Cannabis Hemp News

Source: Calgary Sun Loosening Canada's pot laws will improve security at the border, not bog it down, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said yesterday. Graham downplayed reports that the U.S. is prepared to re-assign border guards working the U.S.-Mexico border, to work on the northern border should Canada go ahead and decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot. "Some people in the United States have said it will raise problems at the border, so we'll see if that's true," Graham told CTV's Question Period. "I don't believe it will because I think we'll do it in a way which reduces the tensions." Last week, a Commons committee recommended Canada bring …

Source: Sudbury Star It’s easy to joke about politicians and pot heads, but the parliamentary committee that recommended changes to Canada’s drug laws has offered advice that has to be taken seriously. For starters, the parliamentarians are not the first to suggest laws regarding simple possession should be eased. Last summer the Senate’s legal affairs committee said the same thing, and federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon agreed, although not emphatically. The parliamentary committee, which released its report last week, has suggested that possession of a small amount of marijuana no longer be regarded as a criminal matter. Instead, it would be regarded as mor…

What was a "pipe dream" for many might soon become a reality. A House of Commons committee has recommended decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana. This week, reporter Tobi Cohen explores both sides of the issue. CON: INCREASED IMPAIRMENT ON ROADS More accidents on roads and increased work for law enforcement officials are some of the fears of opponents of marijuana decriminalization. With no mechanism in place to determine whether someone is too high to drive, Raynald Marchand of the Canada Safety Council fears decriminalization will prompt partyers to toke and drive as a way to have fun and get where they need to go while evading potential l…

source : Trimbos Institute Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction Information on drug use in the EU-Member States is provided by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).[13,14] Institutes in the US and Australia also regularly publish the results of population drug use surveys.[15,16] The percentage of Americans and Australians who have ever used cannabis in their lifetime is twice as high as that in the Netherlands. In the year prior to the survey almost one in five Australians and one in ten Americans had consumed cannabis. With the exception of the United Kingdom last year use was lower in the EU-Member States. Sweden …

In the preview to the news last night there was a story about a "multi million dollar" grow bust. There was footage of police loading plants in a helicopter. I passed out before the story actually came on Does anyone know more details of what I'm talking about?

Big excitement has hit the drug legalization world. A recent RAND Drug Policy Research Center study reported that marijuana may look, act, and smell like a gateway drug to abuse of harder drugs, but that possibly it is not a gateway drug after all. The marijuana normalizers - as in, "let's make marijuana use normal, or acceptable" - loved it; so did some of the press. Both were quick to misportray the study, so much so that the author of the study himself was dismayed. Andrew Morral of RAND believes he did everything he could to explain he did not disprove the gateway theory but, as he told me, "The story about it misrepresented both our findings and my comments abou…

This was in the my newspaper yesterday ohhh.. how nice to see these "american authorities" giving the Australian Feds $100,000 for their "part" ummpfftt! Urbanhog

Ottawa — Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said Sunday he's not worried that "a fresh source of tension" with United States officials would arise should Canada decide to decriminalize marijuana. "I'm not concerned," he said on CTV Question Period. "It will certainly be an ultimate item of discussion. Some people in the United States have said it will raise problems on the border, so we'll see if that's true. "I honestly, in the end, don't believe it will, because I think we'll do it in a way which reduces the tensions the way we've handled the 30-point border program." On Thursday, a parliamentary committee released a report recommending fines rather than crimin…

U.S. drug czar John Walters says Ottawa's push towards decriminalizing marijuana could make Canada a major supplier of drugs, a situation he says will "complicate" efforts to secure the world's longest undefended border. "Frankly, I'm worried about Canada beginning to look like Mexico as a major supplier of drugs into the United States," Walters told CTV's Question Period Sunday. "We want legitimate trade and movement but we cannot ignore the threats that are serious -- terror and drugs -- to become an increasing problem." Earlier this week, a Commons committee recommended decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, saying current p…

Police and the government will milk the proposed decriminalization of pot like a cash cow, warns the leader of the Marijuana Party. "The day that the government realizes there's money to be made by fining marijuana users, I guarantee there's going to be an increase in repression," said Marc- Boris St-Maurice. Agreeing it's a step toward legalization, St-Maurice is fuming about a Commons committee recommendation that would see those caught possessing 30 grams or less get off with a ticket and no criminal record. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he's ready to roll on the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use by early next year. St-Maurice, a former Mont…

In a highly unusual move, the Supreme Court of Canada refused yesterday to proceed with three constitutional appeals to Canada's pot law because Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he is on the verge of decriminalizing marijuana. One after another, several of Canada's top judges grilled federal lawyer David Frankel, who wanted to go ahead and defend the criminal law that outlaws simple possession and argue that marijuana is a harmful substance. But the judges interjected that Cauchon has said the law's penalties are too harsh and its enforcement too uneven, and appeared baffled by Frankel's explanations that the minister was expressing "a personal view." Cauchon h…

On Dec. 12, the House of Commons special committee on the non-medical use of drugs released a report calling for the decriminalization of marijuana, and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he plans to put forth a decriminalization bill early in 2003. It is a safe bet that the U.S. government reaction will be hostile, just as it always seems to be when people talk about reconsidering marijuana laws. Canadians should understand that on drug policy, the U.S. government is increasingly out of step with Americans. Canadians should use their own good sense, make their own judgments, and disregard U.S. bullying, as most of our drug laws were made on a racist foundation…

Source: Barrie Advance A proposed mellowing of Canadian marijuana laws has sparked a heated debate between friends and foes of the illicit weed. "It's encouraging that they are talking about it, but I still say we need full legalization," said long-time cannabis advocate Ron McInnes. The recommendation that possession of small amounts of pot no longer result in criminal charges was among several released Thursday by a Special Parliamentary Committee tasked with studying illegal drugs. It comes just days after federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon hinted that his government may introduce legislation to decriminalize pot early in the new year. For its part, the …

Source: Ottawa Citizen The Supreme Court of Canada judges have written a letter questioning whether they should proceed with a federal government case against marijuana smoking today, given that Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he is going to decriminalize the drug. As soon as the judges read about Mr. Cauchon's announcement earlier this week, the court wrote lawyers for the federal government and three marijuana enthusiasts, asking whether the case should be put on hold in light of the developments. At the same time that Mr. Cauchon is planning decriminalization, his own Justice Department lawyers are scheduled to argue in the Supreme Court today that mariju…