cannabisnews.com: No Plans for Legal Pot





No Plans for Legal Pot
Posted by CN Staff on August 13, 2002 at 07:17:41 PT
By The Canadian Press
Source: Edmonton Sun 
The federal justice minister addressed corporate accountability and slammed the door on legalizing marijuana during a wide-ranging address to the Canadian Bar Association annual meeting yesterday. "Canada has no plans to legalize marijuana," Martin Cauchon said during his address. "I believe endorsing marijuana use might inflict harm on society and lead to greater problems."
But Cauchon said the country's drug laws deserve a closer look, and he didn't rule out decriminalizing marijuana. "I believe it's time for an open discussion about modernizing the criminal justice system in this regard." Many of Cauchon's Montreal constituents have told him simple possession should not lead to a criminal record, which denies access across borders and makes it hard to find a job, he said. That issue will be part of a wide-ranging round-table discussion Cauchon plans this fall as "a stock-taking" of Canada's criminal laws. He also addressed the recent corporate accounting scandals in American companies Enron and WorldCom that sent shockwaves through the investment community. He said his government will consider legislation if needed, but he stressed such corporate meltdowns have not happened here. But after Cauchon raised the issue yesterday, the Canadian Alliance quickly pounced on issues of credibility in the Liberal government. In a release, Canadian Alliance MP Vic Toews pointed out that the scandals in the United States came at the same time as questions about several Liberal ad contracts. "Instead of pointing fingers at the private sector, the justice minister and the Liberal government should be trying to set the example and should be rooting out the corruption in their own ranks," said Toews, the Alliance's justice critic. A number of deals under a federal sponsorship program - in which Ottawa used Liberal-friendly communications firms as middlemen to buy federal ad space at trade shows and sports and cultural events - have been found suspect. In his address, Cauchon also touched on his priorities as minister of justice, a portfolio he took over in January. They include a continued examination of child pornography laws and a look at family law reforms. Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Published: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: sun.letters ccinet.ab.ca Website: http://www.fyiedmonton.com/edmsun.shtmlRelated Articles & Web Site: Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmWashington Fumes as Canada Moves to Decriminalise http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13580.shtmlCanada: There's a Funny Smell in the Airhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13490.shtmlWould Softer Pot Law Stir Wrath of U.S.? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13401.shtml 
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on August 13, 2002 at 09:49:34 PT:
I agree, Doc
The Canux are realists. They know the hulking brute to their South will do anything he can to negatively influence the Canadian political environment. The CIA does it all the time elsewhere; you think Uncle would hesitate for a minute to do it to our closest and best neighbors?But let their Supreme Court invalidate cannabis prohibition, and all the antis can do us clutch their guts and scream. Because any finger pointing by them can be immediately blunted by the fact the US has abided - disastrously, I might add - to the US Supreme Court's decision to make Bush the C-in-C. To castigate the Canux for their actions is to invite criticism of the events that have led us to this mess. Should we demand the Supreme Court reverse it's ruling? As much as I would hope they would (if only from principle; Gore is as much our enemy as that escaped chimpanzee residing at 1600 Penn Avenue) I too am a realist. It'll never happen. But for the antis - particularly Republican ones - to point the finger at the Canuck Supremes for their unpopular laws being rectified through the back door of the courts is to pitch stones while living in a vitrified domicile. Of course, that won't stop Bush's handlers from trying; they are a singularly shameless bunch when it comes to hypocrisy of any sort.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 13, 2002 at 09:29:31 PT
Dr. Russo
That's what I thought. I've been searching C News archives for the article I was thinking about but most of the Canadian articles have been snipped and I can't find it. I'll keep checking though.
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Comment #5 posted by Ethan Russo MD on August 13, 2002 at 09:13:09 PT:
2 Months
The constitutional challenges both are set to occur in the next couple of months.The Toronto case is simple. Last summer, the court threatened to invalidate cannabis prohibition unless the government provided a ready supply of cannabis to the exemptees within a year. The year is over, the government failed to comply, and it should be a done deal the way I figure it.Some people believe that certain parties merely hope that the court will make the decision, and then there will be less likelihood of a major backlash from the USA. "After all, the court ruled cannabis prohibition unconstitutional. What could we do?" 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 13, 2002 at 09:12:04 PT
I Want To Know Too
If they couldn't implement an adequate way for patients to get marijuana in one year ( the time is up now ) then marijuana would be legalized I thought. It was because in Canada they believe in Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness if I remember the article correctly from last year.
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Comment #3 posted by WolfgangWylde on August 13, 2002 at 09:06:02 PT
When will the Canadian Supreme Court...
...review the government implementation of their medical marijuana order? Its seems quite obvious that the gov't has not complied with the order of last year. 
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo MD on August 13, 2002 at 08:49:26 PT:
The Argument May Become Moot
There is a disctinct possibility that one of the constitutional challenge cases currently underway in Canada will be successful, and then cannabis prohibition will be a memory, and there will be no discussion of "decriminalization." If prohibition is struck down, cannabis will be legal, whether medicinal or recreational.When legislatures fail to act, occasionally a judiciary will assert the inequity of the law, and invalidate it. May they have the fortitude to do so.
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Comment #1 posted by Naaps on August 13, 2002 at 08:44:24 PT
Cannabis Won't Harm Society
"Canada has no plans to legalize marijuana," Martin Cauchon said during his address. "I believe endorsing marijuana use might inflict harm on society and lead to greater problems." 
 
I disagree. The Justice Minister is following the lead of the various police agencies who merely had to suggest that marijuana was harmful to the individual and society in general without citing facts, or following up the statement with proper evidence. Clearly, the people control industry in Canada is not on the wane.Meanwhile, he ignores the harm caused by the present situation. Sick people like Calgary’s Grant Kreiger continue to suffer unreasonable prosecution. Cops continue to receive funding for growbusters, while libraries and opportunities for children are second rate in the funding queue. Neighbors are coached to watch for signs of cannabis growing, and rewards are offered to blow the whistle. These are signs of a society free of harm from prohibition?Meanwhile, alcohol becomes easier to obtain and enjoy. In British Columbia, restaurants can serve alcohol without patrons required to purchase food, and the operating hours have expanded. Cold beer and wine stores now sell spirits also. The Vancouver Fireworks Festival was again marred by fights, and rowdies all liquored up. Hockey Night in Canada morphed into Molson’s Hockey Night in Canada. No room for legal cannabis in Canada, alcohol needs protection from the competition.  
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