Sixty-four-year old Roger Christie, a resident of Hawaii's Big Island, although most recently of Cell 104 at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center, is a Religious Science practitioner, a minister of the Universal Life Church, ordained in the Church of the Universe (in Canada), an official of the Oklevueha Native American Church of Hilo, Hawaii, and the founder of the Hawai'i Cannabis THC Ministry. As you might guess, it was the last of those spiritual vocations that landed him in prison. [continues 937 words]
With marijuana decriminalized in Washington and Colorado, B.C. may not be far behind. Sensible BC is campaigning to force a referendum on decriminalization of marijuana on Sept. 27, 2014. "Colorado and Washington have done it, and Alaska is the next to go - it's time to change these laws," said Cindy Heemeryck, regional co-ordinator for Sensible BC. If the referendum passes, police in B.C. would be told to stop searching, arresting and seizing from adults for simple possession of marijuana. [continues 169 words]
Ask any informed Vancouverite where you could pick up a bit of heroin and they'd be able to tell you. Everyone from teetotalling old ladies with blue hair to a straight-A student in elementary school - all know if you want hard, illicit drugs, just go to the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver and heroin will be as easy to acquire as chewing gum. Heck, ask virtually any informed person across the country and they'd be able to tell you that if you want to go on a seedy trip of your choosing - be it a heroin holiday or a crack cocaine carousal - just head down to East Hastings Street and you will find what you're looking for with no risk of arrest. [continues 786 words]
At 31 years of age, talented actor and musician Cory Monteith was at the top of his game. He was the leading man in the hit television program Glee, had recently completed two movies that had allowed him to expand his acting repertoire by portraying an adult in very adult situations, and (reportedly) was about to marry his longtime girlfriend and co-star, Lea Michele. More than that, he was fresh from a rehab stint and had supposedly beaten the addiction demons that stemmed from his dysfunctional youth. [continues 790 words]
Decriminalizing marijuana is the equivalent of opening the barn door wider after the horses all ran away to let out the last horse that decided to stay behind. As anyone in law enforcement will admit when they're out of uniform, the Canadian public made its decision about marijuana use decades ago and the law hasn't caught up yet. Many adults simply ignore the law and indulge in a puff or two at their personal discretion. More importantly, these adults and even the ones who don't smoke up from time to time don't see this activity as breaking the law. [continues 559 words]
Re: "How would city pot taxes be used?" July 14 editorial. I am extremely concerned that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock's proposal to the City Council for the distribution of the sales tax revenue from the sale of recreational marijuana does not include the provision that significant funding be dedicated to providing drug treatment services in Denver. Drug treatment services are inadequately funded in Denver, especially for low-income people, people who do not have health insurance, and African-American, Latino and American Indian communities that lack access to culturally appropriate services. [continues 103 words]
Dennis Forsberg thought he was doing everything right. He had filed all the necessary paperwork and cleared his business plan with attorneys, local government officials and law enforcement. He created new companies and got a federal tax ID number. He wasn't trying to hide anything. Yet in the end, he still got burned. On Tuesday, the 59-year-old Okemos businessman is headed to federal prison in North Carolina for three years because he found himself in the dangerous intersection between state and federal marijuana laws. His son, Lance, has already started serving a three-year sentence in West Virginia. [continues 655 words]
How many times have you heard the argument that cannabis should remain illegal because it is a "gateway" drug, described as one that increases the risk that a user might try other, harder drugs? The two arguments behind this theory are that a) there are pharmacological qualities in cannabis that actually lead users to try other drugs and/or b) that cannabis use puts users in places and situations where they are exposed to harder drugs. About the first one, the science has been decidedly mixed, with the Drug Enforcement Agency and federal government always quoting studies that promote its "gateway" properties and ignoring others that suggest otherwise. [continues 788 words]
An organization dedicated to the decriminalization of marijuana will be seeking volunteer canvassers at an event in Port Coquitlam next week as it prepares for a marijuana referendum campaign this fall. Sensible BC needs 50 to 60 volunteers in each of B.C.'s 85 constituencies to collect signatures this fall in order to pressure the provincial government to hold a referendum on the Sensible Policing Act. The legislation, written by supporters of Sensible BC, would essentially stop police from searching or arresting people for possession of marijuana and would call on Ottawa to repeal marijuana prohibition. [continues 232 words]
