cannabisnews.com: Ounce Of Pot No Big Deal Under Canadian Proposal





Ounce Of Pot No Big Deal Under Canadian Proposal
Posted by CN Staff on January 23, 2003 at 08:16:04 PT
By Alison Appelbe, CNSNews.com Correspondent
Source: CNSNews.com
Vancouver, B.C - Plans by the Canadian government to decriminalize the possession of up to a little more than an ounce of marijuana represents a security threat to the United States, according to White House drug czar John Walters.Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is expected to introduce within weeks a proposal that would allow police to treat the possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana (just over one ounce) no differently than a parking ticket. Simple possession would no longer result in a criminal record, which can prohibit Canadians from finding work or traveling to the U.S.
Walters said he has been told by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that 95 percent of the marijuana grown in southwestern British Columbia is moved across Canada by criminal groups and sent from Ontario and Quebec into the United States."It makes security at the border tougher because this is a dangerous threat to our young people, and it makes the problem of controlling the border more difficult," Walters said last month. The U.S. ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci, has made similar claims.Polls in Canada show at least 50 percent support for more lenient penalties for simple marijuana possession. At the same time, the lack of clarity in federal laws relating to possession and medical use of marijuana has effectively made it impossible to successfully prosecute. In recent weeks, charges have been thrown out of several courts on the grounds that existing legislation is unclear and unenforceable.But while the Liberal government, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien, appears willing to soften the rules, most members of the Opposition Canadian Alliance party say the government is going too far.Randy White, who represents southwestern British Columbia in the Canadian Parliament, is concerned about a widening gulf between Canadian and U.S. drug policy and the impact it will have on the relations between the two countries.White, who has met in Washington with members of the State Department and Congress on the topic of illegal drugs, said the U.S. is justified in fearing that, under the new law, more Americans would come to Canada to traffic marijuana back to their U.S. communities or to flee stiff American drug penalties."We don't need people coming here claiming refugee status from Britain, Australia or the U.S.because they're unhappy with the current laws in their own country," White said. "It's making a mockery of the refugee process."Indeed, two Americans are currently in British Columbia awaiting efforts by U.S. authorities to extradite them back to the U.S. to face marijuana-related charges.Chris Bennett, who is married to one of those charged, Californian Rene Boje, is a spokesman for the British Columbia Marijuana Party, which campaigns for the legalization of marijuana.Bennett said any U.S. trade retaliation for the more liberal Canadian law would be short-lived, given America's perpetual need for Canadian resources like fresh water, power and timber. Bennett believes the U.S. government is less concerned about the decriminalization of pot than about the influence an increasingly liberalized Canadian culture will have on the U.S.White said the U.S. government's fears include the pending introduction of centres in Canada where intravenous drug users would be able to visit to inject heroin and the widespread acceptance of needle exchanges, as well as less vigorous law enforcement."Americans are looking for treatment and detox and intervention," White said. "They're not looking for decriminalization and harm reduction as the answer, and nor should they."Not all of Canada's provincial governments support decriminalization. Both British Columbia, which is said to have an underground marijuana economy valued at as much as $5 billion U.S. and powerful Ontario formally oppose decriminalization.However, undermining these positions, in British Columbia at least, is the fact that marijuana has been effectively decriminalized for some time. The possession of small amounts of marijuana does not usually result in arrests.Even White supports decriminalization, but he believes it should be limited to five grams, rather than 30 grams, which are said to generate anywhere from 25 to 40 "joints" or cigarettes. White points out that the Netherlands, where marijuana use is permitted, now limits possession to five grams.Both the House of Commons Committee on Illicit Drugs and the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse support the federal move to decriminalize possession. Also, Canadian media report that as many as seven in 10 Americans believe pot possession should be a misdemeanor rather than a criminal offense and that, according to one poll, as many as half the U.S. population has tried marijuana.Canada proposes removing marijuana from a law that deals with illicit drugs and placing it within the "Federal Contraventions Act," which currently levies fines for offenses such as driving on a federal wharf and abandoning a vessel in a public harbor.Critics argue that fines levied under the latter statute would never be collected. Indeed, Bennett has vowed that marijuana activists, if fined, would simply ignore the penalty.Complete Title: An Ounce Of Pot No Big Deal Under Canadian ProposalSource: CNSNews.comAuthor:  Alison Appelbe, CNSNews.com CorrespondentPublished: January 23, 2003Copyright: 1998-2003 Cybercast News ServiceContact: shogenson cnsnews.comWebsite: http://www.cnsnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:BC Marijuana Partyhttp://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/B.C. -- a Pot-Friendly, Pot-Profitable Provincehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15232.shtmlThe Coming Canadian Drug Revolutionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15192.shtmlHalf of Canadians Want Relaxed Pot Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15089.shtmlWeed Wedding - Cannabis Culturehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11488.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by overtoke on January 23, 2003 at 16:42:19 PT:
The Threat
Why is our government 'afraid.'There is no threat from anyone in the world except for the United States Government. They make all the threats, and now it seems they also start all the wars.The next time a friend of yours is arrested for using cannabis - go to the mayor of your city with 100 people and demand immediate change. This kind of thing does not happen - this is the reason we do not have change- and this is the reason we have buffoons like GWB dishing out ignorance unopposed.
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Comment #5 posted by Doobinie on January 23, 2003 at 13:28:46 PT
Blame Canada!
"Plans by the Canadian government to decriminalize the possession of up to a little more than an ounce of marijuana represents a security threat to the United States, according to White House drug czar John Walters.""It makes security at the border tougher because this is a dangerous threat to our young people..."Could it be that John Walters' words are foreshadowing for something that Matt Stone and Trey Parker said would happen? Could this song, that caused such a fuss when it was released, actually be considered prophecy? Just for fun, change all references to the Terrance and Philip Movie (a.k.a. smut) for weed. It does seem to be applicable to this situation, don't you think?Love and Peace to all of you who live under the yolk of oppression, and I encourage you to imagine a different world that may not be that far off. Doobinie in the Dominion of Soviet CanuckistanJudge for youselves. To those who have eyes let them see, and to those who have ears let them hear.BLAME CANADATimes have changed, our kids are getting worse..
They won't obey their parents, they just want to fart and curse!
Should we blame the Government? Or Blame Society?
Or should we blame the images on TV?No, Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
With all their beady little eyes, their flapping head so full of lies!
Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
We need to form a full assault, It's Canada's Fault!Don't blame me, for my son Stan..
He saw the darn cartoon, and now he's off to join the clan!
And my boy Eric once had my picture on his shelf..
But now when he sees me, he tells me to fuck myself!Well? Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
It seems that everything's gone wrong since Canada came along..
Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
They're not even a real country anyway.My son could've been a doctor or a lawyer, rich and true..
Instead he burned up like a piggy on a Barbecue.
Should we blame the matches? Should we blame the fire?
Or the Doctors who allowed him to expire?Heck no, Blame Canada! Blame Canada!
With their hockey hullabaloo, and that bitch Anne Murray, too!
Blame Canada! Shame on Canada..
The smut we must stop.. the trash we must smash..
The laugher and fun.. must all be undone..
We must blame them.. and cause a fuss..
before somebody thinks of blaming us!PS. If, as the movie foretells, the US decides to invade Canada, we promise to bomb the Baldwins 8^).
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Comment #4 posted by i420 on January 23, 2003 at 11:02:09 PT
Border threats in amerika??
John Walters is declaring this a border threat well geee he must think the amerikan people are complete idiots to believe that statement is Ohio a threat to Indiana ???They decriminalized pot up to a 1/4 lb !!! How many other locations in alerika are a threat to national security??? maybe the white house is a threat to FREEDOM???
GET A LIFE JOHN "NO BALLS" WALTERS!
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Comment #3 posted by herbdoc215 on January 23, 2003 at 10:46:36 PT
Somebody needs to tell White....
That his lies are weak, the 5 grams he speaks of in Holland is for SALES not possession. Let's stick to the facts Randy, your days in office are Sooooo numbered it's pitiful and you should enjoy all your bigshot'ing around now as it's going to be very short-lived. Peace from one of those refugee's you love to hate,  Steve Tuck
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Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on January 23, 2003 at 09:29:22 PT
The Canadian ounce threat 
"Plans by the Canadian government to decriminalize the possession of up to a little more than an ounce of marijuana represents a security threat to the United States, according to White House drug czar John Walters." Wow, the US is worse off than I thought, if an ounce of weed is a security threat. But seriously, this quote is so off the mark as to be ridiculous. We have had weed in this country for decades before anyone even thought of Canada, and we emerged from the turmoil of the 20th century as the world's only superpower. Security threat, I think not. The Drug Czar's argument is a nonstarter.
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Comment #1 posted by p4me on January 23, 2003 at 09:07:14 PT
Canada sells pills for half the price
The first two paragraphs of yesterdays's article titled "Minnesota seniors group strikes Canadian drug deal" by Warren Wolfe read- http://www.startribune.com/stories/1556/3605932.htmlAfter years of unsuccessfully lobbying for government price controls on prescription drugs, the Minnesota Senior Federation announced Tuesday that it has negotiated an agreement under which any member can get drugs mailed from Canada at about half the U.S. retail price."This is not the best solution to the outrageous price of drugs," said Kate Stahl, 83, former president of the federation's metro region who helped negotiate the contract. "But it's the best we can do until our government leaders get the guts to stand up to the drug companies."Canada Plans Major Expansion of Medicare System
Tue Jan 21, 4:57 PM ET by Randall Palmer - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20030121/wl_canada_nm/canada_health_colOTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan proposed on Tuesday a major expansion of the publicly funded but creaking medicare system to include home care and catastrophic drug coverage. 
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