----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 09:26:27 -0700
Subject:Canada: Legalize pot, Senate committee says  Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Wednesday, September 4, 2002
Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada Web)
Webpage: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/09/04/pot_committee020904

Legalize pot, Senate committee says

OTTAWA - A Senate committee said in a report Wednesday that marijuana should
be legalized.

The Special Committee on Illegal Drugs released its final report on
Wednesday morning, in which it says the public drug policy should be of a
guiding nature, rather than a restrictive one.

The committee also says the government should wipe clean the records of
anyone convicted of marijuana possession.

"In many ways prohibition is a cop-out," said Senator Pierre Claude Nolin,
chair of the committee.

Nolin said cannabis is less harmful than alcohol.

Senator Colin Kenny said no one on the committee wants to see an increase in
drug use.------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 09:27:39 -0700
Subject:UK: 'Three Spliffs And YOU're Out' Proposal Up TOC

Newshawk: CannabisNews http://cannabisnews.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Nick Hopkins
Webpage: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,785765,00.html

'THREE SPLIFFS AND YOU'RE OUT' PROPOSAL

Cannabis users caught by the police more than twice in a 12 month period
will be arrested rather than cautioned under "three spliffs and you're out"
guidelines being considered by chief officers, it emerged yesterday.

Instead of repeatedly issuing formal warnings to people caught with small
amounts of the drug, officers may be given the discretion to arrest and
charge them.

People caught once or twice with cannabis for personal use will be allowed
to hand over the drug and go on their way after a formal warning. However,
a third offence in the space of one year would mean arrest and more serious
charges under the guidelines, which would be introduced by July next year.

Ignoring cautions would be regarded as an one of the "aggravating factors"
that would give police the option of treating the offence more seriously.

The decision by the home secretary, David Blunkett, to reclassify cannabis
from class B to class C next year will strip police of the automatic power
of arrest for simple possession of the drug.

But Mr Blunkett has said he will introduce legislation that will allow
police to continue to exercise the power in certain limited circumstances.
Among such provisions are the cannabis user's being under the age of 17, or
the drug being smoked near a school.

Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth is expected to reiterate many of these
pledges and highlight the vital role of police at the Association of Chief
Police Officers conference today.

Andy Hayman, a deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police,
chairman of Acpo's drugs committee, is currently drawing up guidelines for
officers to explain when the "aggravating factors" apply.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 09:29:28 -0700
Subject:Canada: Senate Committee Press Conference Audio Up TOC

from Matt Elrod:

For those who missed it, you can hear the press conference at:

http://drugpolicycentral.com/real/cmap/iddi.rm

It's just over an hour long

Matt

Wednesday September 4 11:12 AM EST

Senate committee recommends government legalize marijuana thorough regulation

OTTAWA (CP) - Canada should legalize the use of marijuana by adults, a 
Senate committee recommended Wednesday. The special committee said the 
current system of prohibition doesn't work and should be replaced by a 
regulated system, perhaps like that used for alcohol.

It also said hundreds of thousands of Canadians with criminal records for 
possession of the drug should have their slates wiped clean.

"Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is 
substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a 
criminal issue but as a social and public health issue," said Senator 
Pierre Nolin, the committee chair.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 10:16:26 -0700
Subject:NC: Editorial: Too Many Prisoners? Up TOC?

Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002
Source: Winston-Salem Journal (NC)
Copyright: 2002 Piedmont Publishing Co. Inc.
Contact: letters@wsjournal.com
Website: http://www.journalnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/504
Note: The Journal does not publish letters from writers outside its daily
home delivery circulation area.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

TOO MANY PRISONERS?

Maybe the recent story in The Economist will be the prod that causes some
long, hard introspection in America regarding its prison system. The land
of liberty is a cruel joke for a too-large percentage of the U.S. citizenry.

Consider some statistics: For almost 50 years, from 1925 to 1973, an
average of 110 Americans for every 100,000 were in federal and state
prisons. By 2000, the incarceration rate had risen to 478 per 100,000. Add
in the local jail population, and almost 700 of every 100,000 Americans is
behind bars.

Some sociologists have done some broad calculations that indicate that as
many as 13 million U.S. citizens, about 7 percent of the adult population
and 12 percent of the adult males, have been convicted of a felony. While
not all are behind bars, the felony conviction is a deal breaker in many
job applications. And the numbers are far worse for black males.

Drug offenses and the efforts of the war on drugs are a major contributor
to the increases in incarceration. In 1980, 15 of every 100,000 Americans
were in jail on a drug conviction. In 1986, the number was 148.

A recently released U.S. Justice Department report noted that there were
5.3 million adults either incarcerated or under the supervision of the
criminal justice system in 2001. In North Carolina, the report said, 46,500
people were incarcerated and 113,600 were on probation in that same period.

As the magazine notes, the United States has passed Russia as "the world's
most aggressive jailer." This incarceration rate is accompanied by an
appalling indifference about what happens when convicts are released from
prison. Some more statistics:

In California, a survey showed that half the inmates were functionally
illiterate. In the United States, it's estimated that three out of four
released prisoners have been on drugs. Surveys suggest that a majority of
employers won't knowingly hire a convict. Fewer parole decisions are made
by parole boards, thanks to mandatory sentencing, which means that
prisoners do their time and are released pretty much no matter how
unprepared they are.

Those who break parole represent the fast-growing element in prison
admissions. More than half the parolees break parole. About two-thirds of
released prisoners are arrested again within three years, and two in five
are already back in jail within that period.

Rehabilitation as an objective of incarceration fell from favor in the
1970s, when studies appeared to show that efforts did not affect
recidivism. Today, research results have done a 180. A study showed that
federal prisoners who completed a drug-treatment program were 73 percent
less likely to be arrested again than those who did not. But programs have
become harder to join. As recently as 1991, a quarter of state prisoners
received treatment. By 1997, the ratio was one in 10. Job training has also
been shown to reduce recidivism, but there's less of it now.

The magazine holds out a slender reed of hope, noting that some eyes are
beginning to open. The Justice Department recently put $100 million into
helping released prisoners. Better than nothing, it's not a lot when
compared to the $54 billion we spend annually on the prison system. There
is growing skepticism about the effectiveness of the war on drugs, which
should lead to some reform. It's about time.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 10:17:16 -0700
Subject:UK: Cannabisness: Springing Up Up TOC

Newshawk: ccguide.org.uk
Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002
Source: Evening Standard (London, UK)
Copyright: 2002 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
Contact: letters@standard.co.uk
Website: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/914
Author: David Rowan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

CANNABISNESS: SPRINGING UP

Suzie, 36, is a respectable mother of three who left accountancy to launch
a successful landscape gardening business. But it is the healthy crop that
she cultivates in her own flower beds that might surprise her well-to-do
clients, among them a judge and a number of police officers and solicitors.

For lovingly tended at the back of her 40ft garden in suburban
Southend-on-Sea sits an elegant grove of Cannabis sativa - still an illegal
Class C drug, according to David Blunkett's reclassification, but soon, if
Suzie is right, just another social relaxant to go legally on sale.

Once the law changes, as she believes it will, Suzie plans to launch her
own cannabis cafe so she can profit from the expected boom in demand. "It
will cost me about UKP 7,000 to open my Southend coffee shop, and I've
already had offers of backing," she says. "I'd be hesitant about supplying
the shop myself, but I do have a friend who would grow for me."

As debate intensifies over what many see as the inevitable
decriminalisation of cannabis, small-scale entrepreneurs like Suzie are
vying with corporate investors to gain a foothold in this
multi-billion-pound market. From cannabis cafes to cannabis vodka, the new
commercial opportunities of "cannabisness" are spurring hundreds of
business plans and countless board meetings - and all despite the
Government's insistence that legalisation is not on the agenda.

Simon Woodroffe, founder of the Yo! Sushi restaurant chain, is among the
investors standing by - among them pop stars, venture capitalists and even
a television racing pundit. While most established businesses are keeping
silent on their plans, Woodroffe is looking to create an "elegant" range of
highclass cannabis bars that would redefine the drug's image.

He wants to create a fashionable space - call it Yo! Blow - for urban
sophisticates to meet for a smoke. "I'd hope licences would go to people
who have a proven record of operating restaurants or bars," he says. "I'd
just find it a fascinating thing to do, and we'd all be better off if we
drank less."

He has even proposed pumping cannabis smoke through his buildings to save
customers the trouble of rolling their own - a joke, he says, that has
taken on a life of its own. But he is serious about the business
opportunities a change in the law would provide. "It will definitely happen
in time," he says.

Another eager cannabis investor is Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay, who has
invited concert audiences to share an oversized joint, and admits to being
a former dealer himself. Today, if the law allowed, he too would like to
back a London cannabis bar - and, according to some suggestions, he would
be prepared to spend UKP 1 million to secure the right property. "Jay Kay
has considered investing in such a venture if the time was right," his
spokesman confirms.

David Dundas, the Seventies pop star who found fame with the song Jeans On,
has not only invested in cannabis, but is already reaping the financial
rewards. Dundas was one of the initial investors in GW Pharmaceuticals
(GWP), the first company licensed to grow cannabis in Britain for medical
use, and when the company floated last year his 40,000 shares initially
grew five-fold in value. Other investors included John Francome, the former
jockey who now commentates on Channel 4, children's campaigner Lady
Chadwyck-Healey and City investors Peter Mountford and Adrian Bradshaw. Not
a bad rollcall for a company that grows 15 tonnes of cannabis a year.

Protected by heavy security, somewhere in the South of England, GWP is
today cultivating more than 40,000 cannabis plants. Assuming its research
trials are successful by late next year, the company expects to have
cannabis medicines legally on sale in early 2004. "Cannabis is a very
versatile plant," explains GWP's spokesman, Mark Rogerson.

"We're looking at it for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, cancer, a
wide range of intractable painful conditions, even arthritis. It's not a
question of if these medicines become legal, but when. That doesn't require
any change in the law, just a decision by the Home Secretary to alter the
medical schedule of drugs that doctors are allowed to prescribe."

The drug's active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), will be delivered
not by smoking, but through such mechanisms as a spray aimed under the
tongue. And if the company's founder, Dr Geoffrey Guy, is correct in his
conviction that the trials will show cannabis to be "a remarkably safe,
very worthwhile medicine", other pharmaceutical companies are certain to
follow in pursuit of a huge potential market.

Exactly how much that market is worth is open to debate. Campaigners for
legalisation claim that nine million British smokers currently spend around
UKP 3.5 billion each year on the unlawful trade. Even according to the Home
Office, which commissioned its own sober assessment last year, some 2.6
million users in England use the drug on average 78 times a year, spending
UKP 6.40 a time to get high.

Edward Bramley-Harker, the economist who prepared the Home Office survey,
estimates the total UK market at UKP 1.6 billion. For regular users, that
typically means a UKP 1,500 annual habit - a sum that legitimate
organisations, from the tobacco industry to the Treasury, would like to get
their hands on.

They will not acknowledge it, of course. The Treasury will not comment, and
no tobacco company contacted by the Evening Standard would admit to making
plans to sell cannabis products should they be legalised. But every now and
then, a document slips out that suggests how advanced these companies are
in their plans. One internal British American Tobacco (BAT) memo draws
attention to "the undoubted opportunities which exist in the development of
future products ... If the use of [marijuana] was legalised, one avenue for
exploitation would be the augmentation of cigarettes with near-subliminal
levels of the drug."

In another memo, a certain DE Creighton of BAT warns that tobacco products
could expect "competition from cannabis ... We must find a way to appeal to
the young ... so that the product image, and the product will satisfy this
part of the market". And although the company denies it, Philip Morris,
which makes Marlboro, reportedly applied in 1993 to trademark the brand
name "Marley" - Marley, that is, as in Bob Marley.

Danny Kushlick, of drugs campaign group Transform, is convinced that
tobacco companies,  pharmaceutical firms and distilleries have developed
"scenario plans" in case of legalisation. "Obviously the tobacco companies
will leap on this with enormous verve," he says.

But Clive Bates, director of Action on Smoking and Health, believes this
market may not in fact be ripe for cigarette firms to exploit. "My guess is
they'll be very wary of getting into cannabis," he says. More likely, Bates
believes, will be the well-funded launch of a cannabisbased gum, rather
like nicotine gum, or new food products such as hash biscuits. Mr Kipling's
Exceedingly Good Space Cakes, perhaps?

Breweries and pub chains have themselves been discussing the potential
impact on profits of legalisation, notably cannabis smokers' tendency to
consume less alcohol.

The drinks firm Diageo, which makes Guinness and Smirnoff, insists with
typical firmness that "this is not something we consider relevant for our
business".

Yet the Evening Standard understands that Britain's first cannabis cafe The
Dutch Experience in Stockport, was approached some months ago to see if it
would stock Guinness. The offer was refused; Guinness says it is unaware of
any approach.

Sir Richard Branson, an active supporter of decriminalisation, believes
that the legal cannabis market will actually favour small traders rather
than huge conglomerates. He, for one, is not sure that the Virgin empire
would ever wish to sell the drug. "I believe it's a product that should not
be too commercialised," he says, "and is better suited to being marketed by
small cafe-style specialists."

This is where Nol van Schaik fits in. Van Schaik, a 48-year-old Dutchman,
is a founding father of "cannabisness" in Britain. The owner of three
coffee-shops in Haarlem, he has since March been training British
entrepreneurs to open their own cafes, and personally backed The Dutch
Experience in Stockport.

His five-day "Cannabizness Workshop" costs UKP 575 a head, and topics
covered include "How to make Netherhash", "The joint-rolling machine in
action" and "How to differentiate and value the range of weeds and hashes".
Van Schaik believes Britain is ready for a wave of new cannabis cafes, more
per head even than in Holland.

"The charm of coffee shops is that they're independent," van Schaik says.
"I don't see that Starbucks doing marijuana would succeed, though I'm sure
they'll try it."

Van Schaik has been trading since 1991, and would now be "a very rich man"
if he sold up: his shops each take around 500,000 euros (UKP 330,000) a
year. And though the sale of cannabis is tolerated rather than legal in
Holland, the tax office is rather pleased with him: he pays income tax on
his joints as well as 19 per cent VAT, and employs 30 people directly and a
further 70 indirectly - many of them "aunties and grannies" who grow weed
at home.

One of his workshop graduates is David Crane, a 38-year-old website builder
from London who after eight months' work is hoping to open his own coffee
shop in Hackney. It will cost Crane UKP 250,000 to open The Hempire, which
will be aimed at the over-25 crowd.

A week after finalising his business plan, Crane attended a meeting with
police officers to discuss his plans, initially for a standard cafe that
would tolerate smoking. The news was not good: "They made it very clear
that we would be referred to the CPS if we opened," he says. "It may be
prudent for us to wait a bit longer - but this is a big industry that won't
go away."

Carl Wagner is already seeing the profits. Wagner, 43, runs the Divine Herb
market stall in Hull's indoor market, selling gro-lights, hemp wallpaper,
cannabis pasta and hemp boots and clothes. He has already rejected a UKP
20,000 offer for the stall. Next January, he plans to open the Divine Herb
cafe, for which he has just had three offers of premises from elderly
medical cannabis users.

"I know of dozens of people who grow it, and I even arranged for a
consortium of eight pensioners to grow it in their sheltered housing,"
Wagner says. "They're looking to supply themselves with medicinal cannabis,
and I've asked them to pass over any spare."

But there are some things even beyond an astute businessman such as Carl
Wagner. "I was approached by a rep to sell Cannabis Vodka," says Wagner, a
reformed bottle-a-day man. "I had to say no - I just didn't want to
associate such a safe plant with hard drugs like that."

More on this Story:

1] Drugs: a fact of student life

by James Tapsfield

Recreational drugs are a fact of student life, and even if you don't intend
to indulge, you're likely to come into contact with them during
university.  The best policy is to know what is available and its effects
before either trying anything or meeting those who have.

Cannabis is easily the most popular recreational drug aside from alcohol.
The latest figures show that 44 per cent of people between 16 and 29 have
tried it, and numbers still appear to be rising.

Otherwise known as dope, weed, grass, hash, black and a myriad other tags,
cannabis usually comes as solid resin - hash - or dried plant - grass. It
can be smoked or eaten to achieve a high that lasts for a few hours.
Different kinds have different strengths and flavours, and it costs UKP 15
to UKP 35 for an eighth of an ounce. Some varieties are laced with LSD and
should be approached with caution.

The effects of cannabis vary widely depending on the user's constitution
and state of mind. Some say it heightens their appreciation of music,
others giggle uncontrollably, and a few just feel sick. But, it can harm
your short-term memory and impair concentration - not helpful when you're
trying to focus on exam revision.

Cannabis, along with the other drugs detailed here, is illegal, and looks
set to remain so. However, the Government appears likely to reclassify the
drug from Class B to Class C, which would make it a lower priority for the
police and reduce the number of prosecutions.

2] The side-effects you can expect

CANNABIS: Relaxes and heightens appetite ("the munchies"). Can damage
short-term memory, and is often linked to paranoia and depression in later
life. Smoking increases risk of throat, mouth and lung cancer.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2002 19:35:02 -0700
Subject:Canada: Pot Shop Owner May Close Doors Due To Robbery Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Sep 2002
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2002, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact: letters@edm.sunpub.com
Website: http://www.fyiedmonton.com/htdocs/edmsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Raquel Exner

POT SHOP OWNER MAY CLOSE DOORS DUE TO ROBBERY

The Marijuana Party of Alberta may have to shut down its Edmonton office
after the party leader's pot paraphernalia shop was robbed and he was
duct-taped to a chair.

On Saturday at about 3 a.m., two women and three men allegedly showed up at
the High Spirit Variety Store armed with an axe, a machete and a knife.

Ken Kirk said he was still at the 10253 97 St. store surfing the Internet
when the break-in happened.

"I was thinking about my three-month-old baby girl and how I wanted to stay
alive for her, for my partner and my two adult children," he said yesterday.

"I'm still shook up over it and shaking like a leaf."

Kirk said the bandits grabbed him, duct-taped him to a chair, hit him and
threatened to kill him if he told anyone.

He said the thieves stole everything from the display cases in his store -
pipes, bongs, jewelry and papers.

Kirk said that after they fled the scene, he hopped over to a nearby table
and grabbed a chisel to cut himself free.

"They were stupid enough to leave the chair in front of a table with a
chisel on it. I got the chisel in between my hands and undid the tape."

Kirk said he then called the cops who are still investigating. Police are
still looking for the suspects.

Because the store had no insurance, Kirk says he'll have to shut down the
party's office, which was at the back of the store. He explained the
profits from the store were used to pay the office's rent.

"This is going to put us under."

Kirk said he hopes members of the party will be generous enough to make
some donations to keep the store open. He's also looking for volunteers to
assist with security.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 19:21:15 -0700
Subject:Canada: Questions Being Raised About Medical Pot Exemptions Up TOC

Newshawk: Steven Bacon
Pubdate: Sept 3, 2002
Source: The Chilliwack Progress
Copyright: 2002 BC Newspaper Group
Contact: readers@metrovalleynews.com
Website: http://www.theprogress.com
Webpage:
http://www.theprogress.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=3D39&cat=3D23&id=3D51=
39
Author: Robert Freeman

Questions being raised about medical pot exemptions


By Robert Freeman

An American seeking refugee status in Canada was granted a medical
exemption last week to grow and use marijuana for medical purposes by
Health Canada.
But Canadian citizen Brian Carlisle, a Chilliwack resident, has so
far been denied a similar exemption, despite being in a higher
patient category and despite filing his application earlier.
"If we don't get it today (Friday) that's it," Mr. Carlisle says.=
 "We
go to court (today) Tuesday and ask to get the regulations thrown
out."
"Obviously those regulations aren't working if a category one person
can get approved in three to four weeks," he adds.
U.S. Pot activist Steve Kubby was issued an exemption by Health
Canada for a category 3 illness - chronic and long-term =AD on
Thursday. Mr. Carlisle's application is for category one =AD terminal
patients with 12 months to live. Applications for both categories
require doctors' approvals.
"Almost three weeks have passed and Mr. Carlisle's condition is
deteriorating rapidly," defense lawyer Dale Pedersen says in a letter
to the Office of Cannabis Medical Access. "In my opinion, in light of
the urgency, the delay ... is simply unacceptable."
Mr. Pedersen says he will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to strike down
the regulations for medical marijuana as unconstitutional.
The exemption granted Mr. Kubby allows him to grow 59 marijuana
plants, possess and travel with 360 grams, and store 2,655 grams. The
exemption lasts for one year.
Mr. Kubby's wife Michele says the Health Canada program "still has
too many hoops for sick people to jump through" but should serve as a
model to U.S. lawmakers.



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes
http://finance.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 19:26:34 -0700
Subject:Canada: Breaking News: Legalize and Regulate Cannabis says Senate Committee Up TOC

from Richard Lake:

Pubdate: Wed, 4 Sep 2002
Source: The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense
Website: http://www.mapinc.org/
Note: This is a DrugSense special report. To follow news articles and 
opinions on this story, use the following links:
http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

NOTE: This report is also on line at 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1649.a01.html If any of the links below 
break in this email you may go to the webpage to find the clickable link.

BREAKING NEWS: LEGALIZE AND REGULATE CANNABIS SAYS CANADIAN SENATE SPECIAL 
COMMITTEE

What we have so far:

A low bandwidth real audio file - just over an hour long and with some echo 
that makes it a little hard to listen to - of the committee press 
conference is at http://drugpolicycentral.com/real/cmap/iddi.rm

Both DrugSense and POT-TV will be making additional audio/video clips 
available.

CPAC (the Canadian version of CSPAN) will be rebroadcasting the committee 
press conference as well as the Canadian Police Association negative 
response in Windows Media Player format at 8 p.m., 11 p.m., and 1 a.m. 
Eastern times today at http://www.cpac.ca/watchnow/index_e.asp

The entire 600 page report is available in both English and French by 
looking for committee reports at this webpage: http://www.parl.gc.ca/ or by 
going thru this page http://www.parl.gc.ca/illegal-drugs.asp to this page 
for the English version

http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenRecentReps.asp?Language=E&Parl=37&Ses=1

or this webpage for the French version

http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/Committee_SenRecentReps.asp?Language=F&Parl=37&Ses=1

Here is the committee press release:

NEWS RELEASE

The Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Senate Committee recommends legalization of cannabis OTTAWA, September 4, 
2002 - The Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs today released its 
final report on cannabis. In an exhaustive and comprehensive two-year study 
of public policy related to marijuana, the Special Committee found that the 
drug should be legalized.  The 600 plus page Senate report is a result of 
rigorous research, analysis and extensive public hearings in Ottawa and 
communities throughout Canada with experts and citizens.

"Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is 
substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a 
criminal issue but as a social and public health issue", said Senator 
Pierre Claude Nolin, Chair of the Special Committee, in a news conference 
today in Ottawa.  "Indeed, domestic and international experts and Canadians 
from every walk of life told us loud and clear that we should not be 
imposing criminal records on users or unduly prohibiting personal use of 
cannabis.  At the same time, make no mistake, we are not endorsing cannabis 
use for recreational consumption.  Whether or not an individual uses 
marijuana should be a personal choice that is not subject to criminal 
penalties.  But we have come to the conclusion that, as a drug, it should 
be regulated by the State much as we do for wine and beer, hence our 
preference for legalization over decriminalization."

Among many observations, the Senate Report concludes that:

The Government of Canada should adopt an integrated policy on the risks and 
harmful effects of psychoactive substances covering the whole range of 
substances including cannabis, medications, alcohol, tobacco and illegal 
drugs, focussing on educating users, detecting and preventing at-risk use 
and treating excessive use.

As far as cannabis is concerned, only behaviour causing demonstrable harm 
to others should be prohibited: illegal trafficking, selling to young 
people under the age of sixteen and impaired driving.

Legislation for a cannabis exemption scheme should be introduced 
stipulating conditions for obtaining licences, producing and selling 
cannabis; criminal penalties for illegal trafficking and export; and the 
preservation of criminal penalties for all activities falling outside the 
scope of the exemption scheme.

Present medicinal marijuana provisions are not effective and must be 
revised to provide greater access for those in need.

Amnesty should be provided for any person convicted of possession of 
cannabis under current or past legislation.

In its extensive report, the Special Committee suggests a number of 
specific initiatives for implementing its recommendations such as: creation 
of a National Advisor on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency within the 
Privy Council Office;

a high-level conference of key stakeholders from the provinces, 
territories, municipalities and associations in 2003 to set goals and 
priorities for action;

creation of a Canadian Centre on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency 
with a strong, clear mandate, adequately funded and reporting to Parliament 
and with a Monitoring Agency on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency to 
conduct studies with the provinces and territories and table a bi-annual 
report on drug-use trends and emerging problems;

amendments to the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations to provide new rules 
regarding eligibility, availability, production and distribution with 
respect to cannabis for therapeutic purposes;

amendment to the Criminal Code to lower permitted alcohol levels to 40 
milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in the presence of other 
drugs, especially, but not exclusively cannabis; and

Canada seeking amendments to United Nations conventions and treaties 
governing illegal drugs and supporting the development of a Drugs and 
Dependency Monitoring Agency for the Americas.

- ---

The Committee also examined the international obligations and repercussions 
of Canada's cannabis policies as well as approaches taken by other 
countries.  It studied the impact of more liberal policy approaches to 
cannabis in countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain along 
with more restrictive policies such as Sweden, France or the United 
States.  There is a clear international trend to reassessing domestic drug 
policy such as recent initiatives toward decriminalization in the United 
Kingdom.  Deputy Chair Senator Colin Kenny points out that "though what we 
are recommending for our country has an impact on our friends and 
neighbours, Canada must make its own decisions in the best interests of its 
citizens."

The Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs is chaired by Senator Pierre 
Claude Nolin with Senator Colin Kenny as deputy-chair.  Also serving on the 
Committee are Senators Tommy Banks, Shirley Maheu and Eileen Rossiter.  The 
Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs maintains an Internet web site at 
http://www.parl.gc.ca/illegal-drugs.asp. where proceedings, testimony, 
research, general information and its report can be found.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For further information:

David Newman Jean-Guy Desgagne Phone: (613) 836-6039 Phone: (613) 791-7936 
Mobile: (613) 795-1739 Fax: (613) 836-5370

E-mail: dnewman@sympatico.ca

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1 The Committee recommends that the position of National 
Advisor on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency be created within the 
Privy Council Office; that the Advisor be supported by a small secretariat 
and that the necessary staff be assigned by federal departments and 
agencies involved with psychoactive substances on request.

Recommendation 2 The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada 
mandate the National Advisor on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency to 
call a high-level conference of key stakeholders from the provinces, 
territories, municipalities and associations in 2003, to set goals and 
priorities for action on psychoactive substances over a five-year period.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada amend the enabling 
legislation of the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse to change the 
Centre's name to the Canadian Centre on Psychoactive Substances and 
Dependency ; make the Centre accountable to Parliament; provide the Centre 
with an annual basic operating budget of $15 million to be increased 
annually; require the Centre to table an annual report on actions taken, 
key issues, research and trends in Parliament and in the provincial and 
territorial legislatures; mandate the Centre to ensure national 
coordination of research on psychoactive substances and dependency and to 
conduct studies into specific issues; and mandate the Centre to undertake 
an assessment of the national strategy on psychoactive substance and 
dependency every five years.

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends that, in the legislation creating the Canadian 
Centre on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency, the Government of Canada 
specifically include provision for the setting up of a Monitoring Agency on 
Psychoactive Substances and Dependency within the Centre; provide that the 
Monitoring Agency be mandated to conduct studies every two years, in 
cooperation with relevant bodies, on drug-use trends and dependency 
problems in the adult population; work with the provinces and territories 
towards increased harmonization of studies of the student population and to 
ensure they are carried out every two years; conduct ad hoc studies on 
specific issues; and table a bi-annual report on drug-use trends and 
emerging problems.

Recommendation 5 The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada 
adopt an integrated policy on the risks and harmful effects of psychoactive 
substances covering the whole range of substances (medication, alcohol, 
tobacco and illegal drugs).  With respect to cannabis, this policy should 
focus on educating users, detecting and preventing at-risk use and treating 
excessive use.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada amend the Controlled 
Drugs and Substances Act to create a criminal exemption scheme.  This 
legislation should stipulate the conditions for obtaining licences as well 
as for producing and selling cannabis; criminal penalties for illegal 
trafficking and export; and the preservation of criminal penalties for all 
activities falling outside the scope of the exemption scheme.

Recommendation 7

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada declare an amnesty 
for any person convicted of possession of cannabis under current or past 
legislation.

Recommendation 8 The Committee recommends that the Marijuana Medical Access 
Regulations be amended to provide new rules regarding eligibility, 
production and distribution with respect to cannabis for therapeutic 
purposes. In addition, research on cannabis for therapeutic purposes is 
essential.

Recommendation 9

The Committee recommends that the Criminal Code be amended to lower 
permitted alcohol levels to 40 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of 
blood, in the presence of other drugs, especially, but not exclusively 
cannabis; and to admit evidence from expert police officers trained in 
detecting persons operating vehicles under the influence of drugs.

Recommendation 10

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada create a national 
fund for research on psychoactive substances and dependency to fund 
research on key issues, more particularly on various types of use, on the 
therapeutic applications of cannabis, on tools for detecting persons 
operating vehicles under the influence of drugs and on effective prevention 
and treatment programs; that the Government of Canada mandate the Canadian 
Centre on Psychoactive Substances and Dependency to co-ordinate national 
research and serve as a resource centre.

Recommendation 11

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada instruct the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to inform the 
appropriate United Nations authorities that Canada is requesting an 
amendment to the conventions and treaties governing illegal drugs; and that 
the development of a Drugs and Dependency Monitoring Agency for the 
Americas be supported by the Government of Canada.

***********************************************

Newshawks: This report and it's recommendations will result in considerable 
news and opinion reports in Canada - and we hope in the U.S. and worldwide. 
Please help us to find and distribute the stories. Letter to the Editor 
writers are standing by ready to respond to these items! But please follow 
the instructions for newshawking at http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm as 
carefully as you can. Making the subject line of your newshawk message the 
exact headline of the item is critical to reducing duplicate posts of 
items. Adding the URL of the item's Webpage: if you can is always helpful.

Thank you, newshawks, for all that you do! You make it happen!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 23:29:01 -0700
Subject: Canada: Ottawa Making 'Mess' Of Medical Marijuana Issue

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002
Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 The Kingston Whig-Standard
Contact: whiged@thewhig.com
Website: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224
Author: Ian Elliot
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

OTTAWA MAKING 'MESS' OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA ISSUE

Local News - Patients in Kingston are suffering while the federal
government waffles on medical marijuana laws, says the medical director of
Kingston General Hospital's AIDS clinic.

Dr. Peter Ford says there are patients in Kingston who would benefit from
the drug but who just can't get it. That's because Ottawa has thrown up a
baffling set of bureaucratic rules that make it almost impossible for
patients who need medical marijuana to obtain it.

"The government has made a real mess of it," Ford said yesterday.

"It's actually getting worse, not better. I get a real sense they're
stalling on the whole issue."

Patients on drugs to fight HIV and AIDS often suffer nausea and loss of
appetite as side-effects. Losing weight can be a major complication for
someone fighting the disease, and some patients find smoking marijuana
increases their appetite and controls nausea.

"It's a very effective stimulator of appetite and reducer of nausea," Ford
said.

A pill form of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is available but
some patients find it less effective than smoking the drug.

Ottawa recently announced that it wants more research into the effects and
benefits of medical marijuana.

In the meantime, doctors who want to prescribe the drug for patients are
faced with a bureaucratic wall that requires them to affirm statements they
say are impossible to prove.

Doctors must assure Health Canada that marijuana poses no long-term risk,
as well as detailing what each patient's dose will be in milligrams,
something Ford says is impossible given the variety of qualities of
marijuana that people can obtain.

Many provincial medical associations have advised doctors not to answer the
questions but Health Canada will not accept the forms without the
information, even when doctors send along a letter explaining why the form
is incomplete.

Without federal authorization, patients must acquire marijuana on the
streets or risk arrest by growing it themselves.

"They're smoking it, they're just doing it illegally," explained Ford of
the predicament in which patients find themselves.

"If they get picked up by the police for possession of a small quantity we'
ve told them that we're prepared to go to bat for them."

Ford said the clinic has not yet had to intervene on behalf of a patient
facing a drug charge.

In addition to helping HIV patients, the drug has also been found effective
when taken by people with glaucoma, cancer and other conditions, and by the
terminally ill.

The government's first crop of marijuana, grown in an abandoned mine in
Manitoba, was started with plants seized by police and varied in strength.
Ottawa has begun a second crop.

But although the government has been growing marijuana for medical use,
federal Health Minister Anne McLellan said last month that none of its
marijuana would be distributed until clinical trials have been conducted.

No such trials have started.

Ford is worried by the government's latest move.

"Clinical trials take years and you can design them to give you whatever
results you want," he said, pointing out that the government could evaluate
marijuana for pain relief, which it does not do well, and conclude it is
not an effective drug.

He says he suspects Jean Chretien's Liberal government is in no rush to
make it easier for patients to get marijuana because of the United States,
which is engaged in a war on drugs and regularly hands out long jail
sentences for people using or trafficking marijuana.

"We've gotten an impression that the government is scared to lighten up on
this out of fear of offending the Americans," Ford said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Tom
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 23:31:35 -0700
Subject: Please Donate to Nevada's Question 9 Campaign at www.nrle.org  

from Redford Givens:

As many of you know Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement is
involved in a fight to legalize marijuana in the state.

After receiving a surprising early endorsement for Question 9 from
the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs' (NCOPS), the narcs
raised their shrill voices and NCOPS reversed things. Now the cops
are ranting about how critical it is to the order of the universe to
keep marijuana eternally illegal.

Now the proposition faces serious opposition from police and
prosecutors across Nevada. The proposition is in a dead heat or
slightly behind according to the polls.

Not to worry though with YOUR help Question 9 can win on voting day.
What the Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement need to win this
battle is very simple LOTS OF MONEY TO BUY THOUSANDS OF RADIO AND TV
ADS!

According to their website they are trying to raise $350,000. Let's
make sure they go over budget and do the job right!

If everyone who reads this donates some cash we can win the day. Now
is the time to get up off your money and put it to work for a reform
effort that may cause a tidal wave of change across the nation.  Kick
in $50 or $500 if you've got it. And if you are a little short give
them $10 or $20.  But give something.

For years we have been forced to twiddle our thumbs while dizzy narcs
wrote the laws. This time WE wrote the marijuana law. This is your
chance to make a difference.

Remember that hundreds of Libertarian radio and TV spots knocked Rep
Bob Barr out of the game. Those ads set off a landslide against Mr
Reefer Madness that sent him out of Congress with a rout. We can do
the same thing in Nevada IF we all support this initiative with MONEY.

So get your credit card out and send some ammunition to Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement at  http://www.nrle.org/ to help them
pass  Question 9.
Sincerely
Redford Givens




    Text of the initiative
    text of the initiative | ballot language

Text of the November 2002 Nevada ballot initiative supported by
Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement

The following initiative will appear as Question 9 on the Nevada
ballot in the November 2002 general election.:

Section 1. Section 38 of Article 4 of the Constitution of the State
of Nevada is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 38. Use of [plant of genus Cannabis] marijuana for medical
purposes [.] and regulation of marijuana.

1. As used in this section, "marijuana" means a plant of the genus
Cannabis or its product.

2. The use or possession of three ounces or less of marijuana by a
person who has attained the age of 21 years is not cause for arrest,
civil or criminal penalty, or seizure or forfeiture of assets.

3. The legislature shall provide or maintain penalties for:

(a) Driving dangerously, or operating heavy machinery, while under
the influence of marijuana.

(b) The distribution or sale of marijuana to, and the possession or
use of marijuana by, persons who have not attained the age of 21
years.

(c) The smoking of marijuana in a vehicle or public place, including
a publicly operated carrier of passengers, a public park, or a place
where gaming is permitted.

(d) The distribution, sale, possession, or use of marijuana on the
premises of a jail, prison, or public school.

[1] 4. The legislature shall provide by law for:

(a) The use of marijuana by a patient, upon the advice of his
physician, [of a plant of the genus Cannabis] for the treatment or
alleviation of cancer, glaucoma, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome;
severe, persistent nausea [of] or cachexia resulting from these or
other chronic or debilitating medical conditions; epilepsy and other
disorders characterized by seizure; multiple sclerosis and other
disorders characterized by muscular spasticity; or other conditions
approved pursuant to law for such treatment.

(b) Restriction of the medical use of [the plant] marijuana by a
minor to require diagnosis and written authorization by a physician,
parental consent, and parental control of the acquisition and use of
[the plant] marijuana.

(c) Protection of [the plant] marijuana and property related to its
use from forfeiture except upon conviction or plea of guilty or nolo
contendere for possession or use not authorized by or pursuant to
this section.

(d) A registry of patients, and their attendants, who are authorized
to use [the plant] marijuana for a medical purpose, to which law
enforcement officers may resort to verify a claim of authorization
and which is otherwise confidential.

(e) Authorization of appropriate methods for supply of [the plant]
marijuana to patients authorized to use it [.] and for the
distribution of marijuana at low cost to those patients.

(f) A system of regulation, designed to curb the unlawful production
of or trafficking in marijuana, for the cultivation, taxation, sale,
and distribution of marijuana to persons authorized under this
section to use or possess it, under which:

(1) All advertising of marijuana through television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, or billboards is prohibited.

(2) A person who has attained the age of 21 years may purchase
marijuana from licensed establishments.

(3) The license fees at wholesale and retail are the same for
marijuana as for cigarettes, the tax for sale at wholesale are the
same for marijuana as for tobacco products other than cigarettes, and
the tax for sale of marijuana at retail is the same as the combined
taxes on sales at retail of other products generally.

(4) The transport of marijuana into or out of this state is
prohibited unless federal law permits such transport.

[2] 5. This section does not [:

(a) Authorize the use or possession of the plant for a purpose other
than medical or use for a medical purpose in public.

(b)] require reimbursement by an insurer for medical use of [the
plant] marijuana or accommodation of [medical] any use, possession,
or being under the influence of marijuana in a place of employment.

6. Any statute or regulation inconsistent with this section is null
and void after January 1, 2005.



CRRH is working to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults like 
alcohol, allow doctors to recommend cannabis through pharmacies and restore 
the unregulated production of industrial hemp.

*Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp*
mail:     CRRH ; P.O. Box 86741 ; Portland, OR 97286 USA
email:   crrh@crrh.org
phone:  (503) 235-4606
fax:       (503) 235-0120
web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
End of Restore-Digest V2002 #184
********************************