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Current Affairs 2007 - Chronological (88 items)
| Oct 21, 2007 | Can Employers Test For Pot? Drug and alcohol testing programs can be implemented in workplaces in Canada -- and employees suspended or fired as a consequence of the results.
But Karen Izzard of the Canadian Human Rights Commission said Friday that employers who choose to do so face human-rights complaints or lawsuits.
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| Oct 19, 2007 | ONTARIO JUDGE RULES CANNABIS PROHIBITION INVALID Today in an Oshawa Court, the trial judge in the 'Tom, Dick, and
Harry' case dismissed the charges against them, for simple possession
of marijuana. He said that in his view the marijuana prohibition had
no valid force or effect. ...He said the cases against Tom, Dick, and Harry, are dismissed because
the law is not there to charge them or convict them. The exact terms
of his decision will be available later, after an exchange of faxes
with the Court house.
[Every person arrested for a cannabis offense should read this important information and make their lawyer aware of it - this is a federal law and should be applied the same across the country] |
| Oct 16, 2007 | Green Party More Than Just Tree-Huggers Green is for marijuana, a carbon tax, income splitting for couples and dying with dignity, according to federal party leader Elizabeth May.
- - Along with a $50/tonne carbon tax to limit pollution, the Greens are touting legalized and taxed pot, universal child-care and a tax system that encourages more family time at home and with friends by splitting taxable income.
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| Oct 16, 2007 | ON: Pro-pot Protest Planned Protesters calling for the decriminalization of one of Canada's most readily-available illegal drugs are planning a massive march through Cornwall this weekend.
Organizers of the first annual "Walk 4 Weed," which is being promoted by local pro-pot group Cannabis Cornwall, are hoping at least 400 people will peacefully march through the city Saturday afternoon.
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| Oct 14, 2007 | OPP Officer Charged Following Drug Raid A longtime local OPP officer, now working in northern Ontario, is charged following a drug raid by the provincial police near Thunder Bay.
Det.-Const. Lynn MacKay, who worked in London for years under her married name, Lynn Pretty, before joining the Nipigon OPP, was charged along with her boyfriend following an Oct. 5 raid on a house that netted $6,000 worth of marijuana.
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| Oct 4, 2007 | Tories' War On Drugs Termed US-Style The government is embracing a U.S.-style "war on drugs" that approaches drug abuse as more of a criminal matter than a health issue, Liberal and New Democratic Party critics said yesterday.
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| Oct 1, 2007 | Patients, Activists To Address Ramifications Of New National Anti-Drug MEDIA ADVISORY
Location: Charles Lynch Press Theatre, Room 130-S, Parliament Hill,
Ottawa
Date and Time: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 1 p.m.
For further Information:
Christine Lowe - 613-248-9190
Tara Lyons - 613-263-1335
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| Oct 1, 2007 | PR: New National Anti-Drug Strategy plays politics with people's lives TORONTO, Oct. 1 /CNW/ - The new National Anti-Drug Strategy to be officially
unveiled this week by federal Health Minister Tony Clement is a huge step
backward for Canada's response to HIV/AIDS, said the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal
Network today...."It seems clear that the new drug strategy is based on ideology instead of
evidence, and from every angle - human rights, public health, or use of
taxpayers' dollars - that's irresponsible and unacceptable."
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| Sep 30, 2007 | Tories to Drug Users: The Party's Over Health Minister Tony Clement will announce the Conservative government's anti-drug strategy this week with a stark warning: "the party's over" for illicit drug users.
"In the next few days, we're going to be back in the business of an anti-drug strategy," Clement told The Canadian Press.
"In that sense, the party's over." Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Halifax all reported increases of between 20% and 50% in 2006 of arrests for possession of cannabis, compared with the previous year.
As a result thousands of people were charged with a criminal offence that, under the previous Liberal government, was on the verge of being classified as a misdemeanour.
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| Sep 30, 2007 | 'Party's Over' For Druggies: Health Minister OTTAWA -- Health Minister Tony Clement will announce the Conservative government's anti-drug strategy this week with a stark warning: "The party's over" for illicit drug users. "In the next few days, we're going to be back in the business of an anti-drug strategy," Clement said. "In that sense, the party's over."
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| Sep 17, 2007 | AG Increases Use of Forfeiture Powers to Seize Assets The Ministry of the Attorney General has increased its use of sweeping provincial civil forfeiture powers in the past year to seize assets, including people's homes, even if criminal proceedings have been stayed or withdrawn because of Charter violations. ...A report issued recently by the attorney general's office stated that $3.6 million in property has been seized in the past four years in 170 proceedings. Nearly $1 million has been distributed to crime victims and more than $900,000 transferred to municipal police forces.
[More US-style war on civil liberties] |
| Sep 12, 2007 | Marijuana-smoking Troops Banned From Afghanistan OTTAWA - Some 250 soldiers who tested positive for drugs were not allowed to serve in Afghanistan, the Canadian Forces confirmed yesterday.
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| Sep 12, 2007 | Senior Officer Charged In Arrest, Strip Search EDMONTON - A city police officer has been charged with unlawful exercise of authority for arresting and strip searching the son of lawyer Tom Engel after evidence of the alleged crime -- a marijuana cigarette -- was thrown away.
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| Sep 11, 2007 | New Dosage Limits for Medical Marijuana But Where's The Science?
New evidence-based guidelines are urgently needed to help doctors negotiate Canada's hazy medical marijuana landscape, particularly in light of Health Canada's efforts to impose new dose limits, say the nation's leading cannabis researcher and doctors who have been queried about their marijuana authorizations.
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| Sep 6, 2007 | Teens Smoke More Pot Than Cigarettes, Report Says After alcohol, cannabis was the most commonly used illegal substance among youth. Cannabis use is reported by 17 per cent of students in grades 7 to 9, about 29 per cent of 15- to 17-year-olds, and almost half of 18- to 19-year-olds, the substance abuse centre report said.
Pot smoking, in fact, now exceeds the rate of cigarette smoking among youth, the study found.
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| Sep 2, 2007 | Retired Prescott Police Officer Faces Drug-Trafficking A retired officer with the Prescott police force was one of nine people charged this week in connection with drug trafficking in the border town.
Bruce Perrin, 58, was arrested on Aug. 29. He is the second current or former police officer from the Seaway Valley to face drug charges this year.
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| Aug 31, 2007 | ON: OPP Says RIDE Check At Hempfest Was Legitimate Ontario Provincial Police say an impaired driving checkpoint outside Hempfest wasn't a ploy to search festival-goers for pot, and deny charges by organizers of the annual cannabis festival that police attempted to drive off attendees. ...Rob Waddell, organizer of Hempfest, pointed out this week that no impaired driving charges were laid, for drugs or alcohol.
He also charged OPP went above and beyond their normal practice at RIDE checks by questioning passengers, checking for documentation and doing vehicle safety checks.
Some who attended Hempfest described a military-style roadblock a short distance from the event, manned by as many as 20 police officers.
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| Aug 29, 2007 | Bowering In Favour Of Legalizing Pot The head of public health for the North wants to see radical reform in how Canada deals with psychoactive drugs.
Dr. David Bowering told The Interior News last week that legalization of marijuana needs to be the subject of much more open and frank public discussion.
Bowering is a member of the Health Officers Council of British Columbia ( HOC ) that, in October 2005, released a position paper calling for a public health approach to drug control.
At the heart of the matter, Bowering said, is harm reduction.
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| Aug 27, 2007 | ON: 32 Drug Charges at Hempfest Ontario Provincial Police laid 32 drug charges and four weapons charges over the weekend during a RIDE stop set up during Hempfest 2007. OPP say most of the drug charges were for possession of marijuana.
[Crushing the culture] |
| Aug 25, 2007 | ON: Police Will Be Out in Force at Hempfes The Cannabis Festival Runs Through Sunday in Ophir
A police traffic checkpoint aims to smoke out any possible problems during Hempfest.
The ninth annual cannabis festival runs through Sunday in Ophir about 30 kilometres north of Bruce Mines.
Ontario Provincial Police started checking vehicles on Poplar Dale Road Thursday afternoon. Motorists will be stopped through the weekend.
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