Top Stories (2006) -
(313 items)
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| Nov 11, 2006 |
Posters Accuse Miller Of Having Opponent Jailed David Miller has been accused of a lot of things in this election campaign, but, until recently, throwing people into jail wasn't on the list. ... Posters have appeared on newspaper boxes and hydro poles accusing the mayor of sweeping an opponent, Rev. Peter Okatar Styrsky, into a Northern Ontario jail to keep him out of the race. ... Specifically, the hand-drawn posters, which feature cartoon marijuana leaves and scrawled block-letter text, suggest the mayor had direct influence in the jailing of Mr. Styrsky, a member of the controversial, pro-marijuana Assembly of the Church of the Universe. |
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| Nov 8, 2006 |
Battle For Bud The government announced its decision to fund Prairie Plant Systems Inc. to grow cannabis inside an abandoned mine shaft mid-October. "The frustration there is this is a company that really has not worked hard to meet the needs of the end users of this product," Lucas says in a recent interview. While 1,400 Canadians are registered in the medical marijuana program, only 300 order marijuana through PPS. According to Lucas, the government has spent more than $8 million on the PPS production facility. "Now if we divide that over 300 people, we can see what we're growing in Flin Flon, Manitoba is the world's most expensive bud," he says. But PPS president Brent Zettl says public outcry from medical marijuana advocates is a thin disguise for ulterior motives. |
| Nov 4, 2006 |
She's Hardly a Pothead A survey commissioned by Cannasat found 80% of Canadians believe the sick should have access to marijuana with a prescription. More accurately, 93% of Canadians support medical marijuana. Period. Nothing about presciptions. See: <a href="http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v06/n1476/a03.html" target=_"blank">In a nationwide survey, anoverwhelming 93 per cent of Canadians indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking marijuana for health reasons. Nearly three in four ( 70 per cent ) not only accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour.</a> See: <a href="http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v00/n648/a10.html" target=_"blank">When asked if cannabis should be made legal for medical purposes, such as helping cancer patients control pain, an overwhelming 92% of respondents to the National Post poll answered in the affirmative. |
| Nov 2, 2006 |
93% Of Canadians Okay With Medicinal Pot Nearly Half Back Full Legalization; Support Is Highest In Quebec And B.C. In a nationwide survey, an overwhelming 93 per cent of Canadians indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking marijuana for health reasons. Nearly three in four ( 70 per cent ) not only accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour. [ Not much has changed in six years - (See: <a href="http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v00/n648/a10.html">2000 Survey</a> ) - Support still runs in the 90+ percentile for medpot, and the government still does nothing ] |
| Nov 2, 2006 |
It's OK to Puff Pot for Health, Survey Finds In a nationwide survey, an overwhelming 93 per cent of Canadians indicated they accept the idea of people legally smoking marijuana for health reasons. Nearly three in four ( 70 per cent ) not only accept the practice but also personally approve of the behaviour. |
| Nov 1, 2006 |
Crystal Meth Documentary Tells Scary Truth Aaron Webb lost a third of his life to crystal meth-amphetamine. ... He didn't use the most conventional methods to quit, either. "I smoked a hell of a lot of dope, smoked a lot of weed to keep my mind off it," Webb says. After a couple weeks, he smoked less and less, finally quitting drugs altogether. [ A truth that often is ignored is pot can help loosen the grip of damaging addiction to hard drugs.Do the powers that be care?] |
| Nov 1, 2006 |
Kids Protected From Grow Ops One week after three Calgary children were found living in a home used as a marijuana grow op, a law enabling police to charge unfit parents for exposing their kids to drugs comes into effect. Under the Drug Endangered Children Act, officers can seize kids found in narcotics situations, as well as charge the family members who put them in harm's way. [Although the intention of these laws sound good, there is too much room for abuse of the system by authority in deciding "what is best for the children"] |
| Oct 31, 2006 |
RCMP Allowed Agent's Crimes A police agent who infiltrated the Hells Angels in Vancouver may have broken the law at times but he was always acting at the direction and under the control of the RCMP, a top Mountie who oversaw the investigation testified Monday. "He is operating under the guidance, authority and approval of his handlers," recalled RCMP Chief Supt. Bob Paulson... |
| Oct 30, 2006 |
Judge Calls For Stiffer Penalties For Grow-Ops A B.C. Supreme Court judge has waded into the debate over sentencing for marijuana grow-ops, saying sentences are "notorious" for being ineffective. Justice Sherman Hood, who made the comments during the sentencing of a repeat offender in Port Alberni, says the problem in B.C. has become "critical." |
| Oct 29, 2006 |
Border Guard Charged With Smuggling Pot In Return For Sex, Cash A 30-year-old U.S. customs and border-patrol officer has been charged with helping smugglers sneak pot past the border in return for cash and sexual favours. |
| Oct 28, 2006 |
Church Allegedly Dealt Pot Members of the Assembly of the Church of the Universe in Toronto were pro-marijuana activists who were too lazy to agitate for the cause, a police source said yesterday. "Basically these folks believe in the legalization of marijuana, but didn't wait for the laws to change or have not taken the appropriate steps to change the laws," the source said. |
| Oct 28, 2006 |
Growhouse Registry En Route Buyers worried about unknowingly purchasing a former marijuana growhouse will soon be able to trace a home's history on a website briefly unveiled by the Calgary Health Region on Friday. |
| Oct 28, 2006 |
Mayoral Candidate Charged With Pot Possession One of the candidates for mayor of Thunder Bay has been charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The Chronicle-Journal has learned that Douglas MacKay, 53, was charged Sept. 11 after police seized almost nine kilograms of marijuana. |
| Oct 26, 2006 |
Cop Guilty A former 17-year veteran of the St. Thomas Police Service received a conditional discharge Wednesday after pleading guilty to drug and firearms charges..... Armstrong, formerly a police constable, tendered his resignation to Chief Bill Lynch Wednesday morning. |
| Oct 26, 2006 |
Top court overturns pot activist's conviction An Alberta medical marijuana activist was deprived of his constitutional right to a jury trial when his trial judge instructed two sympathetic jurors to nonetheless find him guilty, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled today. READ RULING: <a href="http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2006/2006scc47/2006scc47.html" target="_blank">SUPREME COURT OF CANADA vs Grant W. Krieger</a> |
| Oct 19, 2006 |
Officers Charged In Botched Drug Bust Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) officers were charged with attempting to obstruct justice today in connection with a botched drug bust last year at Mississauga's Pearson International Airport. |
| Oct 18, 2006 |
US Begins Air Patrols On Alberta Border The "longest undefended border in the world" is becoming anything but. Jets and helicopters began continuous patrols of the airspace above the Montana-Alberta border starting on Mon, Oct 16, coinciding with the opening of the Great Falls Air Branch at the airport in Great Falls, Montana by the US Customs and Border Protection, part of the US Department of Homeland Security. |
| Oct 14, 2006 |
The Folly Of Anti-drug Laws History is supposed to teach us lessons. But when it comes to drug use and abuse, two professors are arguing we as a society have failed to learn from the past...."The debate hinges far less on the scientific evidence than deep-rooted moral schisms . . . and there's a tremendous financial stake in prohibition. There's a lot of jobs on the line." |
| Oct 14, 2006 |
What Are They Smoking? Legalization advocates arguing the cannabis issue are often greeted by complaints from the anti-drug set, and from jittery physicians, that the medical benefits and hazards of marijuana are too poorly researched to permit widespread use. This is a remarkable claim in many different ways. Where, for instance, was this shining precautionary principle when Vioxx was being handed out like Halloween candy to patients at risk of cardiac complications? A PubMed search for "marijuana" reveals more than 10,000 published, peer-reviewed articles on the subject; surely some of these discuss the effects and risks of pot? |
| Oct 13, 2006 |
Electoral-Law Edict Boosts Small Parties An Ontario judge has struck down an electoral law that permitted large federal political parties to fill their coffers with public money at the expense of smaller parties. Superior Court Judge Ted Matlow ruled yesterday that the law is undemocratic, unequal and stunts the growth of small parties for no valid reason. The money will be awarded retroactively to 2003 and, including interest charges, brings the total the parties will share to approximately $500,000...The coalition that challenged the law includes the Marijuana Party; the Christian Heritage Party; the Canadian Action Party; the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada; the Green Party; the Progressive Canadian Party; and the Communist Party of Canada. |