cannabisnews.com: Judge Allows Marijuana Ruling To Stand





Judge Allows Marijuana Ruling To Stand
Posted by CN Staff on June 11, 2003 at 08:21:03 PT
By Shannon Kari, CanWest News Service 
Source: Ottawa Citizen 
Toronto -- An Ontario Court of Appeal judge declined to suspend a lower court decision that found there is no law against marijuana possession in the province, despite the federal Justice Department's claim that the ruling has led to chaos and uncertainty.Yesterday, Justice Louise Charron said that the Justice Department was seeking an "unprecedented" order and she had no jurisdiction to suspend an acquittal imposed by a lower court.
As a result of the Superior Court decision, possession of small amounts of marijuana in Ontario is legal and will remain so, until the federal government passes new legislation or the Court of Appeal ultimately overturns the lower court ruling. The appeal of that ruling has been scheduled for late July.However, Justice Department lawyer Peter DeFreitas argued that it is in the "public interest" to immediately suspend Justice Steven Rogin's decision, which upheld the lower court acquittal of a Windsor-area teenager on marijuana possession charges."It is chaotic," said Mr. DeFreitas, in describing the state of marijuana possession prosecutions since the ruling was issued on May 16. "We have thousands of these charges in the system," he told Judge Charron. "There is complete uncertainty."If the federal government is successful in its appeal, Ontario's highest court can order a new trial for the defendant in the Windsor case and find that there is a law that bans possession of marijuana.But Judge Charron said it would be contrary to the established legal principle of stare decisis, where courts are bound by precedent, to suspend the Windsor ruling, pending the appeal.Mr. DeFreitas suggested the acquittal of the teen could stand, but the appeal court should stay Judge Rogin's finding that the offence of marijuana possession in Ontario is "not known to law."The Superior Court judge had ruled that there is no law, because the federal government failed to comply with a July 2000 Ontario Court of Appeal decision that gave Parliament one year to enact new marijuana possession legislation. The Windsor ruling is binding on all provincial courts in Ontario, where virtually all marijuana possession cases are heard."Where is my jurisdiction to say those reasons are wrong and tell lower courts: Do not follow them for a while," said Judge Charron, in rejecting the Justice Department submission.Police forces across Ontario, including in Ottawa, said last week that they would continue to seize marijuana, but not lay new possession charges until the issue is resolved by the provincial Court of Appeal.Lawyer Brian McAllister, who represents the Windsor teen, said yesterday that police do not have the right to seize small amounts of marijuana from people who are not engaged in any suspected criminal conduct. The federal government is facing another marijuana-related deadline, as Health Canada has until July 9 to comply with a separate Ontario Superior Court judgment to provide a legal source of cannabis to people with medical exemptions.Note: Federal government loses bid to suspend decision that legalized drug.Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)Author: Shannon Kari, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, June 11, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Ottawa CitizenContact: letters thecitizen.southam.caWebsite: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmCourt Expedites Appeal of Teen's Pot Acquittalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16586.shtmlAppeal of Pot Acquittal Should Be Rushed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16584.shtmlNo Laws Ban Possession of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16321.shtml 
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Comment #28 posted by Lehder on June 12, 2003 at 11:48:28 PT
carrizozo
From Jose's comment ->>CARRIZOZO, N.M. (AP) - The Texas district attorney who prosecuted many of the
   now-discredited 1999 Tulia drug arrests was found guilty of drunken driving and sentenced
   to two days in jail. I hope this story is getting a lot of press in Texas and New Mexico. But I'm curious what DA McEachern was doing in Carrizozo. The only people known to have traveled to this lifeless town, about 120 miles SSE of Albuquerque, are me, Billy the Kid, and McEachern. So it makes you wonder. I've stayed there several times exploring the malpais. When you've had your fill at the Nike Lounge, drive west and after 3 or 4 miles you'll be amazed by the low walls of lava that squeeze both sides of the road. Coming from the east, as McEachern did, you've already seen the birth place of Smoky Bear and the Lincoln County Jail that could not hold Bill Bonney. It's a very dry and thirsty ride, so pop open a Budweiser as you wheel into the Valley of Fires State Park just south of the main road, Route 60. I sat at a picnic table and shared a few drinks with the park ranger there years ago.But why was McEachern in Carrizozo?>>McEachern denied driving erratically. He testified that he took a Valium - to treat a painful
   nerve condition... Carrizozo was designed and built for drunks, and many of the town's features, laid out in the planning stage, cater to the special needs of alcoholics and have been continuously upgraded over a two hundred year history. The roads are straight and wide, ideal for "veering into oncoming traffic and randomly
   accelerating and decelerating," and there's even an abandoned old round house where train cars were once rotated 180 degrees on a big wheel and where, today, kids meet to practice drinking away from their crapulous parents. There are plenty of drive-ups ( illegal since 2000) in Carrizozo, and regular bars too where you can encounter some very tough cowboys who don't give a shit about McEachern's "painful nerve condition."So why did DA McEachern drive to Carrizozo, so far out of his jurisdiction, all the way from Texas?>>...and drank two beers at dinner about an hour before the traffic stop. Oh! I should have known! He went there to have 'a couple of beers!' 
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on June 12, 2003 at 03:52:37 PT
Calvina Fay
http://thestraights.com/articles/dpna.htm
http://thestraights.com/articles/dpna.htm
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Comment #26 posted by phil_debowl on June 11, 2003 at 21:26:23 PT
Calvina Fay
Satan of Propaganda. i could only read a few of her things. About made me sick.
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Comment #25 posted by Hope on June 11, 2003 at 20:30:02 PT
Calvina Fay
If I remember who this woman is she has a lot more power than our Joyce. She's a buddy of the Semblers...and Voth....to say the least.
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Comment #24 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2003 at 20:15:25 PT
Lehder and fellow GCW's
A Prayer for America. -Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) http://www.truthout.org/docs_01/02.23C.Kucinich.Prayer.htmSomehow, a big hope is right here in Kucinich, and yet the website You linked (which I liked) says He will not be prez.How long is this process in choosing the Dem. Candidate?Can We start Our own new party if He doesn't get it, but wants to still go foward?The Man has a prayer, He wants peace, ALL PEACE.Cannapeople should help Him acheive, Our goals.420I get those updates from MPP; MAP; ETC. and I think it would be approapriate to put out an alert, that goes further than just giving Him a good report card.If We worked to Remove Bob Barr, can We work hard to bring in Kucinich?Can He be separated from the Dems. & Repub's to bring in the vote that people usually don't get off the couch to give?I would sure dislike seeing Kucinich not get the nomination and then We decide We should have supported Him -BIG.
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Comment #23 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2003 at 20:07:31 PT
America vs. Canada?
What a joke. In the US, people sue the neighbors because their kid is bouncing a basketball too loudly. Somehow the right to freedom has morphed into the right to act like a spoiled, selfish brat. We're getting more spoiled by the year. I've noticed around here that people complain about the weather much more than they did 10-12 years ago.Just look at farm animals in America for the perfect metaphor to the humans. 50 years ago, cattle roamed the open range and ate their natural diet of grass. Today, they're packed into tiny feedlots. They're forced to eat only corn - genetically engineered corn heavily sprayed with Round-Up pesticide. Because cows' digestive tracks are meant for grass, they must be constantly pumped up with antibiotics, and growth hormones so they get big and fat.  We're just a bunch of fat, unhealthy, dumbed-down slobs, pumped full of prescription drugs. 
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Comment #22 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2003 at 19:49:10 PT
 A slew of spew.
Another one from Fey that needs attention...   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n861/a14.html?5490 in the St. Petersburg Times -This one is also dated to still accept LTE's...On the MAP search engine, there is a slew of Her spew.http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n861/a14.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1347/a03.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1237/a05.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1974/a09.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1457/a01.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1246/a03.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n673/a02.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n972/a06.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n736/a10.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n227/a03.html?5492http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n457/a05.html?5492It is worse than bad gas.
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Comment #21 posted by Lehder on June 11, 2003 at 19:43:51 PT
kucinich
Here's the most recent aritcle on Kucinich from Common Dreams, a good place to see pepriodic reports of his progress.http://commondreams.org/views03/0609-09.htmSend him some good words, people, send him some money.If you're a cynic, send him a lot of money, say $5,000 - now, while he's still a nobody. You could wind up with a fat salary for eight years as Secretary of Doin' Nothin'. I'm kinda busy. Maybe I'll send him 50. 
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Comment #20 posted by Jose Melendez on June 11, 2003 at 19:27:17 PT
Oh, Calvina!
Check out this latest Joyce wannabe:from:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n877/a09.html?397ROSENTHAL IS A DRUG KINGPIN In reference to the recent sentencing of drug kingpin Ed Rosenthal, it is obvious that he is immune to the Supreme Court ruling that marijuana has not been accepted for medical use in the United States, and that it is not a legal defense. Justice did not prevail; it completely failed leaving all of us who support sound drug policy outraged. For the sake of our children's future, we need answers now! How could Ed Rosenthal, who should have received a mandatory minimum of 5 years, get a downward departure of sentencing guidelines to one day, which he never served? How could a downward departure be considered because Judge Charles Breyer felt Rosenthal genuinely believed what he was doing was not against the law? Perhaps Judge Breyer needs to read Mr. Rosenthal's book, Marijuana: The Law and You, a Guide to Minimizing Legal Consequences. It must only be a mere coincidence that this book is designed, "to keep you out or get you out of trouble." The back cover of his book claims that it has "saved people thousands of years of jail time." (Snipped)Note: Seems to be an intellectually dishonest habitual paid prohibitionist. Here is the only contact info I found:... has been promoted for years as a snakeoil cure all,” commented Calvina L. Fay,
executive director of Drug ... Contact: Drug Free America Foundation, 727/893-2616 ... that this essential cabinet position be confirmed immediately," said Calvina L. Fay,
executive director of ... Contact: Drug Free America Foundation, 727/828-0211
Criminalize Prohibition
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Comment #19 posted by lag on June 11, 2003 at 19:26:39 PT
Sweet
This is some great news. It makes my day. May I live long enough to see it legalized.
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Comment #18 posted by ekim on June 11, 2003 at 19:15:31 PT
http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm
He is in Iowa and comming to CA. Ck out schedule to see him/http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm
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Comment #17 posted by Jose Melendez on June 11, 2003 at 19:04:39 PT
Jerry Springer running for office?
from: 
http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1055324189266540.xmlCuyahoga County NewsSpringer eyes Senate; site gauges support 06/11/03 Mark Naymik, Politics WriterOften accused of selling sleaze, Jerry Springer is now selling a piece of his political future. The controversial talk-show host and former Cincinnati mayor has developed a Web site to hawk T-shirts, CDs and autographed photos in a possible bid for the U.S. Senate. 
 Supporters, for instance, can get $25 T-shirts emblazoned with "Yokels for Jerry" - a reference to the underclass Springer says is left out of the political process. Springer, a Democrat, plans to hold the money generated from the Web site until he decides whether he will become a candidate, said Mike Ford, a consultant who managed Springer's previous political campaigns and helped create the new site, www.runjerryrun.com. The site is expected to be up this week. (Snipped)Note: Jerry Springer might run for U.S. Senate, no word yet on how a President Springer would deal with safer, legal marijuana. 
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Comment #16 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2003 at 17:47:39 PT
What will the record show?
Can We let the record show how many of these cases there are stacking up? Can the record show how fast these cases are stacking up... the rate is sick... Can the record show how fast police feed at this blood? Can the record show what the police would be doing if they were not preying on kids, and innocent citizens?Police that lust to dislove their brother in this manner (or any), are sick, greedy and disobedient to Christ God Our Father, the Ecologician.TO THE POLICE: I know this is hard for You to understand this, now that You have the taste of this blood, but prohibiting man from access to cannabis is sinful and uncivilized. Quit upholding mans laws over the laws of Christ God. I apologize for Us, as a society to in essence force You to do this, but stop it. Society, in forcing You to do this wicked work, is actually separating You from the gift Christ God Our Father makes available to those who obey.
It is time for police. Pick Your Master: it is either Christ God Our Father or else for Americans for example it is Bush et al.
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Comment #15 posted by phil_debowl on June 11, 2003 at 14:10:35 PT
Nuevo - Kucinich
I just signed up to volunteer for the campaign. I requested a scaled down, few sentence overview of all his views, that could be switched around to targed the interests of different listserv's i'm a member of. I would put something together myself, but i'm a horrible writer. Hopefully someone involved in the campaign will help with this. Anyway, if I get this, would anyone be interested in it? I believe if a majority in the anti-drug war community could agree to vote on 1 person, it would definatly not be "throwing our vote away". On the other hand, if half of us vote one way and the other half the other, we will be "throwing our vote away". I really hate that term, but i couldn't think of anything better. I think back to 2 years ago, when i wasn't politicaly involved at all. I was involved in certain issues, but that was about it. It's amazing how 1 administration has changed that.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on June 11, 2003 at 14:07:19 PT
phil
That makes sense. When communities need to depend on one another the ice is broken. 
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Comment #13 posted by mayan on June 11, 2003 at 14:06:29 PT
"Public Interest"
"However, Justice Department lawyer Peter DeFreitas argued that it is in the "public interest" to immediately suspend Justice Steven Rogin's decision, which upheld the lower court acquittal of a Windsor-area teenager on marijuana possession charges."The courts will uphold the "public interest". The JD already stated that Rogin "erred in law". Could a judge possibly receive a greater insult? I think most of the judges are probably pretty pissed about the JD telling them how to do their jobs. The cat is definitely out of the bag! Gotta' love it!!!The way out is the way in...Foreknowledge of 9-11:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.html9/11 Inquiry and Is Anyone Safe? 
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout5.php&id=910&blz=1Paul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline:
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline/9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive:
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledgeMike Ruppert on Amy Goodman and the 9/11 Latecomers:
http://www.questionsquestions.net/docs04/0518_ruppert911.htmlSeptember 11: Did you know...?
http://www.cosmosleft.com/pages/7/index.htm9/11 Film Draws Overflow Crowd:
http://onlinejournal.com/Media/050703Lynn/050703lynn.html
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Comment #12 posted by phil_debowl on June 11, 2003 at 13:58:15 PT
kaptinemo, neighbors
I've found in large cities you can find neighborhoods where people look out for each other and you know a lot of them. Unfortunatly it only seems to be like that in "Questionable" neighborhoods. In my experiences, when I live in a "good" neighborhood in a large city, people don't seem to care at all about each other, and it's even hard to get a hello out of a lot of "neighbors". It the less desirable areas i've lived in in large cities, the majority of the people were very open (sometimes a little hesitant at 1st till they relize your cool) and friendly and i've gotten to know the neighbors very well, had block parties, cookouts, helped each other with projects, etc... I've always felt safer in those areas too, cause everyone looks out for each other. I don't have children so that's not a concern, but I always look for a lower income area in a city just because I feel much more welcome. 
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Comment #11 posted by Nuevo Mexican on June 11, 2003 at 13:26:47 PT
Canada, or NEW Mexico for Kaptinemo?
Just got back from meeting Bill Richardson, (I love Gary Johnson, as most do here), and he impressed me (rumor has it....) So he is personable, likable, and sharp. Funny too!
In that regard, an improvement over Johnsons Republicanish stiffness). Treated this C-Newser as an equal, and called on me for a question, which was: (after the Patriot Act question, a perfect segue which got Richardson a standing ovation for his loathing of it, we are an anti-Patriot Act State), What will you do to motivate the voters to actually vote, through your leadership, in this next election, when in the last election, a Democrat WON the presidency, and the media wouldn't report it. His answer was quick and lost in the laughter. I squeezed in a comment that having confirmed in person what I had been told by the many people here who have met him personally, how genuine and personable he was, that he would win a run for the Presidency a lot quicker if we seceeded from the union.
I also started out pointing out the only good thing about the Patriot Act is that bush can easily be impeached because of it! Backbiting BUSH first! All in all, a good day as he mentioned all the Dennis Kucinich for President supporters in the crowd several times (I met Dennis Kucinich both times he came to Santa Fe, and would make the best President, and has a huge support base here). we wore buttons and stickers, and no other candidate for president was being promoted, Which brings me to the point that Dennis Kucinich, Rep. from Ohio running for President on a libertarianesque, Greenish, old-style Liberal Democratic Platform, (End the War on Drugs!) is the man for C-newsers to get behind, (and all pro-cannabis, anti-war activists) Here is his website: 
www.kucinich.us 
and read his platform and the following statement in particular:DRUG WAR:
A safe, free and just America is undermined, not bolstered, by the costly and ineffective War on Drugs. While well-intentioned, this misguided policy -- which emphasizes criminalization over treatment -- has led to increased violent crime, misdirected resources of law enforcement and restricted Constitutional liberties.Despite billions spent yearly on the drug war, addiction is up. Our country must rethink a policy that produces many casualties, but benefits only the prison-industrial complex. Non-violent drug offenders often receive Draconian sentences, tearing apart families.Racial bias in the enforcement of drug laws is pervasive. According to a Human Rights Watch report based on FBI statistics, blacks were arrested on drug charges at nearly five times the rate of whites. Drug use is consistent across racial and socioeconomic lines -- yet in the state of New York, for example, 94 percent of incarcerated drug offenders are Latino or African-American, mostly from poor communities.Countries in Europe and elsewhere are turning away from failed policies. They are treating addiction as a medical problem and are seeing significant reductions in crime and violence -- with fewer young people becoming involved with addictive drugs in the first place. In our country, due to misplaced priorities and resources, only one bed exists
for every ten people who apply for drug treatment. Addiction is a medical and moral problem that should be treated by professionals, not dumped on the criminal justice systemMost Americans believe that medical marijuana should be available to help relieve the suffering of seriously ill patients, and eight states have passed laws to allow it. But the Bush administration has harassed medical marijuana patients in an effort to assert federal authority. This is another aspect of the drug war that should be ended. His stands on these issues can be found at his website:Affirmative Action 
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty 
Campaign Finance 
Civil Liberties 
Clean Water 
Cleveland Public Power 
Corporations 
Death Penalty 
Department of Peace 
Drug war 
Economy 
Education 
Environment 
Gay Rights 
Genetically Engineered Food 
International Cooperation 
Iraq 
Manufacturing 
Military Spending 
Nuclear Safety 
Prescription Drugs 
Racial Discrimination 
Reproductive Rights 
Social Security and Pension Protection 
Trade 
Universal Health Care 
Water as a Human Right 
Weapons & Non-Proliferation 
Workers Rights 
we have a candidate who is for real! Let's get behind this man, send him some financial support and make the world a beautiful, spiritual place to be! Not a world of bushes Fears, Sars, Lies, and Wars!
Peace!
NM
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on June 11, 2003 at 13:06:06 PT
Being Good Neighbors
kapt I too lived half of my life back east and can relate to the indifference. Don't get involved or you could get caught up in something like a law suit. Out here we need each other. I was riding an arab stallion I had years ago and my husband before he went to work told me not too. I was alone. The horse flipped out on me and I hit the ground very hard. Our neighbors which aren't very close came to my rescue and carried me to my house which was 400 feet from my barn. There isn't any question about helping each other out here so I understand how nice it must be in Canada.
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on June 11, 2003 at 12:57:45 PT:
FoM, I have my own take on it
It's not easy, living in a climate that is, from time to time, trying to kill you. You learn the value of cooperation *real* fast. Bound to leave marks on a culture...I've been through one brief exposure to a Canadian winter, and it was a doozie. Many years ago, I was staying at my Canuck friend's place in TO, in the North York area, when it got hammered with a 'Lake Effect' snowstorm that buried the street and the cars in it in 3 feet of snow in as many hours. I helped dig her out literally from opening the door and chopping away at the drift blocking it out to the street. Then we started on her neighbor's places, but I didn't have to do much in that regard, as they were all helping each other dig out.How many people in the States, living literally side by side, with much less to shovel, after taking care of themselves, then look after their neighbors? Sure, out in the boonies, where I used to live, we did it all the time. But in a city? Where you may have lived beside someone for years and never said more than 50 words to them the whole time? Adversity can do two things to a culture; it can either tear people apart and cause a Hobbesian 'war of all against all'...or you can learn to cooperate to survive and thrive in a difficult environment. Speaking as a non-practicing sociologist, my background tells me this is in large part the origin of much that I admire in Canadian culture. Sure, they have their warts. But I'd trade theirs for ours in a heartbeat.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 11, 2003 at 12:30:10 PT
Kaptinemo 
I really like the way Canadians think. All the movie stars I like I find out are Canadians. They seem humble but wise. It's like they know something we don't know about life but they are polite enough not to rub it in. I hope this makes sense.
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Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on June 11, 2003 at 12:16:37 PT:
I haven't been to TO in years
But I would recommend the Fall; anyone from the Great Lakes area can tell you that Summers are beastly hot and humid, up there. It's much prettier in Autumn.In any event, I'll be spending my vacation cash in Canada, NOT the U. S. of A. All US merchants who have blindly supported the War on Drugs and oppressed their workers with piss tests shall have John Pee and The (Self) Annointed One a.k.a. Ashcroft to thank for that. And I imagine I will not be alone in my spending habits, either.If folks want to get together in the Land of the Maple Leaf, count me in. 
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Comment #6 posted by Jose Melendez on June 11, 2003 at 11:56:44 PT
One more thing
Another thing I noticed is that people who do wrong self medicate heavily, like they'd like to forget or ignore their own guilt... Examples: Al-Qaeda are rumored to drink alcohol in strip clubs or took pills (Valium, I think) before 9-11.Here's another example of a crook with tears in his beer:from:http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA9CCJKTGD.htmlProsecutor of Discredited Tulia Drug Arrests Convicted of Drunken Driving, Sentenced to Jail
The Associated Press 
Published: Jun 11, 2003 
CARRIZOZO, N.M. (AP) - The Texas district attorney who prosecuted many of the now-discredited 1999 Tulia drug arrests was found guilty of drunken driving and sentenced to two days in jail. The verdict Tuesday in a New Mexico court brings into question the professional future of district attorney Terry McEachern, officials said. "I'm sure it would probably be best if he stepped down," Swisher County Commissioner Billy Settle told the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal. McEachern's office covers three West Texas counties, Swisher, Hale and Castro. McEachern, who has denied wrongdoing in the racially charged Tulia drug cases, was stopped on suspicion of drunken driving by an officer in Ruidoso on Nov. 27. Shirley and Jim Wood of Portales, N.M., testified Tuesday that they saw McEachern running off the shoulder of the road, veering into oncoming traffic and randomly accelerating and decelerating. After he was stopped, McEachern failed a series of videotaped field sobriety tests and refused to take a breath test. McEachern denied driving erratically. He testified that he took a Valium - to treat a painful nerve condition - and drank two beers at dinner about an hour before the traffic stop. He said he initially lied by denying he had had anything to drink because he was embarrassed. (Snipped)Boycott Hypocrisy: Drug War Fuels Crime
Tullia Prosecuter Exposed as Criminal
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Comment #5 posted by Jose Melendez on June 11, 2003 at 11:33:56 PT
Dr. Russo
Sir, It occurs to me that this would be an ideal time to do a study or perhaps a statistical review of the public records in order to answer the objections that the "other side" makes. Perhaps the American public does not identify with the Dutch, but Canadians are right here on the mainland, and white... I'm guessing more Canadian hospital records at the very least should probably reflect a decrease in alcohol abuse related emergencies, since there would be a safer alternative mood altering substance. Also, with legal weed might possibly come a reduction in drug related crime, yes? I'm not sure how they could hide that news, unless there is another shark bite news frenzy.
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Comment #4 posted by Lehder on June 11, 2003 at 11:21:35 PT
I'm enjoying this
What sport to hold a real debate! Let us hope that it's all resolved by the courts, because the right-wing "liberal" Chretien will be out next year and replaced by a fascist.At the same time, the Canadian government is bowing to US blackmail by sending the RCMP to help in occupied Iraq, by agreeing to participate in B___'s new star wars program ( this is, by the way, an offensive weapon - everyone knows it cannot work as a defensive weapon ), and by dismantling health and other social services that will be provided more and more by big businesses at high costs for big profits just like in the US!But however this all evolves, marijuana will never again be the "demon drug" as far as Canadians are concerned. No amount of propaganda can ever change that now. The US drug warriors are reduced to applying ever cruder forms of force, and after a series of brazen insults and threats, Canadians know that the only demons are in Washington, DC. Americans, meanwhile, hold a large capacity for further abuse.
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Comment #3 posted by CorvallisEric on June 11, 2003 at 09:46:16 PT
Legal source
... Health Canada has until July 9 to comply with a separate Ontario Superior Court judgment to provide a legal source of cannabis to people with medical exemptions.I'll bet they're totally unprepared to comply, won't do it, and will suffer the consequences after all their legal delays are exhausted.
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2003 at 09:46:13 PT
Oh yes, on yes
Yes, this is same exact court that just struck down the laws prohibiting gay marriage! Let's hope they step back into the batter's box next month and hit a home run! The federal government is probably not going to appeal the gay marriage ruling; I wonder if they would let an MJ ruling stand pat as well. I doubt it. But, I doubt the result will be different at the Supreme Court, either.So are going to plan a CNews weekend in Montreal or Toronto in August or what?
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on June 11, 2003 at 09:01:24 PT:
It's Crunch Time, Baby
This is fascinating. The courts in Canada seem to be the only ones with a consistent and defensible stance on this mess. The best thing that could happen is that for the next few weeks, there is no possession law in Ontario, and the public finds out that the sky did not fall. Then the Supreme Court can rule in a few more months that cannabis prohibition is counter to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That would pre-empt the whole sorry debate in Parliament. It would also circumvent any protest by the UNDCP or USA on the basis of the Single Convention Treaty.That's it: Game, Set and Match. Decisive drum roll, please!
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