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Current Affairs 2007 - Reform (90 items)
| Jun 13, 2007 | Put the Gangs Out of Business: Legalize D Childhood and adolescence should rightfully be a time of love, learning and life. But for thousands of young Canadians, their journey to adulthood is marred forever by street-gang involvement, which almost always means an active role in the massive business of illicit street drugs, too. ...Many allocate blame to street gangsters for this sorry state of affairs -- the idea being that if it weren't for these aggressive and money-hungry "pushers," we wouldn't have such a problem. However, this reasoning is incomplete: It fails to consider the demand generated by millions of Canadians of all ages who, at least once this year, will act on their desire and make a back-alley purchase of an illicit drug...Finally, we need to embark upon drug legalization, which will starve gangs of their principal oxygen supply and serve to upset the attractive risk-reward proposition that every new gangster now faces.
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| Jun 7, 2007 | Wanted: Tokers In Suits Time For Greying Potheads To Come Out Of The Closet And Back Anti-Prohibition Battle In 1977, only 18 per cent of cannabis smokers were over the age of 30, but in 2001 the percentage shot up to 49....
Considering this changing demographic, it's surprising that our drug laws haven't been reformed and liberalized. Most people blame the looming presence of the U.S. "war on drugs," but I think we've failed on the road to rational drug law reform because aging drug users rarely come out of their smoky closets to enter the political debate.
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| May 26, 2007 | Legalize Pot To Halt Violence, Group Urges Legalizing drugs as a way to combat the drug trade may go against traditional views, but it's an idea with its share of supporters.
A Packet & Times story last week in which a member of the Huronia combined forces drug unit talked about violence in relation to drugs received many responses.
One was from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( LEAP ), an organization comprised of current and former police officers, attorneys, judges and corrections workers.
The organization is in favour of legalizing drugs as a way to take the drug trade off the streets and into a regulated environment.
"We're not starry-eyed utopians who think we aren't going to have any problems," said LEAP founding secretary John Gayder, who works in law enforcement in Niagara Falls.
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| May 26, 2007 | Little Interest In Drug Debate There was no moderator, one of three panelists left halfway through the debate and only two dozen audience members turned up.
But that didn't stop the LEAP debate on drug prohibition Tuesday night at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium.
There to discuss the issue was retired Vancouver judge Jerry Paradis, former Vancouver police officer Tony Smith and Chief Constable Ian Mackenzie of the Abbotsford Police Department.
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| May 2, 2007 | The Personal Dope on Medical Marijuana The pot smokers came to a downtown hotel on a recent afternoon to hear the speeches, to meet others and to talk. Who, me? I attended the Cannabis Awareness Forum, not because I am unaware, nor because I inhale, but because I tend to favour legalization.
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| Apr 28, 2007 | Is This The Answer? Legalizing Street Drugs: Bold Move Could Starve Gangs, Respected Author Argues ...Commissioned by the federal government to write the 2002 Canadian Police Survey on Youth Gangs, Chettleburgh gave a sweeping look at street gangsterism which he'll be updating later this year.
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| Apr 14, 2007 | Canadian, American Cops Say It's Time To End Drug Prohibition, Save Live But some former law enforcement officials in Canada and the United States who have spent years fighting the ongoing war on drugs say it's a losing battle....They include Senator Larry Campbell, a former RCMP drug squad officer and Vancouver mayor who ran on a platform of reducing harm from drug use. ...Const. John Gayder of the Niagara Parks Police in Niagara Falls, Ont., is a founding member of LEAP.
He says in the film that he gives drug calls a low priority because arresting such people isn't helping them. ... Jerry Paradis, who retired as a B.C. provincial court judge four years ago, is also a LEAP member and after 35 years on the bench, he echoes Gayder's sentiments .
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| Apr 12, 2007 | Review: Why The War On Drugs Isn't Working
Damage Done: the Drug War Odyssey
Times and dates:
Victoria: Saturday April 14th,12-4pm at the Roxy Theatre (2657 Quadra Street)
Vancouver: Sunday April 15th,12-4pm at the VanCity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street)
Damage Done Is The Smartest Documentary Yet On A Divisive Subject, With A Clear Message That Change Is Needed
In all the documentaries about the stupidities of the war against drugs, the smartest documentary yet may well be Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey.
What sets Damage Done apart is the way it approaches the issue. Connie Littlefield's documentary, for example, doesn't interview the usual suspects. It doesn't include all those you'd expect to be in favour of drugs such as Marc Emery talking about being targeted by the U.S. federal government for selling marijuana seeds through the mail to U.S. customers, members of the B.C. Compassion Club pointing out the medicinal benefits of cannabis, or protesters snubbing authority by smoking up at the annual Smoke-In.
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| Apr 11, 2007 | Mary Jane Is Not Just Peter Parker's Best Friend I'm not suggesting that everyone become potheads. And let me be clear, I am of the firm belief that if we all took better care of our bodies and minds via good food, exercise and meditation, the need for a supplemental boost on any level would not be as necessary. But I am not going to lie to you. I do enjoy a nice glass of wine or piece of dark chocolate now and then. So who am I to judge?
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| Apr 5, 2007 | What Have They Been Smoking At Health Canada? ...Health Canada has stated in court that compassion clubs have historically provided a safe source to those with medical need. But on the licence application there is no option to choose compassion clubs as a supply source. Applicants after a high quality legal product are out of luck. Hoops for those in need, loopholes for those in power. ...
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| Apr 5, 2007 | Higher, Faster, Stronger ... And Higher ...Few athletes, officials or spectators would ever argue that competitors trying to gain an edge by using illegal and potentially dangerous steroids or other capability-increasing drugs ought not be exposed and severely punished.
But when it comes to substances that do not seem to have any performance enhancing qualities-chiefly marijuana-there is growing debate among anti-doping officials.
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| Apr 5, 2007 | Wait You Mean Weed's Not Legal Yet? t was the subject of international hype a few years ago: the great liberal northern bastion of Canada was planning to decriminalize marijuana, snubbing its nose at its neo-conservative southern neighbour's War on Drugs.
But the Liberal government that introduced the proposed decriminalization law let it die, and its Conservative successor has promised not to revive it.
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| Apr 5, 2007 | Thinking Outside The Hot Box Given the inconsistencies in Canada's drug laws, it's difficult to discern when and where we should take an active stance for or against illegal drug use.
Existing laws cloud our perceptions of drugs and how some may be different from others. Ritalin and alcohol, while legal, have potentially deadly side-effects on the heart and liver, respectively. On the other hand, marijuana has fewer detrimental effects, especially if it isn't smoked. The seemingly baseless standards on which these laws are created complicate the ethics of punishment. While some cases are clear-cut -- certainly those supplying cocaine should be policed -- others aren't so easy.
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| Apr 4, 2007 | Saving Us From Ourselves A British study released last Friday about the dangers to human health of tobacco and alcohol and illegal drugs like marijuana and ecstasy raises some interesting questions on how legislators make decisions about substances we can legally obtain and those we can't.
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| Mar 17, 2007 | No Business Like Marijuana BRITISH Columbia is fast becoming the only province in Canada in which the biggest industry is illegal. In 2005, forestry ( $10 million ) was B.C.'s top economic driver, and construction ( $7.9 billion ) ranked second. But what was this, coming up fast on the inside to move into third place? The marijuana industry. Puff, puff.
With annual sales of $7.5 billion, it was worth more than the combined total of hotels and restaurants ( $3.8 billion ) and mining, oil and gas ( $3.5 billion ). Construction now booms as never before in B.C., but that won't stop the pot trade from steaming into second spot. After that, forestry industry, watch your behind.
"The amount of marijuana produced each year in British Columbia," said a 2005 study by the University College of Fraser Valley, "is estimated to have increased from 19,729 kilos in 1997 to 79,817 in 2003."
Is this a growth industry, or what?
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| Mar 16, 2007 | Sensible Drug Policy Conference McGill's Harm Reduction Centre will host the first annual meeting of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy ( CSSDP ) this weekend. Speakers and student activists from across Canada and the U.S. will discuss domestic and international drug policies, harm reduction and policy reform initiatives, as well as setting up other CSSDP chapters across Canada. Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an international grassroots organization founded in 2003, is presently forming Canadian chapters in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
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| Mar 11, 2007 | It's Long Past Time We Legalized It
BRITISH COLUMBIA is fast becoming the only province in Canada in which the biggest industry is illegal. In 2005, forestry ( $ 10 million ) was B. C.'s top economic driver, and construction ( $ 7.9 billion ) ranked second. But what was this, coming up fast on the inside to move into third place?
The marijuana industry. Puff, puff.
With annual sales of $ 7.5 billion, it was worth more than the combined total of hotels and restaurants ( $ 3.8 billion ) and mining, oil and gas ( $ 3.5 billion ).
Construction now booms as never before in B. C., but that won't stop the pot trade from steaming into second spot. After that, forestry industry, watch your behind.
" The amount of marijuana produced each year in British Columbia," said a 2005 study by the University College of Fraser Valley, " is estimated to have increased from 19,729 kilos in 1997 to 79,817 in 2003."
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| Mar 3, 2007 | Recreational Drugs Should Be Legalized Author: Laurie Cook, MD
Society does not criminalize alcohol consumption. Previous attempts to do so resulted in widespread disregard for the law and generated criminal empires. And these attempts did not work. Smokers are not criminals and the government aggressively promotes gambling. Both activities are widely accepted to be harmful and addicting. What about gasoline, hairspray and glue? All are used to "get high."
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| Feb 22, 2007 | Canada Must Not Follow The U.S. On Drug Policy The U.S. drug czar, John Walters, is in Ottawa today, trying his best to put a positive spin on one of the greatest disasters in U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Part of his agenda is to persuade Canada to follow in U.S. footsteps, which can only happen if Canadians ignore science, compassion, health and human rights.
The United States ranks first in the world in per-capita incarceration, with roughly five per cent of the earth's population but 25 per cent of the total incarcerated population. Russia and China simply can't keep up. Among the 2.2 million people behind bars today in the United States, roughly half a million are locked up for drug-law violations, and hundreds of thousands more for other "drug-related" offences. The U.S. "war on drugs" costs at least $40 billion U.S. a year in direct costs, and tens of billions more in indirect costs.
It's all useful information for Canadians to keep in mind when being encouraged to further toughen their drug laws to bring them in line with those of the United States.
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| Feb 7, 2007 | Marijuana Party To Contest Byelection Saskatchewan Marijuana Party Leader Nathan Holowaty plans to run in the March 5 provincial byelection in Martensville.
The other declared candidates are Nancy Heppner of the Sask. Party, New Democrat John Tzupa and Liberal Nathan Friesen.
Candidates have until Feb. 17 to file nomination papers.
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