cannabisnews.com: Liberals Move To Soften Drug Laws Liberals Move To Soften Drug Laws Posted by CN Staff on May 27, 2003 at 08:46:14 PT Globe and Mail Update Source: Globe and Mail Saying that "most Canadians" believe that marijuana laws are outdated, the government on Tuesday unveiled legislation that will reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of the drug. Below certain quantities, possession will no longer be treated as a criminal offence.Canadians caught with less than 15 grams of the drug will receive fines that will vary depending on the amount they are found with. Certain aggravating factors — such as whether people caught with marijuana are near a school, driving a vehicle or committing another offence — can further increase the penalties. Penalties for large growing operations will be increased, though small-scale operations will be treated more leniently under the new rules.The move to implement a new National Drug Strategy has been a long time in coming, a trio of cabinet ministers admitted at an Ottawa press conference. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon conceded that the issue has been dogging the government for three decades and that recent polling shows that most Canadians do not agree with the status quo.Health Minister Anne McLellan said that government strategy should be focussed on reducing supply of and demand for drugs. But she went on to say that drug use is a health issue that cannot be dealt with only through the courts.Solicitor-General Wayne Easter stressed that the "bottom line" of the new strategy is to reduce drug use by trying alternative methods.All three politicians stressed that marijuana will remain illegal, that the government has no intention of changing the law that dramatically. They said that Ottawa will launch education campaigns aimed at convincing Canadians that marijuana is a dangerous drug.The government on Tuesday unveiled a five-year, $250-million fund that will try to educate Canadians about the dangers of smoking marijuana. Ottawa will set up a special secretariat to administer a communications and education campaign intended to spread the message that cannabis smoking remains illegal and can be harmful. Ottawa is reportedly concerned that the new legislation might encourage marijuana use and wants to prevent the so-called normalization of pot smoking.Federal politicians deny that the money is an attempt to mollify Liberal critics who believe that marijuana use leads to more harmful behaviour. Ms. McLellan said Monday that an updated national drug strategy has been one of her priorities for the past 18 months."One would hope nobody would smoke, whether it's tobacco or marijuana," she said. "At the end of the day, we would like everybody to quit smoking."More to come.Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The Globe and Mail CompanyContact: letters globeandmail.caWebsite: http://www.globeandmail.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPot Bill To Be Paired with Anti-Drug Initiative http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16396.shtmlOttawa To Preach Perils of Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16395.shtmlTop Cop Agrees With Plan To Ease Pot Laws http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16389.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by FoM on May 27, 2003 at 13:58:48 PT ErikGhint Thanks again. I just looked at the legalization decision and it did say Supreme Court. I am trying really hard to sort thru in my mind what they are doing. Prices will rise and what will be solved by all this that they are doing today? If you prohibit something and stiffen penalities naturally the risk is higher which drives up prices and not one penny will go as a tax to the government. Everyone loses. You can't half fix something and cast it to the wind. That makes no sense and is counter productive in my opinion. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by ErikGhint on May 27, 2003 at 13:36:47 PT FOM Well the Medicinal law was rulled unconstitutional, the courts gave the government until July 9th or else the law will be struck down, and the government will have to supply the goods in Flin Flon. The Sumpreme Court of Canada has the final say. The ruling of May 16th was in the Superior court, so after that comes the Supreme court of Ontario, or Appeals court of ontario im not quite sure, and then it goes to the Supreme Court of Canada. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 27, 2003 at 13:14:01 PT What About The Ontario Legalization Ruling? Do your Judges rulings count for anything or does the government override the judges ruling? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 27, 2003 at 12:59:19 PT ErikGhint Thank you. What about medical patients? They aren't throwing out your medical marijuana law are there? Aren't they going to start using Flin Flons's Cannabis too? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by ErikGhint on May 27, 2003 at 12:53:17 PT Small operations are in trouble as well. Currently if someone has a couple plants and they get busted nothing usually happens. With this legislation they want equal punishment for everyone, so now if this passes if you are caught with 1-3 plants you can recieve a $5000 fine and up to 12 months in prison. So as a mater of fact in every aspect the cannabis smoker is worse off if this legislation passes. I am very dissapointed with this. The government completly ignored The Senate and House comitee's recomendations. This is purley a collustion with the United States, to make the average cannabis smoker think they are better off when in fact the governemnt will have a stranglehold on the situation. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on May 27, 2003 at 11:56:36 PT The Globe and Mail Article is the Same The updated article is the same as the first link I posted here but they added this to it which was in the first article. What does this mean? What is a small scale grow operation?Penalties for large growing operations will be increased, though small-scale operations will be treated more leniently under the new rules. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on May 27, 2003 at 11:51:32 PT Another Updated Article from The Globe and Mail http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030527.wpott0527_4/BNStory/National/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by afterburner on May 27, 2003 at 10:35:34 PT: Now the Canadian Medical Association... is re-telling their same lie on Newsworld, to wit, "There is no doubt that marijuana is addictive." They do not support medicinal cannabis either. Giving these people a platform to spread their political self-serving propaganda is free speech, but it is also confusing people. Let the wild debate continue.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, truth by truth, until there is no problem.If you're not getting this live feed you might want to check out the following video:Newshawks: The Iboga Therapy House on CBC's National Newshawks with Pot-TV - Running Time: 13 min - Date Entered: 20 May 2003 - Viewer Rating: 9.03 (10 votes) - Number of Views: 945 - Pot TV Producer Marc Emery brings the ultimate addiction interference drug, ibogaine, to the awareness of the Canadian public in this sensational piece that aired on CBC's National. http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse1977.ram [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by afterburner on May 27, 2003 at 10:03:45 PT: The antis are out in full force... with their lies, half-truths, and speculation. It's making me angry. The police want minimum sentences, and they say that decriminalization "is sending a message to our youth that it's not alright to drink and drive, but instead that it's alright to toke and drive." What poppycock! All that has been proposed is removing the destruction of a criminal record from adults for simple possession. Driving is not recommended, children are not encouraged: this argument is a straw man designed to spread fear among Canadian parents and motorists. Well known prohibitionists, like Dan McTeague, David Griffen, and Randy White get too much air time.What a dream world some politicians live in where they think that a fine of $100 or $150 is nothing. Not everyone has their executive-level salaries and gold-plated pensions. You would think they were residents of the Beltway.ego transcendence follows ego destruction, truth by truth, until there is no problem. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 27, 2003 at 09:19:39 PT Updated Globe and Mail Article http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030527.wpott0527_3/BNStory/National/ [ Post Comment ] Post Comment