the association, Staff Insp. Randy Franks, called the ban "an important step in stopping organized criminal groups from acquiring and profiting from this illegal substance." A couple problems: The substance, which is a key ingredient in the drug known as "bath salts," was obviously not illegal before the ban. So it's circular to credit the ban for stopping the acquisition of something illegal. [continues 796 words]
You could almost understand if Annie Dookhan messed with drug tests because she was an addict, or sold the drugs to pay off crushing gambling debts. But the former state chemist who "corrupted the integrity of the entire criminal justice system," as Attorney General Martha Coakley said Friday, was only trying to be considered an effective worker. She certainly was effective. Effectively, she turned the system on its head and created a scandal so far-reaching that officials will struggle with the fallout for years. [continues 550 words]
