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Current Affairs 2006 - Activism (100 items)
| Jun 14, 2006 | Roberts' Case Denied By Judge Local Paddy Roberts Will Appeal B.C. Supreme Court Judge's Decision To Allow Feds To Intervene In Emery Charges
Slocan Valley's Patrick Roberts may have lost the fight to prevent Ottawa's involvement in his charges against B.C.'s Pot King Marc Emery, but he is willing to take his battle to the bitter end, even if it means the Supreme Court of Canada. By charging Emery and two accomplices, Michelle Rainey-Fenkarek and Greg Williams, with conspiracy to distribute marijuana seeds, Roberts could have prevented American drug-enforcement officials from charging the trio with the same crimes, thus preventing their extradition to the U.S. to stand trial. The Emery plot thickened when Canada's Federal Attorney General tried to stay Roberts' charges, which would clear the way for extradition. Roberts argued the federal government had no place in the legal battle, as the charges were conspiracy related, not direct drug charges, which would allow for federal intervention.
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| Jun 14, 2006 | Case 'Dragging On,' Pot Activist Says Fifteen months after he was arrested for exporting marijuana to sick clients, and four months after pleading guilty, a pot activist's roller-coaster ride through the legal system entered a new phase yesterday when the matter was slated to resume sometime next year.
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| Jun 9, 2006 | Marijuana Party Joins Political Landscape In Sask PARTY JOINS POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN SASK.
The proverbial "smoke-filled rooms" where political deals are cut may take on a whole new meaning in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Marijuana Party has joined six other parties as an officially registered provincial political party with Elections Saskatchewan.
Like other marijuana parties in the country, it is expected to advocate the legalization of possession and cultivation of cannabis.
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| Jun 5, 2006 | Dissenters From The Drug War On May 8, the American DEA ( Drug Enforcement Agency ) and the RCMP met in Montreal to conspire in the so-called "war on drugs."
But not all cops are bad. On the same day, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( www.leap.cc ), an association of some 2,000 active or retired cops, held a counter-symposium in Montreal. LEAP wants an end to the war on drugs, which it believes is a failure. It has had a high cost, in terms of money ( US$69 billion a year in the U. S., according to LEAP ). But also in terms of lost liberties: young lives broken by criminal records, prisons overflowing with drug offenders, people who steal or become prostitutes to buy artificially expensive drugs, street violence generated by warring black-market dealers, searches, surveillance, border controls, RICO, money laundering laws and so on, and so forth.
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| May 24, 2006 | Pot Advocate Convicted On Trafficking Charges Former Cafe Owner Faces Up to 10 Years
VANCOUVER -- The former owner of a well-known east Vancouver cafe that openly sold marijuana until a police raid in September, 2004, was convicted of two marijuana-trafficking charges yesterday.
A British Columbia Supreme Court jury found Carol Gwilt guilty of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking as well as possession of the proceeds of crime.
Her co-defendant, Michael Boudreau, was acquitted on the single charge that he faced, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
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| May 24, 2006 | Pot Crusader One Step Closer To Extradition VANCOUVER -- A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ruled in favour of the federal government and removed a potential impediment to the extradition of Marc Emery and his two co-defendants.
Mr. Justice Robert Crawford dismissed a motion that would have prohibited federal prosecutors from taking control of a conspiracy charge filed privately against Mr. Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams.
"This is exactly the decision the United States government would want," Mr. Roberts said yesterday. He indicated that he intends to file an appeal of the ruling later this week with the B.C. Court of Appeal. "It seems quite clear that it gives the United States government, through the agency of the federal Minister of Justice, approval to interfere in the administration of justice in B.C."
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| May 15, 2006 | Mom Challenges CAS An Oakville mother of four who admits to smoking marijuana regularly is challenging a request by the Children's Aid Society of Halton to undergo a drug test.
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| May 11, 2006 | Judge Knew Pot Smoker's Reference A Guelph judge's relationship with a medical marijuana user derailed the sentencing yesterday of a pot crusader who has admitted mailing the drug to users in the United States and Britain.
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| May 10, 2006 | Bong Registry Set Up In City Sell a glass crack pipe or bong in Langley City and you'll have to tell police who you sold it to, including the person's name and address.
On Monday night, council passed a motion to prohibit sales of drug paraphernalia to all persons under 19 years of age and require sellers to record and report to RCMP all purchases.
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| May 7, 2006 | Proud Potheads Take Queen's Park Toronto was one of 200 cities around the world to take part in Global Marijuana March, promoting the legalization of marijuana and the acceptance of the right to smoke it.
"It's really a celebration of the cannabis community; we wanted to take the day to enjoy each other's company," said Domenic Russo, general manager of Cannabis As Living Medicine( CALM ), one of the event organizers. "But there's also the underlying message of the importance of legalizing medical marijuana and the acceptance of people who smoke it."
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| Apr 21, 2006 | Toking Up In Steeltown HAMILTON -- Steeltown turned into Hamiltoke yesterday as cannabis connoisseurs descended on the steps of city hall for a "pot-in."
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| Apr 21, 2006 | Reefer Madness More than 1,000 stoners converged onto the government lawn on Broadway to smoke a doobie and salute the high times of 4-20 ( April 20 ), or Stoner's New Year, as it's known in "greener" circles.
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| Apr 12, 2006 | Legalize Street Drugs, Ex-Cop Urges Retired Seattle police chief Norm Stamper pulled no punches Tuesday when he told a Fraser Institute lunch crowd the War Against Drugs is an abject failure.
After spending $1 trillion since president Richard Nixon declared the war in 1969, the U.S. has a worse drug problem than before, Stamper said.
He blamed every subsequent U.S. federal administration for maintaining an immoral, inefficient and uneconomical policy that is corrupting institutions, destroying neighbourhoods and endangering children.
Canada has been doing the same. The current criminal prohibition, Stamper said, is being kept in place by a coalition he called the Drug Enforcement Industry -- President George W. Bush, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, some police, the wine and alcohol producers and organized crime.
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| Apr 11, 2006 | McGill's Grass Gets Greener: New Club Lobbies For When drug enforcement agents from around the world gather in Montreal next month, they will be greeted by a protest organized by a newly-formed McGill club.
In collaboration with a number of organizations, including Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, McGill's National Reefer Association ( NRA ) will be organizing a symposium involving former agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency ( DEA ), criminology professors, and a police chief from Florida. The DEA has been invited to this conference, but has not yet responded.
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| Apr 7, 2006 | Pot Activist Not Giving Up A Supreme Court justice in Chilliwack might have dismissed medical marijuana activist Brian Carlisle's application to get back his equipment this week but he still considers the court appearance a victory of sorts.
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| Apr 1, 2006 | It All Tastes Good at This Pot Cafe Hot Box Cafe
191A Baldwin St., Toronto, 416-203-6990. Dinner for two with tax and tip, $30.
What is a restaurant critic doing covering a marijuana cafe? If a Kensington spot lets people smoke wacky tobaccy on its premises, that isn't my purview. Until they start serving food.
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| Mar 30, 2006 | Marijuana Advocate Loses Case, Hit With Fine Mr. Turmel, a professional gambler and a medicinal marijuana advocate, was fined $1,000, given three years probation and told to perform 100 hours of community service after he was found guilty of a 2003 offence of possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
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| Mar 10, 2006 | Keep Marching, Pot Crusader Says Goodwin, owner of the Up In Smoke cafe, was arrested Wednesday and charged with possession and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
It's his latest run-in with Hamilton police, who he says have visited his business more than 300 times since he opened it in August 2004 on King Street East.
[ Cannabis activists and consumers take another hit] |
| Mar 3, 2006 | AIDS Victim Gets His Marijuana Back A Regina Medical Marijuana User Has His Plants Back.
Tom Shapiro was at police headquarters Thursday afternoon collecting the 21 marijuana plants that were seized by officers last month following a delay in the renewal of his licence to grow pot.
Shapiro arrived at the station armed with a court order for police to return the property to him.
[Why did a sick and suffering Canadian have to go through any legal repercussions in the first place? Where is the outrage?] |
| Mar 1, 2006 | RCMP Close Montreal Marijuana Seed Vendor Although the Montreal-based company Heaven's Stairway has operated brazenly since 1998 and is currently listed on Quebec's business registry, the RCMP announced Tuesday it has shut it down.
The RCMP described the large-scale bust as the first of its kind in Canada. Besides evoking Led Zeppelin's signature song for its name the company also sold seeds with quirky labels like Crippy Bud and Deep Blue Rush.
[ By attacking the very source - seeds - they may merely be preparing for when the time comes for cannabis to be legal. With all other avenues effectively shut down, corporations like Monsanto will emerge as the main distributer of seeds. (Who is really ordering the raids on seeds??? ) ] |
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