Current Affairs (2005) -
Hemp (469 items)
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| Mar 12, 2005 |
<h3>Pot Patch Violence A Myth</h3> Justice Minister Wrong, Lawyers Say. Ontario Police Met With Violence In Only 2 Of 800 Raids In 4 Years, Cop Testifies ...many in the legal community say the claim by politicians and police that grow-ops are violent vehicles for sophisticated, organized crime groups is a "cheap shot" that does not stand up to "10 minutes of fact checking." Numerous lawyers who defend these cases in court suggested Public Security Minister Anne McLellan is misleading the public about the dangers of grow-ops with her recent comments in the wake of the Alberta murders. [There is a lot of political maneuvering going on right now... a minority government that everyone assumed would align with the left on the cannabis Bill to keep voters happy...instead could be aligning with the right to keep the US happy. As trading partners/neighbours, we have been upsetting each other for whatever reasons, so the legalization card could be easily played instead, and get the grow op violence out of the equation. If Canadians do not speak out loud and clear with thier votes and voices, then be prepared for the prison-industrial complex in a neighbourhood near you] |
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| Mar 12, 2005 |
Marijuana Is Dangerous, Now and in the Future RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli retracted his statement that the Mayerthorpe tragedy was about marijuana, but the sad reality is that he may have been right the first time. [They can do all the studies they want, but compared to any pharmaceutical drug, it can never be proved that cannabis is harnful enough to be banned ] |
| Mar 12, 2005 |
CN BC:
Cookie Lady Charges Dropped VANCOUVER-- All charges have been dropped against the naked cookie lady whose cannabis loaded gingersnaps became a cause celebre at Wreck Beach. On Thursday the Crown informed Mary Jean Dunsdon's lawyer, John Conroy, that all remaining charges against her were being stayed. Cookies - a danger to society? This was worthy of even bringing into a court of law? |
| Mar 12, 2005 |
Media Duped on Dope Story The fact that the RCMP was so quick to muddy the circumstances of the deaths of four of its own men by insinuating that they were gunned down while marching into a heavily fortified marijuana-growing operation, however, is in entirely bad taste. Whatever the motivation, it looked like shameless opportunism on the RCMP's part, another case of the police manipulating the media and fomenting middle-class panic to get what they want - which is, inevitably, more money and more men to make us safer from the very perils they're fond of exaggerating. |
| Mar 12, 2005 |
Marijuana Producer Avoids Jail The first Calgary-area marijuana grower sentenced since the Mayerthorpe massacre was spared a prison term yesterday. But defence lawyer Elliot Baker defended Judge Terry Semenuk's ruling, noting the judge addressed concerns earlier in the week about comparisons to last week's Mountie killings in which four officers were gunned down while investigating a marijuana grow operation. |
| Mar 12, 2005 |
Canada Can't Handle Cannabis Legalization Is marijuana a gateway drug to harder narcotics? The Canadian Chiefs of Police believe it is. One can safely assume they have the figures to back that up. Assume all you want, but all credible studies and thousands of years of use show cannabis is NOT a gateway drug. |
| Mar 15, 2005 |
Let's Admit It: Pot Prohibition's Failed Pot production in the last seven years has more than tripled -- from an estimated 19,727 kilograms in 1997 to 79,817 kilos in 2003. Last year, more than 25,000 growing operations came to police attention but they investigated fewer than 17,000 and only about half of those were prosecuted. Looking at cannabis prohibition as a numbers game, it is easy to see prohibition can not work. But this is more of a political game - so the numbers can be ignored. |
| Mar 15, 2005 |
CN ON:
York Constable, Husband Face Drug Charges A York Regional Police officer has been suspended from duty and, along with her husband, is facing drug charges. |
| Mar 15, 2005 |
N BC:
Hemp Mill Financier Makes Run For Office Last week, Duncan hemp industrialist Brian Johnson announced his candidacy for the Cowichan-Ladysmith riding on the Democratic Reform BC slate. The Liberal government, Johnson maintains, cancelled his hemp investment venture capital corporation in 2003, despite publicly endorsing his ideas. |
| Mar 18, 2005 |
RCMP Defends Controversial Report On Increasing Danger Critics Say Study Should Look At More Data Than Are Provided By Police Statistics "This was $250,000 of taxpayers' money, essentially for the police to market their agenda," The RCMP is defending its decision to spend $110,000 on a high-profile study that warned of the increasing dangers of marijuana grow-ops in British Columbia and was headed by a criminologist with extensive links to police forces in North America. Why should it surprise us that cannabis-obssessed police would not try and further their agenda? |
| Mar 18, 2005 |
CN QU:
Bloc Pot Leader Complains Of Police Sting The leader of the Bloc Pot told a Quebec Court hearing yesterday that undercover Montreal police officers secretly joined the pro-marijuana political party to find evidence against users of the illegal drug. The police have infiltrated Narcotics Anonymous meetings and everything else, so it should be no surprise. |
| Mar 18, 2005 |
CN BC:
Prove it or lose it Civil forfeiture enacted by fall Legislation introduced in Victoria last week will eventually allow government to seize goods believed to have been bought with ill-gotten profit. [seize goods <strong><i>believed<i></strong> to have been bought - the keyword being "believed" instead of "proved". It only opens the door to more corruption,which fuels ambitious lawmakers and keeps them coming back for more] |
| Mar 19, 2005 |
Is Pot Far More Potent Than in the Past? (Dan Gardner) "When smoking stronger pot, you smoke less and you have less exposure to tars and respiratory irritants,... so in some ways it's worth smoking the best pot you can afford." Mitch Earleywine, professor of psychology, University of Southern California [Although cannabis in the past may not have been as strong as that grown today, high THC hash was always available that could match or was stronger than today's cannabis, so the it is a moot point] |
| Mar 19, 2005 |
Government Calls For Tough Action On Grow Ops Marijuana grow operations pose a serious threat to our citizens, the law enforcement officers who try to disrupt the illegal enterprises, and the well-being of communities across the country. |
| Mar 20, 2005 |
How Science Is Skewed to Fuel Fears of Marijuana Aside from unverifiable conjecture, supporters of the status quo on marijuana rely on a few claims that can be checked against the facts. |
| Mar 20, 2005 |
CN BC:
Grow-Ops Below BC Average ...B.C.'s average of 1.09 for the number of (grow op) busts per 1,000 people ... |
| Mar 21, 2005 |
CN ON:
'Dirty Money' Act Challenged In Class Action Two Ontario men have launched a $100-million class action against the provincial government, demanding that a controversial anti-crime law be struck down because it violates the Charter. ...the legislation that gives the province the power to confiscate suspected dirty money from people who have not been convicted of any crime. |
| Mar 21, 2005 |
CN BC:
BC Hydro Could Help Bust Grow-ops Last week, Solicitor General Rich Coleman urged BC Hydro to help police in their battle against drugs. He asked the Crown corporation to turn information over to the authorities when customers have unusually high power bills, which may indicate a possible grow operation in the residence. [The next generation will have no clue what privacy is or means] |
| Mar 21, 2005 |
American Woman Awaits Extradition Decision Nightmares about abuse in prison and separation from her son have plagued Renee Boje for more than four years as she awaits a decision on her extradition to the United States. |
| Mar 22, 2005 |
CN ON:
Grow-op Posse Alarms Police Politicians Hunt Drug Door To Door - Almost Vigilantism,' Officers Contend Two Scarborough politicians are going door to door in their neighbourhood looking for marijuana grow houses to report to police. [Can you imagine if politicians put this much time and energy into ending poverty. What a wonderful world it would be.] |