The other day I read George Will's "Sledgehammer Justice." I always thought he was a conservative, but after reading this piece, he has me confused (which, I admit, is not hard to do.) Is he a real conservative, or is he just another bleeding-heart liberal? The subject he wrote about was prison sentences dealt to drug pushers. I could be wrong, but it seemed to me he thought life in prison -- or even 10-20 years -- in prison for pushing illegal drugs was too harsh. Hmmm. [continues 119 words]
Re: "Would pot have meant a mellow celebration?" letter, Jan. 8. The letter-writer muses about whether pot-smoking partiers would cause less trouble than alcohol-impaired citizens. In Jamaica in the early 1960s, I worked a few shifts in the Kingston Public Hospital Emergency ward and the answer is: not likely. At that time, ganja (marijuana), although illegal, was readily available in Jamaica and relatively cheap to purchase. Labourers carried machetes much as a Canadian might carry a pocket knife. When a ganja-impaired man was angry, he often attacked another and inflicted horrible wounds. I remember one casualty who put up his forearm for protection and had the hand sliced off. [continues 141 words]
Community Largely Accepting of Space Catering to Medical and Recreational Users It's Sunday evening and a hush, along with a thin layer of smoke, settles over the customers in this College St. lounge. Two guys with heavy eyelids recline into a loveseat with a FIFA soccer videogame. In a booth, young men nod their heads to the tunes of LCD Sound system, gorging on potato chips. Unlike other establishments along this bustling strip, no one is acting rowdy or being too loud. It's almost eerily quiet. Everyone is chill. [continues 746 words]
Cannabis (marijuana) prohibition is one of North America's worst policy failures in history. There's no legitimate reason for Canada to continue it for another day. Cannabis prohibition produces underground markets, cartels, increased hard drug addiction rates, contempt for drug laws, eroded constitutional rights, loss of freedom, escalated prison populations, corrupt politicians, race discrimination, trillions of dollars in wasted taxes and the list is growing faster than the plant itself. The sooner Canada ends cannabis prohibition the sooner the sky will stop falling in. A sane argument to continue cannabis prohibition doesn't exist. Everyone interested in this debate is watching the events Colorado closely. [end]
The quickest way to turn a liberal into a conservative is to take away his doobie. Faster than you can say "that ain't your grandma's brownie," he'll abandon his devotion to Big Government and start sounding like a member of the Confederate Army, spouting off about states' rights. The states he will likely point to are Colorado and Washington, which have decided to let their stressed-out, anxiety-ridden citizens kick back with some organic happy fibers without having to worry about The Man breathing down their necks. [continues 953 words]
Legalization will make things worse because of one simple and plain consumer reality - more access to drugs (legal or illegal) leads to more drugs on the street that, in turn, equates to more drug use and abuse. The proponents of legalization mistakenly believe we can all use drugs just like alcohol in moderation and without serious consequences. However, in real environments with little family or social structures that practice and teach self discipline and responsibility, there is an opposite effect. Independent of the "no different than alcohol" argument, why add another easily available substance to the scene? [continues 76 words]
Re: "It's not deadly, stupid," by Don Chase, Wednesday Letters. There is a lot of discussion about marijuana following the Colorado legalization. U.S. society has made major progress in reducing tobacco use, but has done little to curb our No. 1 drug addiction, which is alcohol use. I submit that the political control of addictive or intoxicating substances is much more about tax revenue than any consideration for public welfare. John Helmer, McKinney [end]
I disagree with those who say that legalizing marijuana would make life more difficult for the poor. I believe legalization would make life less difficult for the poor. The stage for legalization of marijuana will be rife with references to gateway drug and effects upon the poor, but in actuality the poor will be less affected by the prosecution of a petty crime like simple marijuana possession, which the middle class and rich are mostly able to avoid. The truth is the effects are much less than any one beer or wine sold by the gallons in grocery stores. It is difficult to defend the enormous costs of enforcement on a stretched law enforcement department by petty marijuana use. James Carraway, Addison [end]
Clark County commissioners signaled Wednesday they are considering an effective ban on all marijuana-related operations. With a six-month moratorium set to expire in February, commissioners said during a work session Wednesday they will need to issue another moratorium because they know they won't have an ordinance on marijuana adopted in time. They also directed staff to prepare a draft ordinance modeled after Pierce County's, which sets restrictions on marijuana facilities but includes a whopper of a caveat: "No application for a marijuana-licensed business shall be approved by Pierce County until such time as marijuana is removed from the schedule of controlled substances at 21 U.S.C. sec. 812(c) as evidenced by a slip law available from the Library of Congress." [continues 989 words]
Re: "Founding Fathers' role in pot law - They left sizable powers to states; as a result, we' ll learn from Colorado, says Tom Keane," Tuesday Viewpoints column. Columnist Tom Keane erred in calling Smart Approaches to Marijuana a "credible" organization. Their forced-treatment approach threatens to marry the prison-industrial complex to shady for-profit treatment providers. Just as people who drink an occasional glass of wine with dinner don't need mandatory substance-abuse treatment, the vast majority of marijuana users don't, either. [continues 114 words]
Dying Patient Can Smoke in His Room SHERBROOKE, Que. - A patient with terminal cancer is smoking marijuana in his hospital room in Quebec's Eastern Townships in a case that politicians are watching closely. Quebec's health minister tells QMI Agency that he wants to see what the CHUS hospital does about Charles Bury's pot consumption before deciding whether or not to take action. Medicinal marijuana is legal in Canada, and Bury's doctor allowed him to smoke the drug, but the hospital has not sanctioned the move. [continues 182 words]
Legalization Is Harder Than It Sounds - Justin Trudeau and Other Proponents Need to Provide Answers Unexpected potholes are popping up on the road to legal pot. Amid polls showing a majority of North Americans favouring legalization, new voices of caution are challenging the views of the weed liberationists who would tax and regulate cannabis like any other state-sanctioned high. These apparent killjoys are not the usual suspects tsk-tsking in disapprobation. No one is surprised to see the federal Conservatives seize on Justin Trudeau's support for legalization as a wedge issue to mobilize their base and cast doubt on the Liberal Leader's moral probity. It's more surprising to hear prominent yuppie voices express doubt about the wisdom of legalizing recreational pot. [continues 840 words]
