cannabisnews.com: Canada Warned Not To Relax Drug Laws
Canada Warned Not To Relax Drug Laws
Posted by CN Staff on July 18, 2002 at 08:47:38 PT
By Janice Tibbetts, National Post
Source: National Post
Canada would hamper the aggressive U.S. war on drugs by adopting a "lax policy"of decriminalizing possession of marijuana, says the head of drug enforcement in the United States.Asa Hutchinson, director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, predicted that more Canadian-grown pot would end up south of the border if Justice Minister Martin Cauchon decides to relax Canadian law.
"It would probably complicate things somewhat for the U.S.," Hutchinson said in an interview."If you have lax marijuana policies right across the border, where possession of marijuana is not considered criminal conduct, that invites U.S. citizens into Canada for marijuana use and that will increase the likelihood that both U.S. citizens and Canadian citizens will bring back the Canadian marijuana across the border for distribution and sale."Hutchinson also fears that any shift in policy in Canada or Britain, which announced last week it will relax marijuana laws, will rejuvenate a debate on marijuana decriminalization in the United States at a time when the administration is determined to keep the drug strictly illegal."We have great respect for Canada and Britain as well, and if they start shifting policies with regards to marijuana it simply increases the rumblings in this country that we ought to re-examine our policy," said Hutchinson. "It is a distraction from a firm policy on drug use."The U.S. policy was reinforced last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals, which upheld that marijuana is a dangerous drug with a high potential for abuse.The court said marijuana should remain classified as a Schedule 1 drug, the most restrictive classification under the Controlled Substances Act.Hutchinson also rejects legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?id=31E9741A-5153-45B9-B106-5963CBE07C6E Source: National Post (Canada)Author: Janice Tibbetts, National Post Published: Thursday, July 18, 2002Copyright: 2002 Southam Inc.Contact: letters nationalpost.comWebsite: http://www.nationalpost.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPot Policy Scandalizes Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13146.shtmlDrug Czar Wants Tougher Stance Against Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13116.shtmlDrug Czar Visits Canada Wants Tougher War on Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13109.shtml
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Comment #42 posted by Dankhank on July 20, 2002 at 07:11:24 PT:
Ann........
a shrill, anorexic harridan who honed her skills on MSNBC sniggering at Clinton while seeking the stool with the highest seat in order to display her painfully thin legs clad in the shortest mini-skirt allowable on TV as a pitiful emblem of "sucess."She is deliberatly rude, overpowering even Bill O'reilly their last meeting. Should you ever get to debate her consider using a stimulant since she appears to be a speed-freak.
Hemp N Stuff
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Comment #41 posted by qqqq on July 19, 2002 at 12:03:28 PT
.....I May...
..have missed an "l",,in "pollyanna"......I was too lazy to look it up...how anomoious.
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Comment #40 posted by qqqq on July 19, 2002 at 12:00:08 PT
....ha-ha...
..dont be fooled by dddds' polyanna charade about how great it is in Outer Space!.......dddd never mentions how long it takes to get into Outer Space....I've heard it's a lenghthy and complicated process,,and once you finally get there,,to Outer Space,,all the stuff dddd told you would be there,,is NOT THERE!......It's a Burn!!!...
..I've known dddd for years!...he's little more than a delusioned flower child FREAK!...he's wigged out in some stubborn la-la land of obtuse verbosity.........dont be fooled by his seductively convincing freako-babble...he's never even been to Utah!
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Comment #39 posted by Industrial Strength on July 19, 2002 at 11:42:07 PT
Utah is a scary place regardless
I would rather be in outerspace with that dddd dude.
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Comment #38 posted by pppp on July 19, 2002 at 11:33:40 PT
...touchy breeds....
.."We as a nation are somewhat powerless. Canadians are a strange breed. We have a national identity crises, an
insecurity complex. Most Canadians are needlessly touchy (myself included) when it comes to alot of things."
....so I guess you can imagine that us Americans,,who see what is going on,,are "touchy",too!..I dont know about 'needlessly',,but I always approach life with a global perspective.....to put it quite bluntly,,,things are far more fucked than any nationalistic touchyness alarm! ....ya know,,us old Hippies can be quite touchy......even if we are Canadian!.......The "war on terror",has given new meaning to the term "national pride"!...I am an American Patriot,and I love America,,,but my America is not represented by the rulers of the US empire.....I hate to get mushy/cliche',,,but I consider all people on Earth to be humans like I am....we all have red blood,,and we are each and every one of us,,,SPECIAL! .........I'd be scared shitless of what's going on if I was from any country!!!...fuck....come to think of it,,I'm kinda scared shitless to be living here in Utah!
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Comment #37 posted by Industrial Strength on July 19, 2002 at 10:28:16 PT
of course!!!
How could you think I would ever think otherwise?! You've been living amongst the damned for too long :P
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Comment #36 posted by BGreen on July 19, 2002 at 10:26:20 PT
Ouch
but the blind followers seem somewhat retarded to me.I hope you know some of us are held hostage, and are not in any way "blind followers."
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Comment #35 posted by Industrial Strength on July 19, 2002 at 10:18:21 PT
well
The people behind the power are intelligent, albeit evil, but the blind followers seem somewhat retarded to me.
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Comment #34 posted by Industrial Strength on July 19, 2002 at 10:15:57 PT
powerless
We as a nation are somewhat powerless. Canadians are a strange breed. We have a national identity crises, an insecurity complex. Most Canadians are needlessly touchy (myself included) when it comes to alot of things.
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Comment #33 posted by dddd on July 19, 2002 at 10:15:39 PT
..I Beg to Differ Indy...
"We are a mouse curled up next to
a retarded elephant."
....there is nothing "retarded",about the Evil Elephant From Helll!!...retarded is retarded!,,,,evil is evil!..I feel sorry for the "retarded",,,,,I do not "feel sorry" for the Elephant!.....dddd
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Comment #32 posted by BGreen on July 19, 2002 at 10:06:52 PT
I have no beef
We tell Canada to stand up to the USA because we ourselves are powerless. It's not a condemnation of you or your country, Industrial Strength, it's a cry for help.
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Comment #31 posted by Industrial Strength on July 19, 2002 at 10:03:51 PT
attack?
Every day we are attacked. Not with planes and bombs and tanks, but there are plenty of other ways to attack a country. I didnt mean "killed" in a literal sense. Are mice really afraid of elephants? Isn't that an oldwives tale? Would you prefer rabbit and elephant? How about squirrel and elephant? Is your beef with the retarded part?
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Comment #30 posted by BGreen on July 19, 2002 at 09:59:11 PT
Industrial Strength
The US won't attack Canada, and elephants are afraid of mice.
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Comment #29 posted by Industrial Strength on July 19, 2002 at 09:56:36 PT
Canucks
It irks me a little when people say "why can't Canada just grow a spine and stand up for themselves" ect. Why? Because we would be killed. It is in out best intrest as a nation to kowtow to the United States. We are a mouse curled up next to a retarded elephant.
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Comment #28 posted by john wayne on July 19, 2002 at 09:41:51 PT
drug reformers should give Ann Coulter
a very wide berth. Avoid her like the plaugue. Don't be confused by her making "juh-HEE-ziz" noises. She is a prime example of the wanna-be Merrykin Jihad.
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Comment #27 posted by John Tyler on July 19, 2002 at 09:40:49 PT
Kemba background
Sorry I missed that one. Kemba was a student at Hampton University in Virginia. Her boyfriend was a small time dealer in the area (crack and weed mostly). The cops were on his trail. He gets killed in a deal gone bad. The cops want to get somebody, so they go for her. She can't make a deal and inform on anybody higher up because she doesn't know anything or anybody. She should have gotten probation at most, but she is black. There is crack. She gets the max. (The maximum for crack was designed for blacks.) It was a big deal there. The NAACP got involved. Clinton finally pardoned her on his last day in office. (What a weasel.)
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Comment #26 posted by Zero_G on July 19, 2002 at 01:22:16 PT
In Her Own Words...
We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war. Ann Coulter
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Comment #25 posted by FoM on July 18, 2002 at 21:07:12 PT
BGreen
How can I say this without saying it. Ann does agree with some things. That's all I should say.The show was great! I couldn't believe that Phil Donahue was so fired up about being on Governor Johnson's side. I will watch him more often now. I thought he would be against reform but he's for it! Yahoo!!!!
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Comment #24 posted by BGreen on July 18, 2002 at 20:56:58 PT
Asa is a f'ing fool
He was the backward, inbred, jackass we expected him to be.He needs to go to prison.Phil brought out the worst in him.BTW, Ann Coultier has been trashed in every interview I've seen her do, hawking the POS book she wrote. She's full of crap, and even Katie Couric tore her up. Fiesty, maybe, but intelligent, not on your life.
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on July 18, 2002 at 20:35:14 PT
Ann
She is a fiesty lady. I talked to her a few time a couple years ago on a chat at MSNBC. She signed my guest book a long time ago. I thought that was cool. It was a private message.
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on July 18, 2002 at 20:32:38 PT
Kemba is on Now
Way to go Phil Donahue!!!Thanks xxdr_zombiexx
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Comment #21 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 18, 2002 at 20:32:09 PT
FOM
Yes! Her! Thanx.And the Ann Coulter is on right before them..so I hope you get to see it. :DWho is the Coulter Character? She seems very very annoying....Rush Limbaugh in a little black dress...
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on July 18, 2002 at 20:19:46 PT
Are Drug Laws Unfair?
It says it will be about the drug war but Donahue is talking to Ann Coulter. I hope they will be on later. Keeping my fingers crossed.PS: Kemba Smith is the lady.http://www.msnbc.com/news/donahue_front.asp
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on July 18, 2002 at 20:12:02 PT
xxdr_zombiexx
Do you mean that was on The Phil Donahue Program? It's coming on the satellite right now! No it's Ann Coultier. bummer
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Comment #18 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 18, 2002 at 19:58:41 PT
Phil, Gary, Asa, and a lady pardoned by Clinton
were all on MSNBC this evening as I ate tortellini at a friends home.Like Cowan says, "We are winning".I had never seen Hutchinson nor Johnson, so it was very interesting for me.Phil was jumping on the War on Drugs with both feet. Gary Johnson is a good and forceful speaker - he has his thoughts togeher and makes use of his time. He jumped on the War on Drugs with both feet, too.Gary Johnson was on TV saying marijauna should be legalized. I was doin' the Happy Dance.Hutchinson....is another story. He gets his suits from the same people Ashcroft does. He is NOT an effective speaker, and Id like to be able to say he is. Bur he ain't.He reminds me of a polite and polished Rush Limbaugh. He's not loud or foul like Limbaugh, but he has only one thing on his mind and he does not tolerate confrontation well at all. Governor Johnson, for what I saw of this scene, was polite and not doggin Hutchinson, but Phil was pleading with him to explain the rationale of this young woman who was sentenced to 24.5 years in Federal Prison for holding money her "boyfriend" made selling drugs.He scratched at the backsides of his hands and sought ways to remain on his topic without acknowledging this poor young woman had been raped by the Police, The Prosecuters, Mandatory Minimums...the whole freakin system. Clinton, the sole cause of all modern problems it seems, pardoned this lady and Im damn glad he did. She was only costing $22,500 a year to keep in prison, by the way. she confronted him with that.Hats off to Phil, to Governor Johnson, and to this young lady - Im damn sorry I forgot her name. And to MSNBC - because I could NOT believe what I was seeing or hearing on the "TV". It was language and thought that I only see here and other legalization sites on the Net.Hopefully we'll be seeing a LOT more reality TV like this!
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Comment #17 posted by MrNatural on July 18, 2002 at 19:06:37 PT:
Canada Warned not to relax pot laws?
Just who is running Canada, Asa Hutchinson, director of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration or the Canadians? How would the US feel if Canada had RCMP drug folk working in the US and constantly meddled in US affairs. Canada needs to get a spine and tell the US to take a hike!
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Comment #16 posted by freedom fighter on July 18, 2002 at 18:09:21 PT
DARN, IT IS A DISTRACTION!
Oh, joy to the world, it is a distraction!Asa have announced it is a DISTRACTION!BRAVO, BRAVO...It's all kanuks's fault!Yipppie, oh, joy to the world, it is a distraction!Oh, poor Asa, 5 years from now, dressed in a strait-jacket, mumbling, "I'm confused. It is a firm policy!" over and over again...ff
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Comment #15 posted by ekim on July 18, 2002 at 17:55:10 PT
today guy from StoptheDrugwar called C-Span
The Ambassador of Netherlands was on. Right after a reporter from the WP I think. That was talking about how the two parties are treating drug perscribtions for the elderly. I wanted to ask the Dutch man how making MMJ available to patients is working. But most all calls were very positive. Thanks to the Stopthedrugwar guy. The following was printed today in our local paper. Letter to Ed.
Pub. Date July 18-2002
Kalamazoo Gazette MI.
Author Mike Dooley
Title -- Stop black market in cigarettes Michigan passed the third largest cigarette tax in the nation, all to
balance the $500 million budget shortfall. In Kalamazoo the people are being
asked for $148 million for a new jail complex.When the inmates are early released guess what? There is always someone
released for cannabis. So we will let out those least likely to pose any
threat to the people. How many cannabis users are being locked up? What is
this costing the people of Michigan when this is happening all across the
state? We should stop the black market and tax cannabis. Great Britain will lower the penalties for cannabis July 10 to a Class C
offense. Nevada will vote on a cannabis ballot petition this November.
Marijuana would be taxed like cigarettes and other tobacco products and
sold in state-licensed shops. And a distribution system would be set up to
provide low-cost medical marijuana. The only governor candidate to call for
the medical use of cannabis is Rep. David Bonior. Info at
WWW.Cannabisnews.com Mike Dooley
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Comment #14 posted by mayan on July 18, 2002 at 16:10:12 PT
Dumb Policy
"We have great respect for Canada and Britain as well, and if they start shifting policies with regards to marijuana it simply increases the rumblings in this country that we ought to re-examine our policy," said Hutchinson. "It is a distraction from a firm policy on drug use."What good is a firm policy if is a dumb policy?
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on July 18, 2002 at 13:14:56 PT
Kevin
Our government will sure try but that's not us. We're the good guys and want the laws to be changed for all of you.
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Comment #12 posted by Kevin Spencer on July 18, 2002 at 13:09:18 PT
America
America better not fuck this up for Canada. Thats all i got to say.
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Comment #11 posted by Prime on July 18, 2002 at 12:38:12 PT
Keep talking Asa...
The more you open your mouth, the better it is going to get for our cause. Your position is indefensible, and you know it. Every word out of your mouth is being scrutinized, and your inability to tell the truth is being recorded over and over.If we can get you and Walters to start touring together, we should be able to end the drug war by the end of the year.
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Comment #10 posted by freakmonk on July 18, 2002 at 11:42:22 PT
Go all the way Kanuks
Why does'nt Canada just legalize pot instead of decrim? That would solve the problems associated with big, black market grow ops stealing power, and the US wouldnt have to worry as much about bigtime smuggling-im not so sure on that last point though. But legalized pot would be regulated, and taxed, like Amsterdam. The price of it would go down killing the incentive of grow ops perhaps, but thats just speculation. Anyway, I hope Canada stands it's ground on this issue, and ignores threats from the US.
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Comment #9 posted by MikeEEEEE on July 18, 2002 at 11:00:23 PT
Canadians
Forget get about the storm troopers down south, choose your own destiny.
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Comment #8 posted by BGreen on July 18, 2002 at 10:56:56 PT
Canada, Our 51st State!
That's what our gov't thinks you are, my Canadian brothers and sisters! Tell your gov't what you think. Our gov't doesn't respect your sovereignty or intelligence. You're nothing but lowlife's like the rest of the citizens of the USA, incapable of thinking for yourselves.
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Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on July 18, 2002 at 10:52:02 PT
The DEA is seriously hooked on marijuana
From a budgetary point of view, the size of their organization is bureaucratically justified by the size of the marijuana market in the US.So they'd be feeling some awful withdrawal symptoms if they were forced to quit chasing weed.Like layoffs and spending cuts.They have every reason to fight like hell to hold on to their federal monopoly over marijuana.
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Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on July 18, 2002 at 10:42:00 PT
Puritans
The only hard-on they can get is for marijuana.
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Comment #5 posted by JSM on July 18, 2002 at 09:48:44 PT
Last thing they want is to rejuvenate the debate!
We can not have a democracy, even a so called representative democracy, without free flowing ideas. It is from the give and take of debate and hearing the other side that we can reach a consensus and move forward. Obviously the last thing this administration wants is an exchange of any ideas that they dislike. So what type of government does that give us? Not a democracy that is certain!
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Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on July 18, 2002 at 09:28:35 PT
Maybe....
..they should have used it when then had still had it, back in college, instead of going to Bob Jones with bunch of fellow repressed virgins! Then marrying some mannish-looking prude like Tipper Gore. How sad, to be a depraved, aging Puritan, filled with bitterness for the young....
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on July 18, 2002 at 09:25:59 PT
Oh, I bet Asa would like to be firm again
These old men love to use words like "soft on marijuana" or "must keep a firm policy" when ridiculing common-sense reform. They can't get their withered members to function anymore, they're desperate to have SOMETHING that's hard....
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Comment #2 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 18, 2002 at 09:02:52 PT
Aide to President Threatens Canadian Sovereignty
Sounds like when the Mob comes to tell you it'dbe a shame if something in your store got broke...or if you met with, say,...some unfortunate accident..wouldn't it?We'd hate to see that happen. Now, we know it's not our place to butt in, but, you know, we could make sure nothing funny transpires as long as you adopt our lunatic vision and not change your laws. We are having a difficult time suppressing our own free thinkers.Id legalize immediately, just to let the US know where the National Boundaries are drawn.
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on July 18, 2002 at 09:02:50 PT
They are BLINKING
"We have great respect for Canada and Britain as well, and if they start shifting policies with regards to marijuana it simply increases the rumblings in this country that we ought to re-examine our policy," said Hutchinson. "It is a distraction from a firm policy on drug use."
So you feel distracted by rumblings, do you, Asa?Don't feel as firm as you used to?Maybe you should try eating a good breakfast in the morning.Go to a nice hotel if you're not at home.Don't blame me though if the people at the hotel are rumbling too.Your organization has ruined enough breakfasts in our town, Lord knows.I think the rumbling are only going to get louder.Prepare to be distracted!
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