OTTAWA - The plan to legalize marijuana should recognize that the black community has been overly-criminalized for using the drug, says a Liberal MP who is calling on the government to consider that perspective. "We do know that black Canadians have been disproportionately charged with and are imprisoned for possession of small amounts of cannabis," Greg Fergus, a Quebec MP who chairs the Liberal black caucus, said on Tuesday. "I don't think that's because there is a greater propensity in the black community to consume marijuana," he said. [continues 490 words]
OTTAWA - The number of police-reported cannabis offences declined for the fifth straight year, Statistics Canada said Monday, a downward trend that began long before the Liberals brought forward their plan to legalize the drug for recreational use. The annual tally of police-reported crime from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics said there were about 55,000 offences related to marijuana reported to police in 2016, about 6,000 fewer than reported the year before - despite previous data showing consumption of the drug on the rise. [continues 749 words]
About 55,000 cases related to marijuana reported to police last year OTTAWA - The number of police-reported cannabis offences declined for the fifth straight year, Statistics Canada said Monday, a downward trend that began long before the Liberals brought forward their plan to legalize the drug for recreational use. The tally of police-reported crime from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics said there were about 55,000 offences related to marijuana reported to police in 2016, about 6,000 fewer than reported in '15 - despite previous data showing consumption of the drug on the rise. [continues 314 words]
OTTAWA* The number of cannabis-related offences reported to police declined for the fifth straight year, Statistics Canada said Monday, despite the percentage of Canadians consuming the drug on the rise. The StatsCan annual report on police-reported crime was released the same day that the president of the New Brunswick Medical Society issued a stark warning that the coming legalization of marijuana in Canada doesn't mean that it is safe and the public needs to know the risks of consuming pot. [continues 373 words]
RE: Teens and drugs (June 3) Last Saturday's front page article exposed yet another warning as to the addictive, harmful effects of marijuana on youth. The federal government is not listening. In the same edition of The Spectator, Thomas Froese's piece highlights how assisted dying has removed us from the precious nature of life in both its joys and it sorrows. Once encoded, our laws are there in perpetuity. These dual governmental notions, currently both provincial and federal, have undermined the good health of our nation. Judy Pollard Smith, Hamilton [end]
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]
OTTAWA - The Liberal government introduced long-awaited legislation Thursday to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, but many of the finer points and logistical questions remain unanswered or up in the air. Here are five of them: 1. What happens if a U.S. border guard asks if you have ever smoked marijuana? Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale was asked that question - whether the Liberal government had sought assurances from the U.S. that someone who admitted to using cannabis legally would not face the same fate. Each country sets its own rules, said Goodale, but he suggested Canada might get on the phone if it became a big deal. "If there appears to be a pattern of examination at the border that just does not accord with appropriate, professional, reliable, consistent conduct, then obviously that's the sort of thing that we should raise at a governmental level to make sure people are treated appropriately." Canada, he added, would also "make the very strong point" that its new legal regime would be better at protecting children and keeping illegal cash away from organized crime. "Our system will actually be the better one." [continues 514 words]
While the stories of individual benefit continue to surface, there's some disturbing statistics that are stemming out of the legalization of marijuana. I can personally sympathize and understand the rationale that many people have for legalization. I have friends and family who use the drug for pain, anxiety and other disorders. I watched my cancer-riddled mother struggle through chemotherapy with no relief from prescribed drugs, but instead found nausea suppression and regained her appetite thanks to marijuana. Following the numerous stories of survival online and through the grapevine, she experimented with various forms and strains in her own battle. Unfortunately, at the time, it was not legal, therefore she was left to her own devices. Whereas maybe, just maybe, if prohibition had been scrapped ahead of her diagnosis then further research could have been done to help her and others. [continues 393 words]
Prohibition, by any meaningful measure, appears to have failed. Overcrowded prisons, over burdened court systems and a dramatic socio-economic impact on those prosecuted. Compared to the Netherlands, the U.S. exceeds in marijuana usage. Cartels are destroying our national forests to compete locally with California's Emerald Triangle. Local growers liken themselves to eco-conscious hippies, yet documented forest and watershed damage disproves this. Every county heavy in the pot trade voted no to legalization in 2010. Untold millions of untaxed dollars would shift from their pockets to the state coffers. California's economy is sixth globally, without reaping a single tax dollar from this enormous black-market trade. [continues 59 words]
Contradiction exists between Liberals' view on pot and recent police crackdown OTTAWA- The New Democrats are urging the Liberal government to decriminalize pot before they legalize it. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana, and his government plans to get started next spring. Meanwhile, the existing criminal law remains on the books and police are expected to enforce it. The NDP is introducing an opposition day motion Monday calling on the House of Commons to recognize there is a contradiction in giving people criminal records for something the government has said should not be a crime. [continues 283 words]
OTTAWA - The New Democrats are urging the Liberal government to decriminalize pot before they legalize it. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana, and his government plans to get started next spring. Meanwhile, the existing criminal law remains on the books and police are expected to enforce it. The NDP is introducing an opposition day motion on Monday calling on the House of Commons to recognize there is a contradiction in giving people criminal records for something the government has said should not be a crime. [continues 290 words]
Motion Today to Have Marijuana Decriminalized OTTAWA - The New Democrats are urging the Liberal government to decriminalize pot before they legalize it. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana, and his government plans to get started next spring. Meanwhile, the existing criminal law remains on the books and police are expected to enforce it. The NDP is introducing an opposition day motion Monday calling on the House of Commons to recognize there is a contradiction in giving people criminal records for something the government has said should not be a crime. [continues 386 words]
On A Day When Cannabis Culture Is Celebrated, Ottawa Announces Next Step In The March To Pot Legalization OTTAWA - As thousands of people were preparing to gather in the sunshine on the lawn of Parliament Hill for the annual celebration of cannabis culture - and smoke a little, too, in plain view of the police - the Liberal government formally announced its plans to legalize and regulate marijuana. "We know it is impossible to arrest our way out of this problem," Health Minister Jane Philpott said Wednesday in New York during an impassioned speech to the United Nations General Assembly at a special session on global drug policy. [continues 557 words]
Pot Activists Worry Cannabis Extract May Undercut Political Movement Columbus, Ohio (AP) - An experimental epilepsy drug made from cannabis plants grown in England is complicating the medical marijuana debate in hospitals and statehouses. Epidiolex is a nearly pure extract of cannabidiol, or CBD, with little of the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that gets traditional pot users high. CBD products are the current rage in medicinal pot products, and activists fear that if the maker of Epidiolex manages to get FDA approval, it could undercut the political momentum of the medical marijuana movement. [continues 452 words]
Preparing for Seminal Court Battle Over Legalising Cannabis Use SUPPORTERS of a major constitutional challenge should have been tramping across lush green grass in the valley of Witfontein outside Joburg today for Weedstock 2016. The Bronkhorstspruit far m was set to be transformed into a fundraising festival for the legalisation of cannabis. It would have run until tomorrow, but was cancelled this week under stringent new laws which police all public gatherings. Weedstock is an initiative of the Fields of Green for All movement, which supports the efforts of two South Africans and their lawyers to challenge certain laws in terms of the constitution, and see the responsible adult use of cannabis legalised. [continues 458 words]
Toronto police have raided a marijuana dispensary on the Danforth, a little more than a week after its owners were featured in a media interview that touted their business as "totally illegal." Chris Goodwin and Erin Goodwin, owners of Good Weeds Lounge, are charged with two counts possession for the purpose of trafficking, relating to marijuana and cannabis resin, plus possession of the proceeds of crime. Erin Goodwin is also charged with simple possession. The investigation was sparked by "community complaints," Const. Caroline de Kloet told Metro. The raid happened Thursday. [continues 78 words]
While parents often feel like the teacher in Charlie Brown when they're talking to their teens, the truth is that what they say matters. And kids are listening. Sure, they might glaze over after the tenth time you've asked them to clean their room this week, but when it comes to drugs and alcohol, they are listening. "What you say and do matters," said Dr. Marvin Krank, who recently gave a public presentation at Vernon Secondary School titled Talking To Your Kids About Drugs. [continues 320 words]
Couple Hope Court Will Agree All Have Freedom of Choice on Smoking Pot THE laws haven't changed, so Myrtle Clark and Julian Stobbs are "very discreet". "We are cannabis users," say the pair, who are open about supporting the legalisation of dagga. "But we're not like a lot of other users. We don't have jobs to lose. We don't have to fight child custody battles." They're sitting around a table surrounded by exotica at The Jazzfarm, the small, happy retreat business they run near Lanseria Airport. This is the spot where police infamously raided them in August 2010, accusing them of running a drug lab, and instead found a couple of ordinary people with not a hothouse in sight. [continues 914 words]
With About 1,000 Daily Busts, It's Untrue That Cops Turn Blind Eye to It THE LAWS haven't changed, so Myrtle Clark and Julian Stobbs say they are "very discreet". "We are cannabis users," they say, open about their support of the legalisation of dagga. "But we're not like a lot of other users. We don't have jobs to lose. We don't have to fight child custody battles." They're sitting around a table surrounded by exotica at The Jazzfarm, the small, happy retreat business they operate near Lanseria Airport. [continues 1044 words]
North Okanagan parents are being armed with the facts so they can slay the myths as they talk to their kids about drugs. Dr. Marvin Krank will provide a public presentation Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Vernon Secondary School. "Talking To Your Kids About Drugs will outline some of the common yet inaccurate and risky misconceptions youth have about drugs and alcohol," said Krank, professor of psychology at UBC's Okanagan campus. His research focuses on the development of substance abuse in teens and young adults. Over the past 20 years he has studied the unrealistic thoughts and beliefs held by youth that lead to risky substance use and he will share that evidence at the presentation. [continues 284 words]
