Cannabis Hemp News

Jury selection for the federal drug trial of pro-marijuana author and activist Ed Rosenthal of Oakland has been moved up due to a judge's concern about public opinion making it hard to find unbiased jurors. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco said Thursday jury selection will start Tuesday rather than next Thursday, leaving two extra days to pick a panel before Rosenthal's trial starts Jan. 21. "He is clearly concerned about the amount of time it's going to take to get a fair and impartial jury," said Bill Simpich, one of Rosenthal's attorneys. Breyer also Thursday denied the last of the pre-trial motions made by Rosenthal's lawyers, which had claim…

Think of them as McDoobies or Bong King — franchise outlets across the province where you can buy marijuana. That’s what medical-marijuana advocates are calling for as they seek improved access to pain-relieving pot. Debbie Stultz-Giffin smokes four grams of pot a day to alleviate pain and symptoms caused by multiple sclerosis. Her husband was convicted four years ago of growing marijuana, even though it was for his wife, who is legally allowed to use it. “Health Canada has put us in the situation where many exemption holders are driven to the black market to purchase their marijuana at inflated prices,” she said. It also puts patients at risk because they can’t be…

Source: Winnipeg Sun Flin Flon's highly touted pot mine has harvested its first batch of research-grade marijuana, the Winnipeg Sun has learned. About 200 kilograms of marijuana that meets "good manufacturing practices" was harvested in late December at the government-sanctioned grow operation -- the only one of its kind in Canada, Health Canada spokeswoman Jirina Vlk said yesterday. "This is the first batch that is GMP compliant," Vlk told The Sun. "The stuff that isn't GMP compliant can be used for other purposes, like for tests on (second-hand) smoke, for example." The pot is grown under high security in a hydroponic lab deep within an old copper mine in Fli…

Source: Edmonton Sun Toronto -- A second Ontario judge has "pounded another stake in the heart" of Canada's pot law, finding there is nothing on the books forbidding the possession of small amounts of dope. Ontario Court of Justice Judge John Moore yesterday threw out a simple possession charge against a 40-year-old man with no criminal record who was alleged to have had the equivalent of a joint in his pocket. Moore agreed with his Windsor colleague Justice Douglas Phillips who on Jan. 2 found there are no laws in Canada prohibiting the possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana. Moore found that the law as it currently stands in Ontario "no longer exists." Th…

This article got my attention and what it says makes sense to me somehow:

Source: Toronto Sun The status of a government-approved marijuana crop in Flin Flon, Man., is a closely guarded secret, says the city's mayor. Mayor Dennis Ballard said yesterday that Health Canada is reluctant to share any information on the underground pot mine, which is approved by the government for medicinal use. "I don't know much of anything about the mine other than what I've read in the paper," he said yesterday. Health Canada awarded a five-year, $5.7-million contract to Prairie Plant Systems in 2000 to grow 400 kilos of marijuana annually in an underground mine in Flin Flon. In November, a Health Canada official said a second crop was being tested wi…

Source: Toronto Sun Marijuana could be legal for everyone in Canada within six months unless Ottawa fixes its medicinal marijuana regulations or provides a legal source and supply to sick people, said one of the lawyers involved in the landmark Superior Court decision yesterday. Justice Sydney Lederman declared the current Marijuana Medicinal Access Regulations (MMAR) unconstitutional, but gave the government an ultimatum: Fix the regulations or supply the pot itself by July 9. "The government must be granted time to fix the MMAR or otherwise provide for a legal source and supply of the drug the MMAR authorize seriously ill individuals to possess and produce, con…

Source: Canadian Press Toronto - A group of seriously ill people has won the first battle in an ongoing war with Ottawa over a scheme to permit the use of medical marijuana the patients say violates their constitutional rights. An Ontario judge agreed Thursday that the federal government's Medical Marijuana Access Regulations are unconstitutional because they prevent more deserving people from exemption than they permit. The ruling from Ontario's Superior Court is binding on lower courts, subject to an appeal, and will likely wreak further havoc on the laws in Canada that make possession of marijuana illegal, said lawyer Alan Young. "We sued the government, say…

There's been a lot of talk lately about Proposition S, the ballot initiative sponsored by Assemblyman Mark Leno and recently approved by San Francisco voters. It will allow the city to grow and distribute medical marijuana, a process currently undertaken by private farms and cannabis clubs. Most of the talk focuses on how this is going to help patients suffering from debilitating conditions like glaucoma and how likely it is that Johnny Ashcroft will roll into town and break up the party. Important issues, sure, but aren't we forgetting something? Shouldn't we be asking if the stuff the city grows is going to be any better? When it comes to selection, quality, and pr…

Source: Oakland Tribune It looks like pro-marijuana author and activist Ed Rosenthal of Oakland is headed for trial on federal drug charges. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer today will hear testimony from Oakland Chief Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker on whether Rosenthal might have honestly believed the city's policies on medical marijuana use protected him from federal prosecution. But Breyer on Wednesday didn't seem to think what he hears today will lead to him granting Rosenthal's lawyers' motions to set aside part or all of the case. Instead, he ordered that the parties plan to be in court next Thursday to start picking a jury so Rosenthal's trial ca…

Source: National Post Ottawa - Despite the Prime Minister's misgivings, Martin Cauchon, the Justice Minister, says he intends to pursue decriminalization of marijuana by taking a proposal to the federal Cabinet "in the weeks ahead." Mr. Cauchon heads to Europe today, where he will discuss pot decriminalization with his counterparts in France, England and Germany, which have relaxed their laws or plan to do so. "I want to move ahead as quickly as I can," Mr. Cauchon said yesterday, when asked whether Jean Chrétien's hesitancy will delay legislation. Mr. Cauchon, a 40-year-old who has confessed to smoking pot in his youth, acknowledged that he and his boss may ha…

Pembroke, Ont. - An Ottawa Valley man who was pulled over while smoking a marijuana joint has been found not guilty of driving while impaired. Rick Reimer, a retired lawyer from Killaloe, Ont., has an exemption from Health Canada that allows him to smoke marijuana to help him with his multiple sclerosis. In February 2002, he was pulled over for crossing the centre line. The officer noticed that he was smoking a joint and charged him with impaired driving. But Reimer, who defended himself in the case, insists that marijuana does not impair his ability to drive. "I know that I'm not guilty, I'm innocent and I hoped that the court would see it that way and I'm glad th…

Since its inception in January 1995, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) has devoted substantial time and energy to changing the medical marijuana laws. Over the years, there has been sufficient scientific evidence to establish that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine for some of the people prescribed to it. Two pieces of evidence is that it increases the appetite of patients, which increases caloric intake, and it has preserved their vision for years after they were expected to go blind. September 6, 1988, the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) chief administrative law judge, Francis Young, ruled: "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest ther…

Source: Canadian Press City officials in Saskatoon have received a proposal to set up a Dutch-style cafe where small amounts of marijuana can be consumed. Mayor Jim Maddin says the city's planning and zoning department received a letter from a person interested in the idea -- provided Canada's marijuana laws change. Few details of the Saskatoon proposal are known. In Holland, over 800 licensed cannabis cafes have been set up where marijuana users can buy and consume small amounts of pot. Saskatoon Mayor Jim Maddin says what has likely prompted the proposal is federal discussions on loosening marijuana laws. A federal committee has recommended de-criminalizing…

Ottawa -- They inhaled -- and exhaled. Several front-runners in the New Democratic Party leadership race admitted in a nationally televised debate last night to smoking pot at some point in their lives. The question was raised in connection with the candidates' position on decriminalizing marijuana. Jack Layton, a well-known Toronto city councillor, joked that he never exhaled, a reference to the effects of second-hand smoke. "Six or seven million Canadians have tried marijuana. Are they criminals? I don't think so," Mr. Layton said. "What we do need to do is take a sensible approach." Mr. Layton said the federal government, which is planning to decriminalize marij…