cannabisnews.com: Expecting Marijuana Bill To Pass?










  Expecting Marijuana Bill To Pass?

Posted by CN Staff on May 27, 2003 at 23:40:01 PT
Globe and Mail Update  
Source: Globe and Mail  

The pot legislation introduced yesterday has little chance of ever being passed into law. There is too much opposition from within the Liberal Party, and too little time before Jean Chrétien must leave office.And yet the Prime Minister appears determined to push ahead with this losing cause. Why? The answer, it would appear, is sheer cussedness.
The latest estimate is that, even if the government imposes the hammer of time allocation at every stage of debate, no fewer than 10 parliamentary days would be required to pass Bill C-38, the pot-decriminalization bill. That rules out passage before Parliament rises for the summer recess in the third week of June. Even if the bill does get second reading before the summer adjournment, it must then make its way through the justice committee, which is already jammed up with same-sex, divorce and privacy legislation. "We have an agenda that would sink a horse," observes John McKay, the vice-chairman of the committee and head of the Liberal Ontario caucus.He doubts the committee will be able to look at C-38 before the first week of October, and believes that several weeks of hearings across the country will be needed to give the committee a proper sense of how Canadians feel about the legislation.He is also skeptical about the merits of the bill, a skepticism he believes several other Liberals on the committee share.Given those obstacles, says Mr. McKay, "how this bill is ever going to see the light of day, I don't really know."Even if the committee is able to send the bill back to the House with suggested revisions before Christmas, a final vote wouldn't be expected until after Paul Martin has, in all likelihood, already been chosen to replace Mr. Chrétien. By then, the current Prime Minister's ability to bend the House to his purpose will be non-existent. The situation, in other words, is bleak.It's a shame, for there are compelling arguments for decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana. Several provincial courts of appeal have already vacated the criminal laws on pot possession. Committees of both the House and Senate have investigated the issue and recommended decriminalization. Various polls have shown that the Canadian public in recent years has moved from a 50-50 split on decrim to something like 70-30 in favour (though that support is once again weakening). Most of Europe and even parts of the United States have already moved to decriminalize simple possession.Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is a strong proponent of the bill, and there have been few lieutenants more loyal during the dark days of last summer's caucus mutiny. Advisers in the Prime Minister's Office are also solidly behind it. Late last year, their arguments convinced the PM, who gave the nod to go ahead.But then came the push-back. Health Minister Anne McLellan was none too happy that pot was being decriminalized when Health Canada didn't have the funding for an aggressive antidrug campaign. Police forces and Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada said the legislation would give police too little discretion in deciding whether to lay charges and would encourage toking and driving.Then low-level U.S. protests against the bill began to increase in volume. Less than two weeks ago, White House drug czar John Walters warned that Canada risked seeing its border clog up as badly as the U.S.-Mexican border, if Parliament passed the law. "We'll respond to the threat," he said on Fox cable news, adding: "What we have to do is protect Americans and, right now, this is out of control."All these irritants forced repeated postponement of the bill. The politically astute response would have been simply to shelve it. Mr. Chrétien, however, is determined to push through his final agenda, and decrim is part of that agenda.But that determination is a dissipating asset. It was enough for Kyoto. It was enough for the gun registry. It may still be enough for campaign finance reform. It probably won't be enough for decrim.There is one hope for the bill. MPs canvassing their ridings this summer would need to hear emphatically that constituents support decriminalizing marijuana, and want the bill passed without delay. And they would need to hear it loudly enough to push the justice committee and the House to expedite passage of the bill.But that would require a concerted and co-ordinated effort from the pro-pot lobby. And they're probably just too mellow. From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)Published: Wednesday, May 28, 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.htmCanada Bill Eases Penalty for Having Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16419.shtmlCanada Moves To Decriminalize Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16418.shtmlCanada May Allow Small Amounts of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16416.shtmlCanada Moves to Ease Marijuana Possession Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16407.shtml 

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Comment #12 posted by herbdoc215 on May 29, 2003 at 01:05:12 PT
The proverbial sh t is fixin to hit the fan!
I was at Amsterdam Cafe today meeting a patient and I saw something that worries me more than all this drivil being spouted today...2 Vancouver Cops went into Blunt Bros. and just walked around giving patrons the hard-eye...putting their toes into the water if you ask me, several of us made a point to follow them around to show them they can't scare us all but you should have seen the expression on all the tourist faces...looked like they had swallowed a frog! As I can attest to, Vancouver jail is slightly less desirable than a Mexican TJ holding cell for US citizens these days! No busts where made but many highs surrendered to the "war on some drugs"...also keep in mind that this is 2 blocks from "Hard-drug Disneyland" down Hastings street with Herion and Coke being sold/shot,etc. 27/7 in broad daylight with COPS standing 2 feet away watching with such moral superiority. At least these dualities of are coming to a head and I am fully sure once the Canadian people and courts sift throgh the US dictated BS. Websters list the definition of Carpetbagger as... a politician with no local ties to the community! Once you all look into the Canadian system as I have been forced to you will learn that this is far different than USA...You can run for any office anywhere and you don't have to have ever lived there, can we say $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ buy's office? Don't even get me started about first past the post rules of elections and Orwellian party names like the "Liberals" whose sole policy today seems to be tweeking the USA's nose anyway they can. The world has moved on I am afraid. We are locked into a life and death struggle for our movement's existance.
Get up stand-up...these peoples power is all illusion as I have found after experiencing their worst they can muster. Give me Liberty or Give me Death!!! Peace, Steve Tuck
http://www.hillbillydreams.ca
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 28, 2003 at 17:44:49 PT
Thanks herbdoc215 
Thanks! I finally found the article and posted it in a comment because it is a source that CNews and Mapinc must snip. I hope all works out ok in Canada. This is down right craziness what is going on.PS: I removed the extra post.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16429.shtml#1
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Comment #9 posted by herbdoc215 on May 28, 2003 at 17:27:47 PT

Here's link....
FoM, Sorry for delay, just got home from a ruff day :) Peace, steve tuck
http://http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=D41CDD68-B04A-4
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 28, 2003 at 10:07:05 PT

herbdoc215 
Do you have a link to this article? I can't seem to find it. Thanks!
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Comment #7 posted by goneposthole on May 28, 2003 at 06:59:11 PT

once again
cannabis legalization is going to have a positive effect.It will reduce drug and alcohol abuse. It's a no brainer.Of course, those prohibitionists lack the capacity to grasp such a simple concept. The reason is obvious.
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Comment #6 posted by herbdoc215 on May 28, 2003 at 06:52:41 PT:

There is so much more to be said yet!!
We at the Board of Directors of the BCCCS in Vancouver wish to condenm this pandering to US fantasy...the courts will never let Ottawa increase the harm from a system they have already declared to be out of compliance with medical needs... Much Ado About Nothing. THERE is NO LAW against small amounts of cannabis at ALL now in Canada AND there isn't going to be one as long as they keep spouting off BS like this to appease their nut masters in Washington. The game is over here in Canada and the little piggies might as well get used to it and go find somebody else to pick on as we kick their asses everytime they start running their mouths...they should realize it really helps to know about what you are talking before you go around trying to instill hate crimes against a subject??? I personally think the "Liberals" have lost their freakin minds...discount fines for kids; prison sentences for growing BC's last paying industry despite closing courts, jails, hospitals, and schools for a serious lack of maney and infrastructure...this is going to go down as just another BS game like gun registry or fastcat ferries. What I really can't believe is how much the "Liberals" get away with and still manage to keep a death-grip on power completely across Canada despite being so far out of step with public wishes and as corrupt as ANY party in the USA???? Peace, Steven TuckNew drug bill gets a rough ride from all sides
Pot advocates say it toughens up the law, others call it too soft
 
Janice Tibbetts 
CanWest News Service, with files from Joan Bryden ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 
OTTAWA -- The Chretien government introduced a new drug policy Tuesday that was denounced as a bust because it is easier on young people than adults who smoke marijuana and hashishand decriminalizes driving with drugs in a vehicle.The bill also commits to spending less than half the amount the Liberals had promised to counter Canada's multi-billion-dollar drug problem.Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said he hopes his controversial bill to decriminalize less than 15 grams of marijuana -- which drew immediate opposition from police, the political opposition and even members of the Liberal caucus -- will become law by the end of the year. Canadians under age 18 who are caught with less than 15 grams of marijuana would receive $100 fines and adults would be ticketed $150. Fines would increase to $250 for youths and $400 for adults for possession while driving, committing an offence or being caught in or near a school.Police estimated that 15 grams is the equivalent of 15 to 30 cigarettes, depending on how they are rolled.Possession of one gram or less of hashish would warrant fines starting at $200. "Let me be clear from the beginning, we are not legalizing marijuana and we have no plans to do so," cautioned Cauchon, sensitive to complaints domestically and in the United States that Canada is relaxing its drug laws.His proposals also include an array of penalties to counter an escalation in marijuana-growing houses run by organized crime, with the maximum sentence being doubled to 14 years from the current seven.The new pot package was not embraced Tuesday by marijuana activists in Vancouver, Canada's unofficial cannabis capital. B.C. Marijuana Party president Marc Emery said the changes represent a step backwards because of the tougher penalties for the cultivation of marijuana, the province's largest cash crop and a source of income for thousands of British Columbians."Look at the fines: for four to 25 plants, it's up to 18 months in jail or $25,000. For 26 to 50 plants, its up to 10 years in jail. That's more harsh than any other country in the Western World, save the U.S."Emery said the switch from criminal convictions to minimal fines isn't an improvement considering that criminal convictions in B.C. for marijuana possession have become increasingly rare."You were far less likely to get convicted under the old scheme for possession because a judge would give you a discharge and the case would be dropped. So in every single area they have made the regime more severe while claiming to be liberalizing the law. It's a great fraud."The Marijuana Party leader is urging people fined for possession to refuse to pay the fine and challenge the penalty in court.Emery doesn't think decriminalization will make people more likely to smoke openly in public. "Marijuana is such a valuable commodity that you really can't afford to get searched and have it taken away from you."On the same block on West Hastings as the Marijuana party office, pot smokers puffed away in smoke rooms at two local restaurants, The New Amsterdam Cafe and Blunt Brothers. As he rolled his marijuana into a joint to take into the smoke room at the New Amsterdam, Steven Tuck said the new fine system and harsher penalties on growers amounts to a "recriminalization" of marijuana.He fears the penalties on cultivation will push the price of pot upwards, making it more difficult for ill people who use marijuana regularly to cope with chronic pain. He also said a stiffer regime of penalties will bring in organized crime and force out the "Mom and Pop" operations that are responsible for most pot cultivation in B.C.Tuck said the new rules won't make pot smokers less nervous about using the illicit weed. "I haven't seen anybody who wasn't relaxed smoking marijuana in the two and a half years that I've lived in Vancouver. The police had in a de facto way already decriminalized."How the police will enforce the new rules remains unclear. Vancouver police chief Jamie Graham, an opponent of decriminalization, said Tuesday he is concerned many of those ticketed will simply refuse to pay fines.Graham said there is no mechanism in place in B.C. for fine collection because the province is not a signatory to the Contraventions Act, which is the federal statute allowing ticketing for federal offences. He expects there will be talks with the provincial government to resolve the issue.Graham also said he is concerned that the proceeds from collecting fines will go to Ottawa, rather than B.C., "[where there would be] substantial resources, money and time required to set up the collection systems in the province."He said police will continue targeting grow operations.The legislation was accompanied by the renewal of a lapsed national drug strategy, which will focus on an advertising campaign to convince Canadians that drugs are dangerous, put money into community prevention and treatment programs and give the RCMP an extra $57 million to counter the tens of thousands of grow operations that have sprouted in neighbourhoods across the country."Let me be clear, we do not want Canadians to use marijuana, we especially do not want young Canadians to use marijuana," said Health Minister Anne McLellan.
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on May 28, 2003 at 06:36:54 PT:

The fine art of dithering
I am smiling right now. It looks like the courts get the hot potato of decrim, after all. And as pissed off as many judges are that their time is even being taken up by this nonsense, I expect the Canadian Supreme Court to strike down all laws, and leave the legislature to pick up the pieces of still-scalding potato when they get back from recess. It would serve the Canuck MP's right.
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Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on May 28, 2003 at 06:16:13 PT

correction
Chris Bennet made the statement about massive ticket burnings
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Comment #3 posted by TroutMask on May 28, 2003 at 06:01:33 PT

Never is good for me!
I'm still all about don't do anything and let the courts sort it out. Delay, delay, delay...could it be that's what they're after?-TM
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Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on May 28, 2003 at 05:00:31 PT

massive ticket burnings
in the words of Marc Emery this morning on CBC radio.Only legalization, nothing else will do.
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Comment #1 posted by WolfgangWylde on May 28, 2003 at 04:20:22 PT

Wow, talk about missing the point...
...do journalists "do" journalism anymore, or do they just pontificate through their word processors? The whole point of the current "de-crim" is to stave off legalization by the courts. Maybe this "reporter" should look into it.
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