cannabisnews.com: Cauchon Poised To Decriminalize Marijuana Cauchon Poised To Decriminalize Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on December 09, 2002 at 16:03:08 PT By Allison Dunfield, Globe and Mail Update Source: Globe and Mail Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is poised to make a number of major changes to the justice system, including taking steps in the next four months to decriminalize marijuana.Mr. Cauchon made the statement after Question Period Tuesday, where he was asked about a report released Monday by a Commons committee studying the non-medicinal use of drugs. That paper recommended that safe injection sites be set up in each city across the country. Later this week, the Commons Special Committee on the Non-Medicinal Use of Drugs is set to release another report calling on the government to relax current marijuana laws."I'm looking forward to seeing the report. We'll see what will be the recommendations of the report. Of course we'll have to analyze all the recommendations," Mr. Cauchon said, adding, "If we're talking about decriminalizing marijuana, we may move ahead quickly as a government."Mr. Cauchon said he didn't want to give a date or a time frame but said it would happen sometime around the beginning of 2003."Give me the four first months of next year," he said.The Justice Minister has emphasized in the past that while decriminalization is a distinct possibility, to decriminalize doesn't mean marijuana will be legal.The decriminalization issue has been studied by by a number of parliamentary committees recently.In September, a senate committee report recommended decriminalizing marijuana. Mr. Cauchon said he looks forward to seeing what the Commons committee says about the laws in other countries.He said it is important to analyze international experiences.Mr. Cauchon also spoke about his plan to table legislation in the House of Commons on Tuesday which aim to make divorce a kinder, gentler process.If passed, the Family Law Reform Act will likely mean the elimination of the terms "access" and "custody" contained in the current in the Divorce Act, replacing them with terms of "parenting orders" and doing away with the connotations of winning and losing custody of children and access rights to them. "I've been consulting people and of course we need to bring some changes to the Divorce Act," he said after Question Period."Custody and to be more precise the notion of custody and access, people are asking the government to move with something else, with a new philosophy, a new dynamic — something less adversarial," Mr. Cauchon said.Canada's Drug Strategy Report: http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoComDoc/37/2/SNUD/Studies/Reports/snudrp01/08-toc-e.htm Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)Author: Allison Dunfield, Globe and Mail UpdatePublished: Monday, December 09, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Globe and Mail CompanyContact: letters globeandmail.caWebsite: http://www.globeandmail.ca/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmDecriminalizing Pot Could Come Early in New Year http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14929.shtmlSenate Report on Cannabis: Get Whole Story http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14319.shtml Legalize Marijuana, Senate Committee Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13989.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by The GCW on December 09, 2002 at 19:23:14 PT Cannada OH CANNADA [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Unknown Pleasures on December 09, 2002 at 17:09:03 PT Woohoo! At times like this, I'm glad I live in Canada, and not in The Reich down south. That is, until we get invaded or fall to some kissinger-sponsored coup. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment