About a dozen pro-cannabis campaigners demonstrated outside Parliament Building today, calling for the drug to be legalised. They arrived in their "Cannabus", which wasn't allowed into the grounds. Speakers said there would have been more but they were in prison. Their message was that more than half of all New Zealanders had smoked cannabis and a popular culture was being criminalised. They had expected MPs from all political parties represented in Parliament to come out and talk to them, but only the Green's Metiria Turei put in an appearance. [end]
The long blue arm of the law watches over the red eyes of Ken Morgan as he celebrates the conclusion of a national tour promoting cannabis use with a cheeky smoke at Parliament. Mr Morgan, coordinator of "Mary Jane the Cannabus" tour, said the restored bus that acts as a mobile "legalise cannabis" office visited 44 towns and cities around New Zealand. "We invited locals to join us and in many towns we had hundreds of people smoke with us," he said. [continues 65 words]
Party pill retailers are likely to face tough new rules governing sale of the pills, including age restrictions, strict labelling requirements and requiring a licence to sell them. The Health Ministry has recommended the Government adopt 10 regulations governing the sale of restricted substances. Party pills are likely to be included in this category after a review by an expert committee. The ministry's move comes in the wake of a ban on BZP, which failed to stop the manufacture of party pills. [continues 362 words]
Re: "City going too far," editorial on the City of Coquitlam's public safety inspection team, Wednesday, May 7. You say that "Pot, however, is not legal. And illegal grow-ops pose a huge fire hazard." If only that were true. The public has been sold a bill of goods on the grow-op issue. It is not as dangerous as so-called "experts" (who have probably never planted a seed or picked up a trowel in their lives) claim it to be. [continues 198 words]
Back from hob-nobbing with East European leaders, Parliament's Speaker Margaret Wilson has now enjoyed a tete-a-tete with visiting Rastafarian poet and philosopher Yasus Afari. But she shunned the limelight again, overriding a Green Party invitation for the media to photograph the meeting at Parliament yesterday with the Jamaican guest of Green MP Nandor Tanczos. Mr Afari said he could understand why Ms Wilson did not want to be seen with him - "but she was extremely gracious and hospitable" and showed interest in Jamaica, reggae music and the concepts of the Rastafari religion. She had described Mr Tanczos as a role model for the strong local Rasta community. [continues 169 words]
WASHINGTON -- Embracing an initiative pushed by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, a Senate committee agreed Thursday to include $100 million in a federal spending package to help border-area law enforcement agencies combat drug trafficking and violence tied to powerful criminal gangs in Mexico. The aid, approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, would be used in border-area counties and other high-intensity drug trafficking areas. The package includes $10 million to fund Project Gunrunner, a Justice Department program designed to stem the flow of firearms into Mexico for use by drug cartels. [continues 66 words]
MLA Wants Province to Take Over Responsibility Dean Wilson credits Insite with keeping him clean for the past month. "It's because of this facility that I'm actually here and doing this right now, otherwise I'd probably be on the other side of that door out there, using in the streets," Wilson told reporters Friday. Vancouver-Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan hopes a private member's bill she will introduce next week will save the safe-injection site and make more stories like Wilson's possible. [continues 350 words]
Britain's answer to the FBI, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), has been branded a disaster by the law enforcement chief whose proposals in 2003 led to its creation. Terry Byrne, former director-general for law enforcement at Customs & Excise, said the agency was failing and its performance was "dismal". He added: "The agency is claiming to have seized 84 tons of cocaine across the world, yet the availability of cocaine in the UK is at an all-time high and street prices at an all-time low. This is not the agency I envisaged and I would not have proposed the transfer of Customs drugs responsibilities and resources to such an organisation if I had known how it was going to be so ill-directed." [continues 98 words]
Prominent Alumni of the University, Including Athletes and Local Notables, Appear in a Newspaper Ad and in Spots on Radio and Television. SAN DIEGO -- Stung by bad publicity from last week's massive campus drug bust, San Diego State University has begun a public-relations blitz with the theme "We're prouder than ever." The university has taken out a full page in today's Union-Tribune with names of more than 500 alumni and local notables boosting the school. The $19,000 ad was paid for, in part, by Cox Business, a division of cable and television giant Cox Communications, and by restaurant owner Ralph Rubio. [continues 508 words]
Cathedral City officials and the owners of a medical marijuana dispensary have reached a compromise. Essential Herbs and Oils will remain closed, and the city has dropped its federal suit against the owners and also will not revoke the shop's business license. The short-lived dispensary opened at 68-487 E. Palm Canyon Drive in January and closed in early March. "My clients will not distribute any medical marijuana within Cathedral City without the express consent of the city," said Anthony Curiale, attorney for dispensary owners Virginia Hurn and Teresa Sotelo. [continues 87 words]
I'm writing in reference to the article by Andre Picard in yesterday's Globe and Mail, "Scientists accuse Tories of 'despicable' interference." The scientists' charges land squarely in the office of Muskoka-Parry Sound MP Tony Clement. I must agree with Picard's assessment of the actions of Clement's ministry as regards the continued support for Insite (the safe injection site) in Vancouver. His position, to place a moratorium on research, is driven entirely by ideology. The rigorous scientific research into the effectiveness of Insite in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS doesn't tell him what he wants to hear, so he ends the research. Then he offers funds for research, but only if the research results are released after Insite is closed. [continues 224 words]
CORNER BROOK - Field workers of Youth, Child and Family Services received a lesson on street drugs Thursday to not only help protect young people, but also themselves. Const. Robert Edwards of the city's RNC visited with the representatives of Western Health to deliver a drug awareness presentation targeted for junior high students. He provided an overview of the local situation, what to watch for in the field, and how to avoid the dangers of drugs and its abusers. Locally, he said there isn't an increase in drug abuse from 10 or 15 years ago, but the wider spectrum of drugs used is a problem. The days of only marijuana, mushrooms, LSD or acid have changed and snorting of prescription medication such as Ritalin and Percocet is now a concern. Before Christmas, three elementary school children in the city were found snorting Ritalin during homeroom period, he said. [continues 597 words]
Last Thursday, a new group of Grade 6 students at Vauxhall elementary school successfully graduated from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. (DARE). The program, which has been active all over North America for several years, is designed to teach kids about the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol, and give them the skills to say no, or diffuse situations where such elements are involved. As time goes on, it seems drugs and alcohol play a bigger role in people's lives, and you cannot seem to turn on the news these days without hearing about someone dying of a drug overdose or drunk driving. [continues 227 words]
