cannabisnews.com: Who Will Gain From Proposed Changes To Drug Laws?





Who Will Gain From Proposed Changes To Drug Laws?
Posted by CN Staff on October 08, 2002 at 20:31:49 PT
By C. Gwendolyn Landolt
Source: Halifax Herald
The Oct. 1 opinion page article by Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, chairman of the Senate committee on illegal drugs, is misleading in several aspects. First of all, there are several important facts about the Senate committee that are not widely known. Eighty percent of the witnesses appearing before the committee supported liberal laws on marijuana. As a result, the committee did not hear a reasonable and balanced view on the issue of marijuana use. 
The committee heard its last witness on June 10, 2002. Yet it produced a four-volume, 600-page report, researched, written, translated into the two official languages, and printed and bound in less than three months. It is obvious that the report was a work-in-progress during the hearings with a predetermined conclusion. Moreover, Senator Nolin's assertion that the committee was not endorsing recreational use of marijuana when it recommended it be made available for all those 16 years and over is not correct. We only have to look to countries that have liberalized their drug laws to realize the absurdity of Senator Nolin's statement. For example, one of the consequences of the liberal drug policy in Switzerland has been that Swiss adolescents now use more drugs per capita than adolescents in any other country in Western Europe. The Netherlands liberalized drug experience in 1976 and this has caused that country to become the drug capital of Western Europe, not just for cannabis, but also heroine, cocaine and the synthetic drug ecstasy. Under these policies, cannabis use there has increased 250 per cent. The problem with a liberalized drug policy is that drug use increases always and everywhere when drugs are available without legal sanction. In short, the law serves as a deterrent. To many, what is legal becomes acceptable and once legal sanctions are removed, there is a greatly increased use of drugs. Senator Nolin is also incorrect when he claims that cannabis use is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol. Scientific literature concludes otherwise. For example, a recent article in The Paediatrics Journal stated as follows: "Marijuana is an addictive, mind-altering drug capable of inducing dependency . . . Marijuana should not be considered an innocuous drug . . . There is little doubt that marijuana intoxication contributes substantially to accidental deaths and injuries amongst adolescents. . . ." Recent studies also indicate that the risk of head and neck cancer is 2.6 times greater among marijuana smokers and that its use causes pulmonary damage. It is noted that the Senate committee report states: "We are aware, as much now as we were at the start of our work, that there is no pre-established consensus in Canadian society on public policy choices in the area of drugs." In view of this, it is not unreasonable to conclude that the real purpose of the Senate committee is to encourage Canadians to accept the liberalization of our drug laws. Canadians should be asking themselves who will gain from these proposed changes in the drug laws? Certainly not society and definitely not our children. C. Gwendolyn Landolt is national vice-president, REAL Women of Canada. Newshawk: puff_tuffSource: Halifax Herald (CN NS)Author: C. Gwendolyn LandoltPublished: Tuesday, October 8, 2002 Copyright: 2002 The Halifax Herald LimitedContact: letters herald.ns.caWebsite: http://www.herald.ns.ca/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmSenate Report on Cannabis: Get Whole Story http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14319.shtml Legalize Marijuana, Senate Committee Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13989.shtml The Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13987.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by KNOX42897 on October 09, 2002 at 18:54:13 PT:
PROTEST RALLY TOMORROW
Who:      NRLE, the campaign to pass Question 9What:     A rally to support Question 9. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchiliangi will             
          be tapping a segment opposite the Federal Drug Czar on John 
          Ralston's show, "day one" on channel 8.When:     THURSDAY, October 10, 2002. 11:00 a.m. PRESS EVENT.
          Supporters please arrive by 10:15 a.m.Where:    Near the Channel 8 Studios. 3228 Channel 8 Drive, the cross streets 
          are paradise and convention center drive. We will meet outside the 
          parking garage and assemble on the sidewalk near the studios. We will 
          validate your parking ticket.Why:      To show our support for Question 9 and courageous spokespeople like 
          Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani. Nevadans DON'T appreciate the 
          Federal Government coming into our state and telling us how to vote on 
          Question 9. This is YOUR chance to be part of this historic effort. Look 
          professional-- the dress is business casual. We will have signs on hand 
          for supports to wave.
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Comment #7 posted by afterburner on October 09, 2002 at 10:04:57 PT:
Dan B: I appreciate the clarification.
If the rate of increase in cannabis usage has fallen in the Netherlands in comparison to other countries, that in itself is good news for liberalization - decriminalization - relegalization. If I over-stated the case, I accept the correction. We cannabis warriors can admit to making a mistake once in a while, unlike certain federally-funded bureaucrats, who keep stating the same lies and propaganda, even after they have been refuted scientifically and medically.Battle on and keep the faith.
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Comment #6 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 09, 2002 at 05:45:45 PT
LTE
Sirs,  I know one group that won't be gaining if the Senate committee's report is implemented. The groups that currently produce and distribute marijuana, and make an absurdly large profit, would go out of business. Our children would not have to fear botched drug prohibition raids which kill people like Clayton Helriggle, who was murdered in Ohio earlier this month by police who were told they could find a small quantity of marijuana.  Ms. Landolt makes some claims in her editorial which are simply not true. For one, she says, "one of the consequences of the liberal drug policy in Switzerland has been that Swiss adolescents now use more drugs per capita than adolescents in any other country in Western Europe." Yet just recently we saw a report which said that this honor falls to the UK (see URL below). She also claims that the Netherlands saw a 250% increase in cannabis usage after instituting the coffeeshop system. However, the same report cited below says the Netherlands has the lowest number of people addicted to hard drugs in all of the EU. Other reports say that the Dutch have around half the rate of cannabis usage per capita compared to the UK. Ending the war also removes the forbidden fruit stigma, which draws many rebellious youth to experimentation.   The only people who gain from the current system are the drug dealers, the prison-industrial complex, and the people who fight the war on marijuana users. Ending the war on marijuana would benefit many more people than it harms.UK Has Worst Drug Problem In EU:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;$sessionid$RS2DOIJ34EE2JQFIQMGSFFOAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2002/10/03/udrug.xml&sSheet=/portal/2002/10/03/ixport.html-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Sorry for the length of that URL, FoM! I tried putting it in the link box below, but it wouldn't fit. If it had, I could have just given it a shorter title and it wouldn't run off the edge of the screen like it does now.
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Comment #5 posted by malleus on October 09, 2002 at 05:20:36 PT
If I remember right
A great many prohib groups tried to blast their verbal trash across the Committee's desks with impunity, expecting to do what they've always done before: disseminate propaganda with no challenge to it. But this time, they were shot down in flames with demands by Senator Nolin and his Committee to come up with *proof* to back up their statements.Obviously, when the prohibs tried, they couldn't. When they were 'cross-examined' by the Senator, they had to admit that much of what they continually state as fact is in reality conjecture if not outright falsification. They were then gently but firmly reminded that the Committee was engaged in a FACT FINDING endeavor, not a rumor mongering one. Many of them left the table deservedly humiliated. This is their poor attempt to get back.
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Comment #4 posted by Dan B on October 08, 2002 at 23:15:49 PT:
afterburner
"cannabis usage is low in the Netherlands compared with many other countries, and usage has fallen since cannabis liberalization was enacted."You are correct on one count, but not quite on the other. The Netherlands does boast one of the lowest usages of cannabis among all of its citizens. But, use of it has increased in the Netherlands since the laws were liberalized. However--and this part is key--use of cannabis rose all over the world and in greater proportions outside the Netherlands during the same time frame. The rise in cannabis use, in other words, is not atrributable to the liberalization of cannabis laws; it is instead attributable to the rise in popularity of cannabis on a global level. I hope I don't come across as a Mr. Smartypants. I thought that the correction would make your argument that much stronger.Dan B
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on October 08, 2002 at 21:33:45 PT:
C. Gwendolyn Landolt
Woman...you obviously did not read the Nolin report. It did not recommend making marijuana (cannabis) available to 16 year olds; it did recommend that because of concerns about child development, cannabis NOT be available under 16. (By the way, prohibition has not succeeded in keeping drugs of all sorts out of the hands of our children. Street dealers do not send home permission slips.) The proposal for legalization is for adults; the minumum age can be debated in the Commons. Your facts about the Netherlands are in error: cannabis usage is low in the Netherlands compared with many other countries, and usage has fallen since cannabis liberalization was enacted. All peace-loving Canadians will benefit from ending the violence of the War on Drugs, taking cannabis out of the hands of vicious street dealers with their hard drugs, their shoot-outs and their drive-by shootings. All Canadians will benefit from freeing-up money and police personhours wasted on arresting and prosecuting peaceful cannabis users, money then available to fight real crime, like hard drugs and terrorism.Re-legalize and be wise.
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Comment #2 posted by canaman on October 08, 2002 at 21:31:37 PT
These are real Doctors?
I checked out The Paediatrics Journal and they said it,"Marijuana is an addictive, mind-altering drug capable of inducing dependency" back in '98. I don't understand, I thought most ALL doctors don't consider cannabis addictive. At least not physically. Was this some type of aberration? Did the pharmaceutical industry pay these guys off or what. How does this BS get published? 
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Comment #1 posted by ErikGhint on October 08, 2002 at 20:54:49 PT:
same old propaganda again!
"Marijuana is an addictive, mind-altering drug capable of inducing dependency"
This is clearly another example of the prohibitionist propaganda. Another statement with nothing to back it up except 
 "There is little doubt that marijuana intoxication contributes substantially to accidental deaths and injuries amongst adolescents"
Which is another statement with no support.
When will they learn?
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