Cannabis Hemp News

Capital News "Marijuana is a gateway drug." A phrase almost as recognizable as "Just Say No." But a study by the private, nonprofit RAND drug policy research center may be underpinning many US anti-drug policies and educational campaigns. Robin Barkenhagan, who favors the legalization of marijuana, said this is old news. Barkenhagan said, "I've known all along that marijuana is not a gateway drug. Gateway drugs are cigarettes, alcohol and hopelessness, to be frank about it." The study states 50 percent of teenagers tried marijuana by the time they were 16, while the majority had no exposure to cocaine, heroin or hallucinogens until they were 20. He said the four-…

Halifax Herald Toronto - A series of recent court rulings that have left Canada's marijuana law in limbo isn't providing relief for those with illnesses, say people who need to use the drug for medical reasons. "Pot possession laws, decriminalization, whatever the government is doing, whatever the courts are doing, is not helping us at all," said William Palmer, an HIV sufferer, who can legally smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes. "They are still not helping the sick. Where are the priorities here? I don't care if they decriminalize it tomorrow, we need pharmacies that can sell marijuana and we need them now." Those who have exemptions from the Controlled Dr…

The only medical-marijuana case to end in conviction in Long Beach Superior Court has been overturned on appeal, and prosecutors have not yet decided whether to retry the case. Marie Rutledge was charged last year with possessing marijuana in her car but claimed it was medically prescribed to treat her asthma, muscle spasms and migraine headaches. Her Long Beach jury disagreed, finding her guilty of cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana and public intoxication. After reviewing the case and hearing oral arguments in Los Angeles last month, the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal reversed the jury verdict based on a recent California Supreme Court decisi…

Source: Daily Herald-Tribune Since the Herald-Tribune ran a front-page story and subsequent feature material outlining the proliferation of the illicit street drug known as crystal meth in Grande Prairie, the specifics of the drug itself and the terrible effects it can have on the user and the family, a debate has ensued on the letters section of this page with respect to that drug’s relationship to marijuana use. One letter writer, once a user of many drugs and alcohol, who now - six clean years later – works in drug rehab and counselling – made reference to a “gateway” theory and that reference has touched off a maelstrom of response from across North America see…

If you want to see drugs and violence on television, you don't need to bother tuning in to "NYPD Blue" or loading up a game of "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City." You can just watch one of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's latest anti-marijuana ads. Two teenagers in a marijuana-induced haze sit in a family den, foggy with smoke. After some typical silly banter ("your sister is hot"), one of the kids pulls out his father's gun, says it's unloaded, and to prove it, aims at his friend's head and fires. ONDCP, showing some residual good taste, spares viewers the splattered brains, but we are supposed to learn that smoking pot will kill you. Other spots suggest that…

Source: BBSNews In November of 2002 the president of the National District Attorneys Association, Dan M. Alsobrooks, opined in a newsletter that "Attempts to legalize or decriminalize controlled substances, and particularly marijuana, are springing up around the country. Those who support legalization are well funded and highly adept at manipulating the media. And they do not mind deceiving the American public as well." The newsletter continues with numerous other factual innaccuracies. In mid-November, the Whitehouse issued a press release that "World-wide, approximately 2290 terrorist-related arrests were made in 99 countries between September 12, 2001 and October …

Source: National Post After a decade of U.S. government scare propaganda that convinced Americans that crazed Mexicans, blacks and fans of jazz clubs were pushing marijuana "reefers" on school children and honest youths, turning them into raving murderers, politicians decided to act. The U.S. Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act. Growing and selling marijuana were still legal, but only if you bought a $1 government stamp. And that stamp was not for sale. On the day the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act was enacted -- Oct. 2, 1937 -- the FBI and Denver, Colo., police raided the Lexington Hotel and arrested Samuel R. Caldwell, 58, an unemployed labourer and Moses Baca…

After appearing hesitant before Christmas, Jean Chrétien is now ready to move quickly to decriminalize possession of marijuana. "The PM is strong on this," said a spokesman from the Prime Minister's Office. "The government is determined to address this issue." The spokesman, who did not want to be named, denied that Mr. Chrétien has changed his mind since he said in an interview with Global TV last month that there would have to be a full debate on the issue and that the government would make a decision "one day." "I don't think he has ever had a change of heart," said the spokesman. "I just think that he really wanted to make sure that before legislation is introduc…

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…