cannabisnews.com: Canada Not Ready for Legal Pot: Justice Minister





Canada Not Ready for Legal Pot: Justice Minister
Posted by FoM on February 15, 2002 at 09:29:12 PT
By Janice Tibbetts, Vancouver Sun 
Source: Vancouver Sun 
Canada's new justice minister said Thursday he is against legalizing marijuana, even possession of small amounts. "Being minister of justice is to make sure that we keep having legislation that reflects our society," Martin Cauchon said. "To legalize marijuana, as a general point of view, I don't think we're there yet." Cauchon stressed that the country should focus on whether Ottawa's recent move of permitting marijuana smoking for medicinal purposes is working rather than jump into legalization of pot for the general public.
"Let's start at that very first step," he said in a brief interview after concluding his first meeting with his provincial counterparts.The federal government was forced by the Ontario Court of Appeal almost two years ago to permit marijuana smoking for medicinal purposes.Cauchon's position appears to be a bit of a retreat from that of his predecessor, Anne McLellan, who maintained during her tenure that decriminalizing marijuana for recreational purposes merits debate.The prospect is being examined by a House of Commons committee, which was formed last year to examine illicit drugs. A Senate committee has also undertaken a study of drug laws and has heard mainly from witnesses pushing for decriminalization.There has been growing pressure on the federal government to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, including a call from the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which said last year that the more than 1.5 million Canadians who smoke pot should not risk being saddled with a criminal record.Note: Wait and see if medicinal use works, new cabinet minister says. Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)Author: Janice Tibbetts, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, February 15, 2002Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2002Contact: sunletters pacpress.southam.caWebsite: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmCanada Moves Toward Decriminalizing Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9892.shtmlRock Open To Debate on Pot Legalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9851.shtml 
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Comment #11 posted by Blaze on February 25, 2002 at 06:57:54 PT
The End Of Free Bizness
ok let'z say weed is legal. poof there. ok now I'll be the
state now taxs how much are you willing to pay #2
  If you sell it and make good money off it now just wait
till when anyone can buy at the supermarket.      The End of free biznessP.S  Fight the power
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on February 18, 2002 at 07:24:21 PT:
" 'Canada is not ready' "...for prosperity?
Imagine this:Sometime this year, Canadian pols are suddenly gripped with the realization that they are not, after all, non-voting citizens of the US. They suddenly rememeber, after waking from a seemingly deep anesthesia, that they are, in fact, Canadian citizens, that there is such a place as a sovereign nation called Canada. And they tell Uncle to take his DEA goons and go home. And decrim cannabis.Now imagine this: every person who is able and has a saleable skill - who also uses cannabis, either medicinally or recreationally - decides to apply for emigration. Taking those skills, those abilities - and all that lovely American currency to exchange with them?Children, the USA is run largely on Information Technology. A business without a computer network might as well take up residence in a museum, right now; it would sure save on the future moving costs, as they will wind up there eventually. In my estimation, at least one-third to one-half of those responsible for maintaining that infrastructure that holds businesses up are stoners. You figure it out. I've said it before: I'll happily learn to sing "O Canada!" and polish up mon Francaise for holiday jaunts to Quebec and take my pay in that delightfully multi-colored currency if I could live in a country that would leave me to go to Hell in my own way, thank you very much. And I am not alone, here.The Canux are worried about losing people to the US labor market. What do you think might happen if all those bright, inventive, driven, coffee-IV's-in-their-arms 'Net savvy stoners who really produce headed up their way?Keep it up, America; you allowed your industrial capability to be sent overseas, causing the massive imbalance in trade deficits we will never recover from; now, with the WoSD, you risk the flight of intellectual capital, as well. 
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Comment #9 posted by unknown pleasures on February 16, 2002 at 10:11:17 PT
we gotta wait for the amerikkkans to say it's OK
Yes of course the man is stalling. But what he really means is that America is not ready yet for Canadian legalization.I bet there's been some real behind-the-scenes pressure from Bush's henchmen to get Canada to tone down the legalization talk. After all, we don't want to stand accused of supporting terrorism by our American buddies, do we?
'Cause you know that the profits from fine BC bud go straight to Bin Laden himself.... 
The justice minister was adressing the Nazis in Washington when he made his remarks about 'us' not being ready yet.
What he was really saying was:
"We'll stand along-side your fascist drug policies for as long as our government can get away with it."
That's where the 'yet' comes in. 'Cause even he knows that they won't be able to hold out much longer against the sanity of legalization.I live in Canada, and this stuff is sick. They know they're wrong, they know they'll loose, but it's almost like they wanna cause as much misery as possible, while they can still get away with it.BLAAAAAAAH!!!!!excuse me, I must indulge in some 'herbal remedies' to cure that nauxious feeling.
  
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Comment #8 posted by SkyTripper on February 15, 2002 at 22:02:24 PT
Canada MUST legalize pot.....SOON
The American Empire is one of mass corruption, greed, racism and hate in all of their purest forms and MUST be condemned by EVERY civilized nation, including Canada. If ALL other international governments would go AGAINST the wishes of the United States' governmental bureaucratic BS and ultimate goal of global domination.......THEN, America would be forced to follow and play the game. As an American, I long for the day when a great nation, such as Canada, will buck the trend of their neighbor to the south and ignore the wishes of the American government.....for its 30 year "War on Drugs" IS insanity at its finest with ANY government to continue doing the same thing....over and over....always expecting a different result. The American government and judicial system has LOST its credibility and ALL integrity as a result of this madness and futile lost cause twice in one century. PROHIBITION on alcohol AND drugs....DOES NOT WORK!
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Comment #7 posted by Tim Stone on February 15, 2002 at 17:37:35 PT
Just a thought
Mr. Cauchon may here just be playing the political stall game. Or he may be signalling an attempt to appease the rabid dogs in the nation directly south. Or he may have inadequacy issues because his surname is one letter away from the French word for "pig." In any case, the moral abomination about what he's saying is that even though Mr. Cauchon realizes that cannabis use will one day not be a crime, there's no hurry. Canada should still continue to arrest cannabis users for an act that EVERYBODY KNOWS will become legal one day soon. Mr. Cauchon appears to think that even though he knows cannabis wil be legal one day - and therefore should not be a "crime" now - we must still allow the criminal justice juggernaut to continue to grind soon-to-be-innocent people underneath. If Mr. Cauchon can really say "I don't think we're there yet," he _should_ have issues with his last name. He is a pig. 
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Comment #6 posted by MikeEEEEE on February 15, 2002 at 11:17:01 PT
A wait and see attitude isn't proactive
Wait and see if medicinal use works, new cabinet minister says.I think he's stalling. I get this feeling a lot of countries are afraid to move because of the American empire.
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Comment #5 posted by goneposthole on February 15, 2002 at 10:29:56 PT
Tim McVeigh
He was white. He commited a heinous violent crime.I really don't think he was given any instructions from anybody of color.It is hard to get used to that. When a white person commits a violent act, people wonder what went wrong.When a person of color commits a violent act, people jump to the conclusion the violence occurred because of their color.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on February 15, 2002 at 10:27:53 PT
TroutMask
It was the most beautifully choreographed performance I have ever seen and to think she had a collision on the ice not long before they had to perform. I only watch the skating because it is beautiful and being a woman I really like that kind of stuff. I agree the Russians should keep their Gold Medal because it wasn't their fault. 
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Comment #3 posted by TroutMask on February 15, 2002 at 10:23:22 PT
Gold
I agree FoM. My wife made me watch the competition and it was so obvious that the Canadians won. I'm glad they're getting a gold, but I'm also glad the Russians aren't losing theirs since it wasn't their fault.-TM
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on February 15, 2002 at 10:17:09 PT
Way Way Off Topic
I don't want to stop this thread about the laws in Canada but they just said on the news that the Canadians will get a Gold Medal!!! I watched their performance and it was awesome. 
I'm very happy for them because they were robbed and they have behaved in such a dignified manner and just a big Way to Go Canada!!!!!
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on February 15, 2002 at 09:55:49 PT
Let's be very blunt here PLEASE!!!
Cauchon stressed that the country should focus on whether Ottawa's recent move of permitting marijuana smoking for medicinal purposes is working rather than jump into legalization of pot for the general publicThe real question they want to resolve by studying medical use is: Can white people use marijuana without turning black?Behind all of the heavily coded language about violence, criminality, intelligence, motivation and mental discipline, really it's all about race. Marijuana is a closet substitute for race paranoia in a modern society that is becoming increasingly less tolerant of open racism. And that's why the Clinton administration was afraid of medical marijuana -- because there is no way to racialize medical marijuana. White upper middle class Americans get sick, we all know that, and therefore medical marijuana users can't be treated like some suspect criminal underclass with racial aspersions being made on the their intelligence and propensity for violence.It's going to take the public a while to get used to this. As he said, they aren't ready YET.
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