cannabisnews.com: Canadian Panel Backs Legalizing Marijuana 





Canadian Panel Backs Legalizing Marijuana 
Posted by CN Staff on September 05, 2002 at 21:37:24 PT
By DeNeen L. Brown, WP Foreign Service
Source: Washington Post 
A Canadian Senate committee has proposed that Canada legalize marijuana, allow it to be grown by licensed dealers and perhaps be sold in corner stores to people 16 or older. Such a policy would make Canada one of the world's most tolerant countries toward the drug.In a report, the committee found that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol and should not be treated as a criminal problem, but as a public health issue. The report called for amnesty for people convicted of marijuana possession.
"Whether or not an individual uses marijuana should be a personal choice that is not subject to criminal penalties," Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, chairman of the committee, said at a news conference. "But we have come to the conclusion that, as a drug, it should be regulated by the state much as we do for wine and beer."It was not clear whether the committee's proposal would become law. But it nonetheless prompted a debate in Canada and the United States about whether it would promote drug use here and increase drug trafficking to the United States."Canada is a sovereign nation, of course," John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement. "All I can talk about is our experience here in the United States with marijuana and the painful knowledge we've gained about its effects.""We know that marijuana is a harmful drug, particularly for young people," he said. "We also know that if you make it more available, you'll get more marijuana use. More use leads to more addiction and more problems."The Canadian Police Association denounced the committee's recommendations. "We've described this report as a back-to-school gift for drug pushers," said David Griffin, executive officer of the association, which represents 28,000 police officers.Griffin said that Canada surpassed Mexico as a supplier of marijuana to the United States. "The more liberalized our drug laws, the more that industry will grow in producing drugs for the United States," he said.He cited an international narcotics control board report that found that Canada produces 800 tons of the drug annually, of which more than 60 percent enters the illegal market in the United States.Canada has long had a more tolerant approach to the drug than the United States. Police here often turn a blind eye to possession. And last year, Canada passed a law allowing people with serious illnesses to use marijuana for medical purposes if they obtained a government exemption.Several groups in Canada praised the report, saying that prohibition of marijuana fuels crime. "With prohibition, we are giving a gift to organized crime," said Eugene Oscapella, a lawyer in Ottawa and a founding member of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, a research group. "The Senate evidence is quite clear – the law has little impact on the way people use drugs.""The Senate report is intelligent, rational and well-researched," he said. "It shows some politicians with spine."The proposal now goes to the Canadian Senate for debate and to various ministries. Several ministry officials have said they will consider it, but some analysts have expressed doubt the plan will become law.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: DeNeen L. Brown, Washington Post Foreign ServicePublished: Friday, September 6, 2002; Page A26 Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com Related Articles:Canadian Senate Panel Calls For Legalization http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13998.shtmlTaking The High Roadhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13996.shtml Senators Want Pot Legalizedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13993.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by p4me on September 06, 2002 at 10:39:44 PT
marijuananews.com search engine
Richard Cowan has a body of work filled with facts at marijuananews.com. On the right side of the homepage is a section called "Features." In the Features section there is a link reading "Search MarijuanaNews.com." or you can click here http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/search.htmlThe search with the term, "Canadian and Mexican marijuana exports," will yield these results: http://www.marijuananews.com/cgi-bin/htsearchHere are the results of a search with the term, "Canadian marijuana exports," I came across this: http://www.marijuananews.com/cgi-bin/htsearch?config=htdig&restrict=&exclude=&method=and&format=builtin-long&sort=score&words=Canadian+marijuana+exportsThe first result is this link: http://www.marijuananews.com/transcript_of_recent_medical_ma.htm I only mention this link because of its historical references to marijuana that I had not read before. I really suggest taking a minute to read a few paragraphs that follow these few paragraphs. I include the first paragraph because RC used the word know instead of now. BTW, RC has no editor and he ask people email him so he can correct his tiny errors. Copy follows:"After this brief historical overview, I will know look at the medical use of that plant.""Our first description of cannabis comes from a medical treatise attributed to the Chinese emperor Chen-Nong, who lived around 2700 B.C. In addition, archeological discoveries at a site in Egypt between 3,000 and 4,000 years old have revealed its use. Herodotus, a Greek historian, mentions in his writings that inhaling the smoke from cannabis was a funeral purification rite of the Scythians, a people speaking Iranian and living between the Danube and the Don starting in the 12th century B.C.""The oldest of the Veda, the sacred Hindu books, written in Sanskrit after 1800 B.C., indicates the properties of cannabis."The historical reference will end with this paragraph:
"In Canada, the French apothecary, Louis Hébert, who arrived with Samuel de Champlain in 1606, was the first colonist to cultivate marijuana in North America."1,2
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Comment #9 posted by p4me on September 06, 2002 at 09:57:57 PT
R-Earing
The answer to your question of course is no one could really know. Richard Cowan addressed the issue just a few days ago on his 9/3/02 commentary at marijuananews.com: http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/rcmp_report_on_marijuana_traffic.htmHere is one paragraph of copy from RC's commentary:In fact, seizures of marijuana coming into DEAland from Mexico are over 200 times the volume seized coming from BC. [450,000 vs, 1,985 kilos] Now the RCMP report says that much of marijuana in Canada comes from Mexico via DEAland. If only 25% of the marijuana in Canada comes from Mexico this would mean that far more marijuana is smuggled North than South. In other words, Canada is still by far a net importer of marijuana. Also, despite all the hype about the supposedly potent BC marijuana, the RCMP says that this is only 10% of the market.1,2
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Comment #8 posted by druid on September 06, 2002 at 09:22:18 PT:
nytimes blurb :(
The NY Times mentioned briefly today kinda ...http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/06/international/americas/06BRIE2.htmlCANADA: LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, SENATE PANEL SAYS A Senate committee issued a report recommending that the government legalize marijuana for users over the age of 16 and be responsible for its distribution. The 600-page report concluded that the drug is less harmful than alcohol and that people who use it should not be considered criminals. The Canadian police association denounced the conclusion as "a back-to-school gift for drug pushers."  Clifford Krauss (NYT)
Idahoans for Cannabis Reform
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Comment #7 posted by R-Earing on September 06, 2002 at 06:26:51 PT:
relative imports can/mex?
I am no statistician, but the number of tons seized on each border seemed to be Mexico 10/Canada 1, or some such number.Does anyone have hard info about this? (and Kudos to our Mexican brothers-to be able to do so much with so little!What gritty hard working people.Sure blows away that myth about mj causing laziness) 
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Comment #6 posted by legalizeit on September 06, 2002 at 04:29:30 PT
Babble on, Walters; nobody is listening anymore!
>"Canada is a sovereign nation, of course," John Walters,He only wishes it wasn't, so he could send his 800-pound DEA gorillas in there and teach the infidels a lesson. How dare they speak with voices of reason so close to the most Drug-Free society in the world?>"All I can talk about is our experience here in the United States with marijuana and the painful knowledge we've gained about its effects."He talks a lot. I guess that's what the Sheeple pay him to do.> "We know that marijuana is a harmful drug, particularly for young people," he said. "We also know that if you make it more available, you'll get more marijuana use. More use leads to more addiction and more problems."He sure knows a lot, too. Why doesn't he know the results of the government's most comprehensive study on the issue?
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Comment #5 posted by bbbb on September 06, 2002 at 01:25:55 PT
for whatever it's worth
I agree with Eric and Vita-T....Mexico is like a Wal-mart,,Canada is 7-11
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Comment #4 posted by VitaminT on September 06, 2002 at 01:17:25 PT
There's no question about it CorvallisEric
from Mexico we get Truck-loads from Canada we get Back-pack loads.I had a friend once who's dad was busted. He told me his dad's regular job was moving semi's across the Mex/Tex border. Sometimes the load was all agricultural products, a lot of the time it was agricultural products of a different sort - like 6000 lbs of herb.I'll bet that even with the border patrol, more Mexican herb makes it to American consumers than Canada even produces.Clearly the cop's got his head up his ass! So, what's new about that? LOL!
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Comment #3 posted by CorvallisEric on September 06, 2002 at 00:59:31 PT
Correction and Mexico/Canada info source
The previous reports were not all Canadian media, but this is the first from an actual dead-tree American newspaper. Google News Search (very incomplete) shows 3 more. I was just overwhelmed by the quantity on CNews.
Here is a source for my contention that Mexico is a much bigger supplier than Canada. From the National Drug Intelligence Center:
Most of the foreign-source marijuana found in the United States is produced in Mexico; other foreign sources include Colombia, Canada, and Jamaica.....and....
Law enforcement and anecdotal reporting suggests that marijuana from Canada, commonly referred to as BC Bud, is now in every region of the United States to varying degrees. Marijuana from Canada probably accounts for a greater proportion of available supplies in the Pacific and West Central regions than in the rest of the country, but quantities are still not as high as marijuana grown domestically or in Mexico.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs/716/marijuan.htm
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Comment #2 posted by CorvallisEric on September 05, 2002 at 23:31:17 PT
Whaaaaaaat?
Griffin said that Canada surpassed Mexico as a supplier of marijuana to the United States.
1 - I read all the previous posts (all from Canadian media IIRC) and none stated this.
2 - Everything credible I've ever seen states the opposite - and to an overwhelming degree.
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on September 05, 2002 at 22:07:56 PT
Everything is relative
Wow! What a comprehensive article to inform the readers of the Washington Post about the great story of cannabis reform in Canada. It is long compared to the paragraph or two thrown out to say they informed their readers on the MMJ iniative before the government found a way to corrupt the political process again. I checked the NY Times and they had nothing to say, which makes the Washington Post look rather chatty with their 529 words on the subject.Does the NY Times still motto the words "All the news fit to print?" on their front page or did they move it to the comic section to give people a laugh before they start on the comics.1,2
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