And sort out the details later Of all of the promises the Liberals made in the lead-up to last year's election, one would have thought that legalizing marijuana would be an easy one to keep, as it would be pretty easy to do. The basis for marijuana's illegality in Canada is its inclusion in several schedules of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is serious about his election promise, he should take the obvious first step and propose legislation that would remove marijuana from the CDSA. Regardless of what marijuana legalization scheme is dreamed up over the next couple of years, this will need to happen. The sooner it does, the better. [continues 598 words]
The rate of HIV/AIDS infection among prison inmates is anywhere from 10 to 20 times higher than the general population - a problem that could be easily curbed, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network says. The answer lies in giving inmates access to clean syringes and medical supplies - something that is a basic medical necessity, the Network said in a report released Feb. 2. The report follows another from last year which attempted to showcase a legal framework for clean needle programs in prison. Distributing clean needles could be accomplished through several methods, including a peer-to-peer system amongst prisoners. [continues 410 words]
There has been less of a demand for services that cater to the homeless, according to Dans la Rue, a Montreal-based charity. Unfortunately, the decline in demand is not a result of a decline in the number of homeless, said the organization's director of development and communications, Dorothy Massimo. Rather, it is a result of homeless kids turning to dangerous alternatives. The organization, which runs a community centre and offers other services for the city's homeless said it has seen a decrease in demand over the past several months. [continues 290 words]
