cannabisnews.com: American Laws, Foreign Lands American Laws, Foreign Lands Posted by CN Staff on June 11, 2003 at 07:24:59 PT By Robert MacCoun Source: San Francisco Chronicle After many false starts over three decades, the Canadian government has at last introduced legislation to remove criminal penalties for the possession of an ounce of marijuana. The U.S. government's predictable reaction is outrage. Drug czar John Walters opined that "You expect your friends to stop the movement of poison to your neighborhood." Paul Cellucci, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada warned that Canadian travelers might expect more delays at the border as customs officials search for marijuana. In a surprising act of neighborliness, the Canadian government has refrained from noting that it did not protest when the border state of New York made essentially the same change back in 1975. The complaints about Canada's proposed legislation are difficult to take at face value. One hopes Walters' Office of National Drug Control Policy is simply misinterpreting the word "decriminalization" as "legalization," the (incorrect) notion that Americans could buy marijuana legally in Canadian retail establishments. In fact, Canada's policy change will have minimal to negligible consequences for the U.S. drug problem. The new law would keep the sale of marijuana illegal; this is quite different from the money Dutch cannabis coffee shops earn from German and French customers, or what U.S. states experienced when neighboring states had different drinking ages. Moreover, the proposed new law creates no legal loophole for smugglers, who handle multi-kilo shipments. The only slightly plausible mechanism by which it might lead to more smuggling into the United States is if Canadian law enforcement would be less interested in marijuana enforcement generally, a minor influence at best. Europe shows that it is possible to be soft on marijuana users yet tough on traffickers. Even the Netherlands -- which tolerates ambiguity as much as it tolerates cannabis use -- aggressively pursues high-level cannabis traffickers. Moreover, the Canadian legislation brings that country into line with 12 American states that made the same change in the 1970s. Many other western nations (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and several territories of Australia) have also removed criminal penalties for marijuana possession over the last 20 years. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/11/ED254167.DTL Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Robert MacCoun Published: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 27 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmAppeal of Pot Acquittal Should Be Rushed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16584.shtmlNo Laws Ban Possession of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by u2desire on June 12, 2003 at 20:50:41 PT Send U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci home Dear Friends,I have just read and signed the online petition: "Send U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci home"hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/cb23124/I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.Best wishes,Trevor Davis [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by AlvinCool on June 11, 2003 at 19:06:09 PT Gotta Agree with Walters this time I agree that this legislation should not be passed in Canada. Since no law exists in Ontario it's basically legal there as of today, right?It's kind of like the half full half-empty glass routine. The government of Canada is convincing people that the laws that they are proposing are a "reduction" of current law while doubling current trafficking and growing sentences to come in line with US law. This new law should be proposed with the Canadian government having to present it to the Canadian people as an upgrade from the zero laws that exist today to the proposed law? It's funny actually. Imagine being able to go back to that day when Anslinger convinced Congress that cannabis should be illegal. Imagine being able to decide if you want to enact prohibition in such a hurry, or keep things legal with the current system incorporating the rules the Canadian senate laid out earlier. Imagine standing up and presenting facts concerning marijuana before Congress. Truly exciting times for Canada if their people have the power to just say STOP and let's work out a real system, now that cannabis is legal. Interesting indeed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 11, 2003 at 12:12:31 PT ONDCP Press Release White House Anti-Drug Effort Wins Top PR Industry AwardWinning Initiative Warns Parents about Harms of Youth Marijuana Use(Washington, D.C.)—A national effort to inform parents about the harms of youth marijuana use received the PR industry's highest honor, a Silver Anvil, for outstanding achievement in strategic public relations planning and implementation of a government public service campaign. The Marijuana Initiative of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign was recognized by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) at an awards ceremony June 5th in New York. The effort, launched last September, is dispelling common myths about marijuana through a series of media briefings, public events, community partnerships, Web sites and printed resources. "Since the launch of our marijuana prevention campaign last September, we have alerted parents across the country to the risks of youth marijuana use and given them tools they need to help keep their children drug-free," said John P. Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy. "Marijuana is riskier than many people think—in fact, more teens are in treatment for marijuana than for all other illicit drugs combined.""We applaud the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign for having demonstrated the highest quality standards in performance in the public relations profession," said Kelly Womer, APR, chairperson of the Silver Anvil Awards for 2003 and senior thought partner at David Grossman & Associates. "Their program successfully addressed a contemporary issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity, and resourcefulness."Snipped:Press Release: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press03/060903.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on June 11, 2003 at 07:30:43 PT: THE REASONS WHY CANNABIS LAWS SHOULD BE REPEALED The Marijuana laws should be repealed:I.THE HYPOCRISYThe United States Central Intelligence Agency launders over $200 billion per year of TAX FREE drug money thru Wall Street, www.fromthewilderness.com; www.expertwitnessradio.org, www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.html, while otherwise law abiding Americans are villified for responsible Marijuana use. The DEA will never stop the drug war because the CIA, Vice President Dick Cheney, Richard Armitage, are [allegedly] involved in this massive drug money laundering. People may not believe it because the public school curruculum is rigged, www.johntaylorgatto.com, major media is manipulated, and people are generally conditioned to be good sheep, to love their masters, the federal government.II.THE FAILURES OF THE COURTSThe courts of law should step in and strike down the marijuana laws. Unfortunately, the great majority of the courts have upheld the constitutionality of the Marijuana laws. There were a few freedom-loving opinions from a few State courts, though. In State v. Mallan, 950 P.2d 178, 208-209, 218-219 (Hawii 1998)(Dissenting opinion by Justice Levinson), Justice Levinson opined that the Marihuana laws are against the freedoms the American people were guaranteed and in violation of the Hawaii State Constitution Right to privacy. In State v. Holland, N.J.Super. (App. Div. 2001?), the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey reversed the conviction because the police did not have the authority to force their way into the apartment without a search warrant after the smell of marijuana smoke emanated from same apartment. In Ravin v. State, P.2d (Alaska 197 ), the Supreme Court of Alaska declared the Marijuana laws unconstitutional as a violation of the Alaska State Constitutional guarantee Right to privacy. We need to litigate for the State courts to enforce the State Constitutions to give greater protection for the individual citizen than the federal constitution, including through the use of expert witnessness such as Dr. Lester Grinspoon, M.D., to inform the jury of the relative safety of Cannabis, for jury nullification purposes.III.LEGISLATIVE MALPRACTICEWe need to get on our elected officials, to let them know we do want decriminalization of Marijuana. Otherwise, they will act in the best interest of the corporations, assuming the votes are not manipulated, www.votescam.com. I must have communicated too much to New York State Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan because, today, Wednesday, June 11, 2003, at around 9:45, she told me she received my letters & e-mails, "I will not be harassed", and lied to me that her e-mail address, nolanc assembly.state.ny.us, is on the New York State Assembly Web site!! Prior to our telephone conversation, though, I e-mailed her the upcoming Cannabis Pain Management Lecture from the upcoming events section from www.cannabisculture.com, to show her that Cannabis does have medical uses. I do not plan on contacting Assemblywoman Nolan for a while now, based on her comment, lie, and rushing me off of the phone. There are too many people who are slothful, have the attitude that there is nothing an individual can do. I would rather try, even if it is only me. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment