cannabisnews.com: It's Time To Stop Calling The Pot Black





It's Time To Stop Calling The Pot Black
Posted by FoM on November 10, 2001 at 07:45:48 PT
By Mindelle Jacobs -- Edmonton Sun
Source: Edmonton Sun
Emily Murphy, one of the "Famous Five," was right on the mark in her fight for women's rights but a shameless charlatan where pot was concerned. In her 1922 book, The Black Candle, Murphy, Canada's first female judge, declared that marijuana users become "completely insane," lose moral responsibility and even kill. It was her anti-pot crusade, in fact, that resulted in the prohibition of marijuana in the first place. 
As a University of Toronto public health expert recently told the Senate committee reviewing our drug laws, there was no reason, health or otherwise, to ban cannabis. Canada criminalized pot in the 1920s because of U.S. propaganda about the drug, U of T professor Benedikt Fischer told the Senate committee. In the blink of an eye, with little debate or evidence of the risks associated with pot, our politicians banned one of the most benign drugs on the planet. Canadians long ago dismissed the hysteria that marijuana turns people into killers and lunatics. But the Canadian Police Association seems bent on spreading a parallel mythology - although not to the laughable extremes of the anti-pot crusaders of a century ago. Even the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police supports the decriminalization of pot for personal use, in conjunction with drug-education programs and treatment for abusers. But the CPA is dead against the liberalization of our drug laws, claiming marijuana is dangerous. Just this week, CPA president Grant Obst repeated the association's position that loosening our drug laws will lead to the use of harder drugs. The association used similar scare tactics during its submission to the Senate drug committee in May, where it said it prefers enforcement over a public health approach. "There is abundant proof that proponents of drug legalization seek to normalize illicit drug use," CPA executive director David Griffin told the committee. "Marijuana is internationally recognized as a gateway drug for other drug use," Regina police officer Dale Orban added. Wrong on both counts. The CPA is misrepresenting the message that health professionals have been stating for years. The current drug laws are virtually ineffective in deterring people from using drugs. The groups pressing for less restrictive laws have never suggested society should condone drug use. They're saying we need a balanced approach that combines education and treatment programs with punishment that fits the crime. You have to ask yourself why you can get six months in jail for pot possession when tobacco and booze, which are vastly more dangerous, incur no criminal sanctions. If our drug laws are based on health concerns, why are tobacco and alcohol, which kill thousands of people a year, legal? In contrast, pot's adverse health effects are relatively minor. If our laws are based on morality, the state's spending millions of dollars annually to wag its finger at us. And the cops have no time or resources to hunt down real criminals anymore. As for the notion that pot leads to the use of harder substances, all the credible researchers agree that marijuana is not a gateway drug. The vast majority (98%) of pot smokers don't progress to harder drugs, B.C. medical officer of health Dr. Perry Kendall told the Senate committee in September. As for those who do go on to harder drugs, it's too simplistic to blame pot, according to Kendall. The more likely explanation is that a variety of factors, including family relationships and youth rebellion, are to blame, he believes. Tobacco is the real gateway drug, he told the committee. But you don't hear the CPA calling for a cigarette ban. Earlier this week, I wrote that repeat killer Harvey Andres could apply for parole with respect to his first murder conviction. I was wrong. Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Author: Mindelle Jacobs -- Edmonton SunPublished: November 10, 2001 Copyright: 2001 Canoe Limited PartnershipContact: sun.letters ccinet.ab.ca Website: http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/ Related Articles & Web Site:FTE's Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmWhen Will The Haze Clear?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11305.shtmlCriminal Possession Law is Reefer Madnesshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11272.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on November 11, 2001 at 06:49:17 PT
Ashcroft's gonna be mad....
Yeah...they talk now, but has canada cleared their policies with John Ashcroft yet? he won't appreciate being left out of that loop, even though it's technically another country, altogether. He's pretty important now. thta he's obliterated the US Constitution for the furtherence of his religous zealotry. (Jesus wants him to harrass and arrest the sick, you know. That's what Jeeeesus wants...) He won't like Canada deciding to allow, even provide, that evil terrible medical cannabis to those ungrateful, non-votin dying marijuana addicts. Hell, he probly figures that they're just fakin it, anyway.I can't help but think If I had stolen the elections here and had grabbed all the power Ashcroft has, people would be happy with me - largely. Id use that power for Good. I have no need to control other people who aren't bothering me:
legalize the weed, figure out, once and for all what to actually do with hard drugs (I won;t pretend to know for sure), protect the concept of Confidentiality and the Doctor patient relationship. Id find a way to promote the end of the impact of racism while allowing people the freedom to be racists..if they just have to be. *My acceptance speech*My Fellow Americans..as your New Attorney general I promise no soft treatment of REAL crime. We will go back to Policing our streets and cities, and abandon prosecution for profit. we will review and suspend the use of all unconstitutional "tools" but we will nonetheless be the bane of the genuine criminals existence.It is a new day and we are going to do our jobs as well as they have ever been done..... Let's roll.FREEDOM ENDURES
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Comment #1 posted by null on November 10, 2001 at 09:32:56 PT
wow! facts :)
yay Canadian press! Of course I enjoyed reading this article because it argues our collective point. But you'll notice an important detail in this article: well researched facts! The author traced much of the history of the demonization of marijuana in Canada. Then the current antis' retoric is presesented and rebuked with even more facts!Of course, this article is an editorial opinion. But the important distintion is that the opinion is researched and buffeted by articulable data.And still not a peep in the U.S. propaga... er news.
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