cannabisnews.com: Pot Ruling Expected Tuesday





Pot Ruling Expected Tuesday
Posted by CN Staff on December 22, 2003 at 08:26:48 PT
By Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service 
Source: Montreal Gazette 
As the Martin government moves to relax marijuana laws, the Supreme Court of Canada will decide tomorrow whether to give pot advocates the big prize: legalization. The long-awaited rulings in three cases will be the Supreme Court's first test of the constitutionality of the country's 80-year-old ban on marijuana possession. 
"This is very significant," said Chris Clay, a B.C. Web-page designer who owned the Great Canadian Hemporium marijuana paraphernalia and seed store in London, Ont., before police shut it down. "It sounds like the Liberals are going to decriminalize, and that's a step in the right direction, but ultimately legalization is the solution we're looking for." Clay, 32, laughed at the prospect of sticking a bit of weed in the Christmas pudding if the ruling goes his way. He is one of three litigants who argue that threatening people with a criminal record and jail time for what they contend is a victimless crime breaches Charter of Rights guarantees of life, liberty and security of the person. The federal Justice Department counters that the Supreme Court should give Parliament as much leeway as possible in crafting drug policy. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/expected.htmSource: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)Author: Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service Published: Monday, December 22, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.Contact: letters thegazette.southam.caWebsite: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmSupreme Court Will Rule Tuesdayhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18014.shtmlSupreme Court To Issue Ruling Soon on Pot Law http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17990.shtmlMarijuana Advocates Get Day in High Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17968.shtml 
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Comment #11 posted by CorvallisEric on December 22, 2003 at 19:31:40 PT
Re: WolfgangWylde - comment 6 on Rush Limbaugh
 ... recognizes that he may have purchased drugs illegally under Florida law and "certainly had more pills than he could ever use."I believe that's called possession with intent to distribute. ... negotiations on a possible plea bargain ...100 hours community service consisting of lecturing on his radio show the evils of drug legalization.The latest this hour is about him paying huge blackmail sums to the maid - lots on Google News.
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Comment #10 posted by sukoi on December 22, 2003 at 16:14:39 PT
westnyc
Because of this oppression, I don't consume it either else I become unemployed. I feel exactly the same way that you do. I beleive in "personal responsibility" just as is imposed on alcohol. Here is a great quote:"Marijuana laws make liars and criminals out of people who are neither! Laws that don't respect people breed people who don't respect Laws!"                            Gregory Schmid, author of PRA2000 (Personal Responsibility Act)
 
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Comment #9 posted by westnyc on December 22, 2003 at 16:04:58 PT
Sukoi
Sukoi - I'm glad to hear about these people: I didn't realize that there were some politicians in the forefront mainstream that actually realize the hypocrisy and ridiculousnes of this insane prohibition in the U.S; and, who speak critisism of the harm of prohibition. I want to see it legalized and regulated not because I personally consume it, I don't; rather, I believe that it is a matter of civil rights and "freedom of responsibility;" and, it most certainly does have medical value which I might need someday.:-) Hopefully, tomorrow it will all change in the Great North!
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Comment #8 posted by sukoi on December 22, 2003 at 14:55:43 PT
westnyc, this gives me hope:
“Canadian politicians, however, don't think much of such rhetoric. In an interview published 11/14, Vancouver, BC Mayor Larry Campbell, formerly a narcotics officer with the Mounties then Vancouver's coroner, told Drug War Chronicle, "[John Walters] is probably the most misinformed person in the whole United States" (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/311/campbell.shtml). In July 2002, following a visit to Canada by US Rep. Mark Souder, Member of Parliament Libby Davies, responding to Souder's claim that marijuana is as dangerous as cocaine, told the Canadian Press, " My God, what is this man talking about? We can't be subservient to the ridiculous rhetoric coming out of the United States."
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18021.shtml Comment #19
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Comment #7 posted by westnyc on December 22, 2003 at 14:42:54 PT
I hope I am wrong!
I would like to remain optimistic about tomorrow's ruling. Contrarily, I don't think the court's will rule in favor of lesser criminalities of cannabis. Why? I think that the new Government has intentions of doing what is best and what is arguably right in regulating Canadian Constitutional Rights; however, I know that they are trying to "figure-out" any new avenue to improve relationships between the U.S. and Canada. Unfortunately, they have been prewarned about repercussions by the Bush Administration if they go forward.
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Comment #6 posted by WolfgangWylde on December 22, 2003 at 14:07:34 PT
Just a little sidebar action.
CNN is reporting that Rush Limbaugh is considering cutting a plea bargain.WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- As attorneys for Rush Limbaugh went to court Monday to try to keep his medical records out of the hands of Florida prosecutors, there have been negotiations on a possible plea bargain for the conservative talk show host, according to a spokeswoman for his radio network.Keevin Bellows, a spokeswoman for Premier Radio Networks, said Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, had been talking with the Palm Beach County state attorney's office about "accepting responsibility for his actions." She also said Black "will be making news today."Bellows said Limbaugh, who recently completed treatment for addiction to prescription painkillers, recognizes that he may have purchased drugs illegally under Florida law and "certainly had more pills than he could ever use."However, she said Limbaugh never intended to sell the drugs. 
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Comment #5 posted by Virgil on December 22, 2003 at 11:20:13 PT
Picard broke prime directive on drug episode
There was an episode of Star Trek Next Generation where one planet needed assistance obtaining a substance that prevented certain ailments. If they did not have the drug, then the ailments would come. The supplying planet said that the shipment had to go through in order to save the other plantet that paid heavily for their medicine. Picard broke the Prime Directive when he saw that the one planet was just addicted and the other planet was a huge drug dealer.
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Comment #4 posted by Trekkie on December 22, 2003 at 10:32:55 PT
From a Trekkie...
Naw, the Enterprise is bound by the Prime Directive to not interfere with burgeoning cultures, to let them run thier natural course.It could have been George Herbert W. Borg, and the Alterian General Ashcroft, though.Anyone remember the Classic Trek Episode with the space hippies? Whenever an authority figure would spout policy to the hippies, they would chant "Herbert, Herbert!"Coincidence, or something more... :)
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on December 22, 2003 at 09:35:42 PT:
Naw, those pesky damn Borg filched it.
I just wish all these time-jumping interlopers would stay out of our century; things are tough enough as is..
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on December 22, 2003 at 09:32:12 PT
News Brief from The CBC
Supreme Court Set to Rule on Marijuana December 22, 2003
 
VANCOUVER - Marijuana activists are hoping for an early Christmas present Tuesday when the Supreme Court of Canada rules on three constitutional challenges of the country's pot laws. They claim the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects their right to grow, sell and use cannabis. FROM MAY 6, 2003: Pot law challenged in highest court: http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=bc_pot20030506"I should have the right to grow mountainsides of marijuana as long as I am doing it responsibly and not harming others when I do it, " says Vancouver activist David Malmo-Levine. He says with that proviso, pot should be no more treated as a criminal substance than are coffee or alcohol. INDEPTH: Marijuana laws: http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/background/marijuana_legalize.htmlVancouver criminal lawyer John Conroy's client, Victor Caine, was arrested and charged for possessing a single joint in the early 1990s. Conroy says these marijuana cases are good tests of the Charter's guarantees of personal liberties. "In Canada do we want a Parliament to threaten a liberty for circumstances which are trivial or pose no serious risk of harm to others or to society as a whole?" Copyright: 2003 CBC
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on December 22, 2003 at 09:05:17 PT
Amnesia?
Once again the 600-page Senate report, an official publication of the elected Candadian government, has seemingly disappeared! Where did it go? Did the Enterprise fly back in time and steal it?
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