cannabisnews.com: Czar Rips Canadian Recommendation On Marijuana
Czar Rips Canadian Recommendation On Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on September 16, 2002 at 08:04:27 PT
By Jim Burns, CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
Source: CNSNews.com
Speaking in Detroit, federal drug czar John Walters criticized a recent Canadian government recommendation to legalize drugs for Canadians over the age of 16."You don't make a major decision involving a dangerous drug without telling people what the dangers are," Walters said. "Marijuana is not harmless. Marijuana is not medicine. I wish it were, but it isn't."
Last week, the Canadian Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs recommended that marijuana be legalized for use among adults and that the Canadian government adopt a system to regulate marijuana the same as alcohol and expunge criminal records for marijuana possession."Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated, not as a criminal issue, but as a social and political issue," said Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, the committee chairman, during a hearing in Ottawa, Canada's capital.The recommendation means that the penalty for getting caught with marijuana would be tantamount to getting a traffic ticket.Under current law, marijuana possession is illegal in Canada. But last year, the government passed regulations allowing eligible medical patients to grow and possess marijuana.Wire service reports from Ottawa said it isn't clear whether the committee's recommendations will be adopted. There appears to be broad support in the parliament for marijuana decriminalization, but there aren't any indications that legislation will be introduced to achieve that.Walters said he has met with Canadian officials to lobby against decriminalization, and he believes U.S. enforcement against drugs on America's northern border has been dramatically increased since Sept. 11."American drug users are contributors to terrorism," Walters said.The Detroit News reported Friday that U.S. Customs Service drug seizures in Detroit have jumped this year because motorists and truck drivers are receiving heavier scrutiny when they use the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Those are two of the most heavily traveled border crossings between the two countries.Walters said the United States might take additional actions at the border if Canada decriminalized marijuana, but declined to elaborate."We will do what is necessary to protect this country," he said.Complete Title: US Drug Czar Rips Canadian Recommendation On MarijuanaSource: CNSNews.comAuthor: Jim Burns, CNSNews.com Senior Staff WriterPublished: September 16, 2002Copyright: 1998-2002 Cybercast News ServiceContact: shogenson cnsnews.comWebsite: http://www.cnsnews.com/Related Articles:Drug Czar Walters: Marijuana Most Abused Drug http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14100.shtmlCanada's Pot Policy Under Fire from U.S.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14095.shtmlDrug Czar's Visit Will Include Pot Issuehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14092.shtmlLegalize Marijuana, Senate Committee Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13989.shtml
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Comment #24 posted by The GCW on September 16, 2002 at 19:49:22 PT
Urine Czar at it again? Again.
Canadian feds suppress pro-pot report by Reverand Damuzi (01 May, 1999) Canada almost legalized pot in 1979, and the public never knew. http://www.hempbc.com/articles/1447.html(Is it a coincidence... We have a john an asa a bush and a dick ?)
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Comment #23 posted by The GCW on September 16, 2002 at 19:42:39 PT
Urine Czar at it again?
How does prohibition help terrorists? (For a more detailed explanation of the points discussed below, see "How Drug Prohibition Finances and Otherwise Enables Terrorism," Submission to the Senate of Canada Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, October 29, 2001). "Drugs have taken over as the chief means of financing terrorism." ??? Is it coincidence... We have a john an asa a bush and a dick ????Woa!The Links Between Drug Prohibition and Terrorism
http://www.cfdp.ca/terror.htm"Remember that it is drug prohibition that generates huge profits for these groups. " (I think those groups include walters, asa, bush & dick...etc.)
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Comment #22 posted by Nuevo Mexican on September 16, 2002 at 15:35:41 PT
Welcome back from Outer Space, dddd!
Hope all is well! Actually I should say thanks for visiting me out here in deep left space! Planet Hemp is %100 percent hemp ruled and the laws of nature are respected and followed joyously! Any word on the DEA protests'? Can't wait for the Santa Cruz Tea Party! The moon will be in Revolutionary Aquarius, the same sign it was in when the U.S, was born on 7/4/1776! 'Look whats' happening in the streets! -Jefferson Airplane
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Comment #20 posted by Nuevo Mexican on September 16, 2002 at 15:32:21 PT
Welcome back from Outer Space, dddd!
Actually I should say thanks for visiting me out here in deep left space! Planet Hemp is %100 percent hemp ruled and the laws of nature are respected and followed joyously! Any word on the DEA protests'?
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Comment #19 posted by CorvallisEric on September 16, 2002 at 14:49:50 PT
Meaning of [sic]
It's Latin for something like "thus spoken" (not sure exactly). It means that something is being quoted exactly in spite of an obvious error. Or at least an error obvious to the writer doing the quoting. It's often used excessively as a form of sarcasm, a put down on some else's poor spelling or grammar. It should appear in square brackets as shown.
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Comment #18 posted by druid on September 16, 2002 at 14:41:41 PT:
ahhh found the answer to my question...
Didn't know it was a complete word or else I would have looked it up in the dictionary long ago. I just thought it stood for something. :D heheheMain Entry: sic
Pronunciation: 'sik, 'sEk
Function: adverb
Etymology: Latin, so, thus -- more at SO
Date: circa 1859
: intentionally so written -- used after a printed word or passage to indicate that it is intended exactly as printed or to indicate that it exactly reproduces an original
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on September 16, 2002 at 14:35:46 PT
druid
I've always wondered what that meant too. Inquiring minds want to know. I have no idea.
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Comment #16 posted by druid on September 16, 2002 at 14:32:40 PT:
off topic but question about JM's LTE
"sharing a couple of big bats [sic] of weed"What does [sic] mean?
I see this all the time and I have no clue so please help a clueless guy out here. ;)
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Comment #15 posted by Jose Melendez on September 16, 2002 at 14:25:12 PT
appropriate terminology
Check out this letter to the editor, from: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1734/a12.html?397- emphasis mine. -jm
MARIJUANA EDITORIAL FLAWED
Your Sept. 7 editorial, "Getting high with the senators," typifies the
condescending tone with which opponents to legalizing marijuana substitute
rhetoric for reason.
Characterizing pro-legalization ideas as formed after "sharing a couple of
big bats [sic] of weed" denigrates both ideas and those holding them in one
easy cliche. You sneer: "Too many people breaking the law? Well, then,
scrap the law." Maybe if you were more high-minded you would see something
more profound: "too many people" ( it used to be called "a majority" )
believe the law is wrong and must be changed. The prohibitionist responds:
Well then, shelve democracy.
Then there are "the kids": favourite shibboleth of the prohibitionist. Of
14 column inches ( excluding the callout box misrepresenting your editorial
thrust ), seven obsess on this "crucially flawed" element. Also typical
demagoguery: drown out reason with a fear that our kids will become the
greasy stereotypes of anti-drug propaganda.
You state "any suggestion that federal control ... is ... possible is
simple, wilful blindness." Maybe. But if so, how can you suggest efficacy
in keeping the far greater levels of federal control entailed by the status
quo? Are we to infer that you have a simple, wilful blind spot?
I conclude my critique by pointing out that the debate needed to forge
effective drug policy can never occur so long as one side gets public
moneys and free "public service" space -- while the other risks reprisal
for freely speaking its mind.
Amnesty is not a solution, but a precursor to an honest search for one.
Lacking amnesty, drug users could benefit from a commitment to freedom of
the press which protects the identity of sources who cannot speak freely,
but Telegram policy courageously prohibits noms de plume.
Never mind. Only one of us will be able to disown authorship of the one
unsigned opinion permitted on your editorial page.
Jeffrey F. Cuff
St. John's
MARIJUANA EDITORIAL FLAWED
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Comment #14 posted by tlspn on September 16, 2002 at 14:13:31 PT:
p4me
Do you mean The War of the Worlds starring Gene Barry? An excellent scifi movie.t
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Comment #13 posted by dddd on September 16, 2002 at 14:13:23 PT
....R.I.P.....
"no longer registered."
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Comment #12 posted by p4me on September 16, 2002 at 13:42:37 PT
fuckeduppedness
I think it is like the bacteria that killed the space invaders in that famous movie from back in the 50's. Was it "When World's Collide" that the invaders were wiping out the prople of the earth until they needed air from earth and the bacteria in the air killed them. I think dddd has succumbed to fuckedupedness because the medicine that helps him cope is in short supply because of prohibition.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 16, 2002 at 12:20:21 PT
goneposthole
I don't know what you mean but dddd can post he just hasn't this morning using his name.
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Comment #10 posted by tlspn on September 16, 2002 at 12:14:46 PT:
Hitler quotes
Adolph Hitler has said," How fortunate for leaders that men do not think."He has also said," The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims to a big lie than a small one."Somehow I get the feeling that John Walters and Adolph Hitler would have been the best of friends.t
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Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on September 16, 2002 at 11:37:19 PT
Empire silences dddd
Apparent asteriod 'accident' near Saturn silences outspoken critic of imperial Amerika.
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Comment #8 posted by Jeaneous on September 16, 2002 at 11:06:42 PT:
?# % John Walters!!
what else can you say?? You too Bushy Boy and don't forget Ashcroft. It's hard to live your live normally when you have these goons out to get all of us big bad sick people. They are the terrorists not us medicinal buyers. We aren't supplying one penny to help the "terrorists". And his implication that we do supply terrorists is defimation of my character and every other medicinal cannabis patient.I'm just so angry!
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Comment #7 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 16, 2002 at 10:08:33 PT
LTEs - for fun and freedom!
Sirs, Last I checked, John Walters had no jurisdiction in Canada. He has, on recent occasions, actually said that Canada is a soverign nation. Yet he warns of the United States' displeasure with the Canadian Senate report, and the threats of some sort of sanctions are implied. Has he actually read the report? "American drug users are contributors to terrorism," is something Walters is fond of saying. And there may be some truth to it - under prohibition, Americans must buy certain drugs from criminals, since the government gives them no legal alternative. But if Canadians legally grow marijuana and sell it to other Canadians, who gets a cut besides the Canadian government? Walters is worried criminals will smuggle it into the USA in that case. But the only reason to smuggle it into the USA would be to sell it, not to smoke it - and the reason it would be profitable is because of the artificially enflated price due to prohibition. Walters is not worried about the threat to "the children" - he's worried about the threat to his job once the war on marijuana ends in Canada. He knows his history - that Canada ended the war against alcohol before the USA did, and it showed the citizens of the USA that their system was flawed in a way they could not ignore. Canada needs to ignore John Walters, and once again lead the USA away from its deluded attempts to legislate morality.
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Comment #6 posted by JHarshaw on September 16, 2002 at 10:00:46 PT
Misinformation
"The recommendation means that the penalty for getting caught with marijuana would be tantamount to getting a traffic
ticket."Nonsense! The Senate recommendation means that there would be NO penalty at all for adults. As it should be.Peace and pot
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 16, 2002 at 09:09:08 PT
dddd
Have you tried to post this morning? dddd is fine you know.
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Comment #4 posted by danaWest on September 16, 2002 at 09:04:02 PT
Good and Bad
This is my first post here.I'm afraid that I have some disturbing news for you all.
Remember that dddd/qqqq/pppp/bbbb guy who used to comment here?Well unfortunately,he was involved in a dreadful accident in Outer Space!
Apparently,he was traveling out near the rings of Saturn,and his ship collided with a large asteroid.
Hopefully,he will be remembered for his cheap brand of ribald fun.I've heard that there were some who enjoyed his irreverent humor,yet,there were those who found his profanity offensive.
There will be no memorial service.
I'm quite sure he would want us to keep on keepin' on.
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Comment #3 posted by greenfox on September 16, 2002 at 08:49:49 PT
"legalizing drugs"
Speaking in Detroit, federal drug czar John Walters criticized a recent Canadian government recommendation to legalize drugs for Canadians over the age of 16So... this is more bull-hooey. Of COURSE he's going to blast the Canadians for "legalizing drugs" (although it's only pot,) because it will take away from HIS JOB!
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Comment #2 posted by michael segesta on September 16, 2002 at 08:48:11 PT:
NPR - Corruption at the Border
Has anyone heard this on NPR - http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2002/sept/border_corruption/index.html? Makes one wonder what the point of interdiction really is: to inflate the price of drugs or of customs agents?
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Comment #1 posted by Dark Star on September 16, 2002 at 08:20:01 PT
Question
Let's ask John Walters where Noelle Bush's crack came from. Chances are good it was Colombia. Was she aiding terrorists? If so, what's going to happen to her because of it?This is merely more lies and propaganda from a buffoon. Hopefully Canada is good and sick of him and his threats.Remember, you drug defendants, tell the judge you want the same deal that Noelle got. It's called equal protection under the law.
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