cannabisnews.com: Drug Czar Wants Tougher Stance Against Marijuana
Drug Czar Wants Tougher Stance Against Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on June 13, 2002 at 09:41:24 PT
By CBC News Online Staff
Source: CBC
Canada can have a medicinal marijuana program, but the U.S. government believes the drug is dangerous and addictive, the United States' drug policy chief said Wednesday. John Walters told scientists attending a convention on drug dependency in Quebec City that addiction rates for marijuana are rising in the U.S. More than 200 Canadians have federal clearance to smoke medical marijuana. "People my age – baby-boomers who have children – do not believe that's possible," Walters said.
"They went to college, they watched movies like Reefer Madness, they had friends who experimented and they do not believe that you can have a dependency on marijuana." "We have research that suggests otherwise." He added that of the 4.3 million Americans drug addicts, 65 per cent are dependent on marijuana. The Marijuana Party is worried Walters is trying to dictate marijuana policy in Canada, where the federal government has taken a more liberal approach to the drug. "We are happy to have Americans come and spend their hard-earned money in Canada as tourists, but we would hope that they check their policies, guns and other dangerous materials at the border," said Marijuana Party leader Marc-Boris St-Maurice. Patients with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis can apply for clearance from Ottawa to smoke marijuana for pain relief. More than 200 Canadians have the clearance. Walters said he won't interfere with Canadian drug policy, but he doesn't want it to lead to drugs moving across the border. Complete Title: U.S. Drug Chief Calls for Tougher Stance Against Marijuana In Depth: Medical Marijuana: http://cbc.ca/news/indepth/background/medical_marijuana.htmlNewshawk: puff_tuffSource: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Published: Thusday, June 13, 2002Copyright: 2002 CBCWebsite: http://www.cbc.ca/Contact: cbcinput toronto.cbc.caRelated Articles & Web Sites:BC Marijuana Partyhttp://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmDrug Czar Visits Canada Wants Tougher War on Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13109.shtmlCommittee Invites Advice on Legalizing Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13045.shtmlCanada: The Debate Over Decriminalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12697.shtmlShould We Treat Pot Like Tobacco? Senators Ask http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12696.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by qqqq on June 14, 2002 at 05:45:35 PT
The Chill Down The Spine
...yes indeed DocZombie...not only does this czar send chills up my spine,,my chagrin is such,that I also turn white as a ghost,,and the hairs on my ass stand on end,,and then pluck themselves from the goose pimples that they sprouted from,,and flee in terror towards the nearest..........anyway this new czar is a bennettesque psycho-freak...he's far more scary than any drug!
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Comment #4 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on June 14, 2002 at 04:21:31 PT
John Walters, Concerned Citizen
***Walters said he won't interfere with Canadian drug policy, but he doesn't want it to lead to drugs moving across the border. *******1) Yet another reference to the mythical Canadian Border.2) Cannabis is NOT addictive. All walters and Team Bush can do is re-tell historically and easily refutable lies. If it was addictive, cannabis would already be like alcohol and tobacco: Nobody does studies to prove how bad they are, its COMMON KNOWLWDGE around the world. Cannabis's relative safety and medical benefits are likewise known, but intelligent research would be able to unlock the potential, as Guy Pharmaceuticles is doing in England. When is Walters going to go tell GW Pharm (an uncomfortable similarity to another, less pleasant GW) that they need to keep America informed of its development of dangerously effective medications that will challenge Petrochemical phamacology?3) John Walters attempting to seem reasonable sends a chill down my spine, for I am sure this is comparable to The Big BAd Wolf telling Red Riding Hood he will not interfere with her rights to make her own plans. "I wouldnt think of interfering with your trip to Grandma's house, leetle gurly".(The Big BAd Wolf got a head's up from John Ashcroft after the FBI bugged leetle red riding hoods' phone and carnivored all her e-mail.)(And this story ends in a home invasion, kidnapping and murder, like a lot of other stories related to American Drug Policy.)Did this make ANY sense?FREEDOM ENDURES
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on June 13, 2002 at 11:36:25 PT
Naaps
I've been looking high and low trying to find that article. Puff_tuff sent it to me last night because when I checked my mail filter I saw it but I never received it. I've searched the web site and can't find it. I sent puff_tuff a private e-mail to get back with me. I would really like to post it but I can't verify it yet but as soon as I do I will post it.
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Comment #2 posted by Naaps on June 13, 2002 at 11:22:14 PT
Media Concerns
I had been looking forward to hearing news of a protest aimed at John Walters at the CPDD meeting, at the Quebec City Conference Centre. Previously, I had sent an email to Marc Boris St. Maurice warning of the visit, asking that cannabis supporters be organized for a demonstration. My email was never acknowledged, and it appears from the paucity of news that no demonstration occurred.This CBC article doesn’t mention it, but according to an article posted by Puff Tuff in the CannabisCulture, News and Events forum, John Walters had a special meeting with the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/cgi/www5.4.4/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=current&Number=272971&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=Interestingly, while the article is attributed to the Globe and Mail, a search for it on their website fails to find it. Several weeks ago, I found an pertinent cannabis article in the paper edition of the National Post, but searching for it on their website failed to find it. This suggests to me that these newspapers do curtail information. Similarly, these newspapers prefer articles, which ultimately are snipped before being posted onto MAPinc.Activists such as Randy Caine and Alan Randell are often outspoken in their criticism of the media for not presenting an accurate balanced view of drug use."It's the bullshit of the mainstream media...Often over the years I've been asked by people on the street, or by reporters, or interviews, what I believe it might take for drug policy to actually become a reality, in Canada, drug policy reform and we've always bantered around the idea of whether it's the politicians, or whether it's the courts, or whether it's the police, or whether it's the community at large, that is somehow blocking this thing. There seems to be lots of discussion, everyone knows that everyone is feeling we ought to change. Well, what I came to a very clear realization on Monday was - what's preventing it - is mainstream media. They are the final messenger, and in fact, what Karen and I were hoping to bring forward was balanced, fair, honest dialogue for an issue that is, I think, one of the foremost social pressing issues that needs to be addressed in a balanced way, and we've been prevented, very much so, like what you say, by the media, print and otherwise. They will only detail what they feel is sensational, what is important to them, and so I'm very, very suspect now of media." Randy Caine, Cannabis Nation Radio Hour, November 8th, 2000.“How did the politicians win our approval, or at least our acceptance, of such a manifestly evil crusade? The media, in two ways. First, it immerses us in a torrent of "objective" accounts of the mayhem without allowing the victims' stories to be told. Gradually we are persuaded "they only have themselves to blame." Second, the media never misses an opportunity to allow those who profit from the drug laws ( cops, drug experts, prosecutors, politicians ) to tell their stories while allowing only the occasional letter from those who oppose the law. As to why do the media support a brutal government pogrom like our drug laws, I can only surmise that tragedy, suffering and war sell more newspapers and leads to higher TV ratings than happiness, contentment and peace.” From Alan Randell in a printed letter in the Burlington Post, dated April 10th.I look forward to reading the transcript of Walters’ testimony to the Senate Committee. Typically, it takes a couple weeks for testimony to be posted on their website.
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on June 13, 2002 at 10:18:04 PT
Bullshit
He added that of the 4.3 million Americans drug addicts, 65 per cent are dependent on marijuana. http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/1728.94154 - Go there and read: "There are still 50 million Americans
that smoke. and also "First, a cigarette is nothing but a delivery device for
premature death.The number of alcoholics is estimated at between 15 and 30 million in the United States. That's about 7-15% of all adults. : http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:nZOpZP9Y9WQC:justsaynotoaddicts.com/pdf/ch2.pdf++%22number+of+alcoholics%22&hl=en&lr=lang_enI realize numbers can vary and in the book Practicing Alcoholics and Behaviors: Why Just About Any Behavior is Possible by Doug Thorburn the Drug Addiction Recognition Expert, Copyright ©2002 as seen at-http://justsaynotoaddicts.com/practicingalcoholics.html -Alcoholics, who comprise only 10% of the U.S. population, are involved in as much as 80-90% of violent crime.People in a office such as Drug Bizarre that say there are 4.3 million addicts in this country and think there needs to be a war on people that use marijuana are inept- as in dickhead, with the word shithead quite acceptable to me.1
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