Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:14:52 -0700

Subject:Ed "New Jersey Weedman" Forchion Parole Hearing 9/17/02 Up TOC

CRRH note: This article will be published in the Philadelphia Tribune on
September 17th. We urge those of you in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area to=

attend Ed's parole hearing and urge the judge to free Ed!

BUSH IGNORES DOMESTIC STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM
By Linn Washington Jr.

Too bad the plight of Ed Forchion doesn't even register on the 'radar
screen' of President George Bush.

Forchion (AKA "NJ Weedman") is enduring the kind of outrageous state
sponsored terrorism that should spark the anti-terrorism ire of President
Bush, America's selected president who is currently in a lather over the
despotic leader of Iraq.

Authorities in the state of New Jersey are persecuting Forchion because
this anti-Drug-War activist refuses to surrender his American birthright
authorizing his exercise of First Amendment constitutional rights like
freedom of speech and freedom "to petition the Government for a redress of=

grievances."

The egregious abuse of authority at the heart of (NJ) state sponsored
terrorism directed at Forchion does not include use of
weapons-of-mass-destruction.

However, the sneaky theft of Forchion's precious liberty by NJ parole
officials who have thrown this man in prison for the constitutionally
permissible act of holding a protest sign on the steps of the Burlington
County courthouse is its own brand of ugly deserving vocal condemnation
from the White House to Capitol Hill.

But don't expect Bush or the Capitol Hill gang to bash the merciless NJ
persecutors of Ed Forchion because the plight of this dissident does not
include the hot-button concerns that consume our President's limited
attention span like political self-preservation, making his friends rich
andof coursewar against Saddam - the so-called Butcher of Baghdad.

On 9/17/02, Jersey authorities have scheduled a court date for Ed Forchion

to determine rather to return him to prison to finish a 10-year sentence
for pot possession or permit him to remain out of jail on Jersey's
Intensive Supervision Program as required by a plea bargain. Intensive
Supervision Program regional manager Tom Bartlett and other ISP minions
snatched Forchion's freedom a few weeks ago when they sent him back to
prison for allegedly violating the terms of his parole by holding that
courthouse protest.

Forchion held a one-man demonstration at the Burlington County courthouse
to criticize a judge's decision to deny him visitation rights with his
daughter despite holding Forchion responsible for paying child support.

This judge continually denies visitation not because he found Forchion at
fault for abuse - physical or sexual.

This judge continually denies visitation due solely to Forchion's political=

advocacy for the legalization of marijuana.

Since there is no evidence of or allegations about Forchion giving his
daughter marijuana, it is clear that this judge is simply denying
visitation rights because Forchion exercises his First Amendment rights to=

freedom of speech and petitioning the government.

Forchion admits smoking pot, saying it is apart of his First Amendment
right to religious freedom.

Forchion says his religion is Rasta like the late reggae legend Bob Marley.

Forchion stopped his religious freedom smoking so he can remain free from
imprisonment due to the random drug testing of the ISP parole release.

Forchion also says he smoked for medical reasons, which is a reason he
acknowledges knowing about an attempt to bring 40 pounds of weed into NJ -=

to provide the stuff to sufferers who use it to ease their intense disease=

related pain.

While ISP's Tom Bartlett brays about the visitation dispute demonstration
being THE reason from throwing Forchion back in prison, the real reason is=

Forchion catching Tom-the-Terrible on tape.

Bartlett ordered Forchion not to talk to the press about his plight or
publicly press his anti-Drug-War advocacyan order reportedly not apart of=

Forchion's written ISP requirements.

When Forchion asked Terrible Tom to put his First Amendment destroying
verbal dictate in writing, Bartlett indignantly bulked.

When Forchion told Tom that he had this encounter on tape, Bartlett
reportedly went bonkers.

Forchion's mistreatment violates apparent constitutional rights
(authorities permitted federal building bomber Tim McVeigh access to the
press).

Additionally, it violates the spirit of the hallowed Declaration of
Independence by mirroring acts that America's founders castigated the King=

of England for doing.

Today's parole violation hearing is in remote Hunterdon County, a long,
long way from Burlington County where Forchion lives and his alleged
offense occurred.

The Declaration criticized the King for calling together official "Bodies
at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant"

Arguably, ISP officials selected this 'distant' location, not only to
inconvenience Forchion, but also to make it difficult for Forchion's
supporters to attend the hearing to witness feared injustices at this=
 tribunal.

The Declaration criticized the King for obstructing "the Administration of=

Justice."

The judge that presided over Forchion's pot trial blocked Forchion's bid to=

present expert witnesses for his defense.

This judge also blocked Forchion from telling the jury that it had the
right to acquit him even if such a decision to apply justice conflicted
with strict application of written law.

The prosecutor's fear of probable 'jury nullification' of his desire to
convict Forchion motivated this prosecutor to offer the parole plea bargain.

But when ISP officials held Forchion in prison for 18-months, violating
terms of that plea deal, the prosecutor proclaimed he never promised a deal=

beyond saying he 'thought' Forchion was eligible for ISP release after
four-months in prison.

The prosecutor/ISP reneging on Forchion's plea deal is similar to President=

Bush saying Iraq's Saddam has "sidestepped, crawfished, and wheedled out of=

any agreement" (Some dictionaries define crawfished as: abandoning a
declared position.)

Too bad Bush focuses on alleged international state sponsored terrorism
instead of addressing obvious domestic terrorism.

- -THE END-

Linn Washington Jr. is an award-winning writer who teaches journalism at





=



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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:17:53 -0700

Subject:CA: Mower Persecution comes to an End Up TOC

Source: Record, The (CA)
Author: Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief
Published: Friday, September 13, 2002
Copyright: 2002 The Record
Contact: editor@recordnet.com
Website: http://www.recordnet.com/

TUOLUMNE MEDICAL-POT USER WON'T FACE NEW TRIAL
By Francis P. Garland, Lode Bureau Chief

A Tuolumne County medical-marijuana user whose cultivation and possession
convictions were overturned earlier this year by the California Supreme
Court will not face a new trial.

Deputy District Attorney John Hansen said Thursday that his office has
decided not to seek a new trial for Myron "Carl" Mower, who has a doctor's
recommendation to use marijuana to help him cope with diabetes and related
ailments.

Hansen said it would not be cost-effective for the county to retry the
40-year-old Mower, because even if he were convicted, he could be sentenced
only to serve the rest of his original probation period, which expires in
March.

"That would be an expensive proposition," Hansen said. "It's not worth it."

Hansen said that if Mower had been violating his probation while awaiting
the outcome of his appeal, "we'd probably be more interested in trying the
case. But he hasn't, and we have nothing to gain."

Mower, who was upfront about his medical marijuana use, was arrested in 1997
in what proved to be the county's first case involving Proposition 215,
which passed in 1996 and gave people with certain illnesses the legal right
to use and grow marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

A jury convicted Mower of cultivation and possession of marijuana the next
year, and he was placed on five years' probation.

But he appealed his conviction, and the state Supreme Court ultimately
overturned it in July. The Supreme Court also ruled that in the future,
legitimate medical-marijuana users under Proposition 215 must raise only a
reasonable doubt that they meet the legal criteria to avoid going to trial.

Mower has been waiting since that ruling to find out whether the district
attorney's office would seek to try him again on the cultivation and
possession charges.

He became alarmed this week when he received a letter from Superior Court
Judge Eric DuTemple ordering him to appear in court Oct. 1 for a
trial-setting conference.

Mower said DuTemple's letter also ordered District Attorney Donald
Segerstrom to prepare an order transporting Mower to the county jail -- a
prospect that had Mower fearing for his life.

"If they put me in jail," Mower said before he learned Segerstrom's office
would not seek a new trial, "they'll surely kill me."

That's because Mower said the jail was not able to meet his medical needs.
He said he must take more than two dozen pills a day in addition to the
insulin he must inject to control his diabetes, which he has had since he
was 8.

But the transport order appeared in Mower's letter by mistake. Hansen said
that in most cases involving appeals, the transport order is needed, because
the appeal subject is in prison and must be sent back to the county jail for
processing and court appearances.

Mower said he was relieved to learn Thursday that he would not be facing a
new trial.

"I think this is the right thing to do," he said. "It's about time they
leave me alone."

Mower said that when he received the letter indicating he should prepare to
be transported to jail, he was alarmed. "It screwed up my health," he said.
"My blood sugar was all over the place because of my emotions. I've been
having a hard time keeping everything where it's supposed to be.

"This is such a relief. You can't believe what a weight it is off my
shoulders."

In this case, however, Mower was not in prison, but living at home near
Twain Harte with his wife, Laurie.



 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:20:41 -0700

Subject:CA: Feds Raid Sebastapol Pot Farm; 6 Detained Up TOC

Newshawk: Tim Castleman
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Sep 2002
Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)
Website: http://www.pressdemo.com/
Feedback: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/services/feedback.html
Address: Letters Editor, P. O. Box 569, Santa Rosa CA 95402
Email: letters@pressdemo.com
Copyright: 2002 The Press Democrat
Fax: (707) 521-5305
Author: JEREMY HAY

FEDS RAID SEBASTOPOL POT FARM; 6 DETAINED

DEA Seizes Thousands Of Plants; Petaluma Man Accused Of Assaulting
Agent

SEBASTOPOL -- Federal agents Thursday raided a ranch on the outskirts of
Sebastopol, carting away thousands of mature marijuana plants and arresting
the owner of a Petaluma pot club.

It was one of the largest marijuana seizures on the North Coast in recent
memory.  At least six people were being questioned, but only one had been
arrested by late Thursday.

Robert Schmidt, 51, owner of the Petaluma marijuana buyers club, was held
on suspicion of assaulting a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. One
agent, who insisted on anonymity, said Schmidt was arrested after he tried
to strip another agent of his firearm.

Schmidt had rented the six-acre property since March. His Petaluma club,
Genesis 1:29, also was raided Thursday.

A Chevrolet Blazer loaded with what one agent said were computer hard
drives from the club drove up and parked beside the ranch house while
agents were taking a lunch break from cutting down marijuana plants with
chain saws. Crossbows and knives also were seized at the ranch, agents said.

Neighbors said Schmidt was growing marijuana for Genesis and numerous other
clubs around the Bay Area that sell marijuana for medical use.

California voters approved an initiative in 1996 allowing medical use of
marijuana with approval from a physician. But possession of marijuana
remains a federal offense, and the Justice Department has stepped up
enforcement since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge last year.

Medical marijuana activists condemned Thursday's raid, saying it would
endanger an amicable relationship they have developed with local law
enforcement agencies. In 2001, Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins
said he wouldn't prosecute small-scale growers who could show a viable
medical marijuana claim. Under county guidelines, people with physician
approval may have up to 99 plants or three pounds of dried marijuana.

"Trust has built up between the Sheriff's Department and the medical
marijuana community, and the DEA, by these kinds of actions, really puts
that at risk," said Ernest "Doc" Knapp, spokesman for the Sonoma Alliance
for Medical Marijuana. David Charlebois of Sebastopol, who owns the ranch,
said Schmidt told him he was going to grow corn. He had suspicions about
the operation but didn't confirm that Schmidt was growing marijuana until
Wednesday.

Although he supports medical use of marijuana and called Schmidt an
excellent tenant, Charlebois said he'll consult an attorney about evicting
him. "That's my retirement investment over there, so I have to protect the
property," he said.

Throughout the day, the pungent aroma of marijuana mingled with the sweet
smell of Gravenstein apples from a nearby orchard as about a dozen armed
agents took down a crop they estimated at about 3,000 plants. Neighbors
said Schmidt told them he had more than 5,000 plants.

"Is this the medicinal part?" one agent could be heard saying, his joke
followed by a chain saw's loud grinding.

Officials at the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco
declined comment, refusing even to confirm that a raid had taken place or
that Schmidt had been arrested.

Neighbors, who asked not to be named, said they began complaining about
Schmidt a month ago to county authorities and were told he'd been under
investigation for a year and a half.

Some neighbors said Schmidt had been open, even somewhat "of a braggart"
about his operation. "He said he has around 5,400 plants and it's worth
millions of dollars," said one woman. "He's very proud of what he's doing,
trying to provide marijuana to patients."

One neighbor said the conflict wasn't with Schmidt or with medical
marijuana. Their concern was the large quantity of marijuana being grown in
a residential area. They were worried particularly about the potential for
violence that can accompany the valuable crop.

In 1999, armed robbers invaded Schmidt's Petaluma home, tying up Schmidt
and four other occupants, including two children, before making off with
marijuana being grown for his club.

Last year, in response to pressure from the city and neighborhood
complaints, Schmidt moved the club to a commercial office park on South
Point Boulevard in east Petaluma.

Over the past year, the DEA has conducted at least four raids in Sonoma
County targeting pot clubs and self-described medical marijuana advocates
and growers.

Schmidt, a former welder, has said he suffers from asbestosis, a lung
disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. He went to federal prison in
the 1970s for smuggling marijuana from South America.

In 1996, after being arrested in Petaluma for growing pot at his home, he
opted for a drug treatment program instead of battling the charges in court
as a way to test the newly-passed Proposition 215.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart

 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:29:39 -0700

Subject:SF Examiner:Santa Cruz leaders to pass out pot Up TOC

San Francisco Examiner
Publication date: 09/13/2002

Santa Cruz leaders to pass out pot
BY MARTHA MENDOZA
Associated Press

     SANTA CRUZ -- City leaders plan to join medical marijuana users at a pot
giveaway at City Hall next week. Their goal is to send a message to federal
authorities that, in this town, medical marijuana is welcome.

     The invitation comes one week after agents from the Drug Enforcement
Agency arrested the high-profile owners of a pot farm and confiscated 130
plants that had been grown to be used as medicine.

     "It's just absolutely loathsome to me that federal money, energy and
staff time would be used to harass people like this," said Vice Mayor Emily
Reilly, who with several colleagues on the City Council plans to help pass
out medical marijuana to sick people from the garden-like courtyard at City
Hall on Tuesday.

     City Attorney John Barisone said that although the City Council did pass
a resolution denouncing the raid, there is no official city sponsorship of
the event, but that council members and medical marijuana advocates are
acting on their own accord in a public space.

     DEA spokesman Richard Meyer was surprised at the plan.

     "Are you serious? That's illegal. It's like they're flouting federal
law," he said. "I'm shocked that city leaders would promote the use of
marijuana that way. What is that saying to our youth?"

     On Thursday, federal agents -- acting without support from state and
local law enforcement -- raided a small pot farm located on a quiet coastal
road about 55 miles south of San Francisco, arresting the owners, Valerie and
Michael Corral.

     Their attorney, Ben Rice, said he was informed by the DEA that the U.S.
attorney has declined to prosecute the case. A spokeswoman for the U.S.
Attorney's Office said she could not comment on the case, and DEA spokesman
Meyer said his agency isn't involved in decisions on whether to prosecute.

     State law in California, as well as Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine,
Nevada, Oregon and Washington, allows marijuana to be grown and distributed
to people with a doctor's prescription. Federal law, on the other hand,
prohibits marijuana use under any circumstances.

     California medical marijuana growers and distributors work closely with
local law enforcement and are quite open about their programs. In fact, the
farm raided Thursday morning by DEA agents had been featured in national
media, and the program is listed in the local telephone book.

     But in recent months, federal agents -- working strictly without local
support -- have been busting pot clubs and farms in Northern California.

     "The DEA has gone too far with these cruel and utterly pointless
actions," said Robert Kampia, executive director of the Washington,
D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. "The courage of the Santa Cruz City
Council and the growing anger in Congress are signs of a genuine grass-roots
rebellion all across this country that will put an end to these attacks on
the sick and vulnerable."

    In 1992, 77 percent of Santa Cruz voters approved a measure ending the
medical prohibition of marijuana. Four years later, state voters -- including
74 percent of those in Santa Cruz -- approved Proposition 215, allowing
marijuana for medicinal purposes. And then again, in 2000, the city council
approved an ordinance allowing medical marijuana to be grown and used without
a prescription.


 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:32:28 -0700

Subject: Canada: Why Stop At Pot? Legalize All Drugs

Newshawk: Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy (http://www.cfdp.ca/)
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Sep 2002
Source: National Post (Canada)
Webpage:
http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id={41762155-1941-42E5-8367-3070CAD79255}
Copyright: 2002 Southam Inc.
Contact: letters@nationalpost.com
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Andy Lamey, National Post

WHY STOP AT POT? LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS

Three cheers for unelected senators!

Last week they released a report stating that Canada's marijuana laws waste
enormous resources, destroy the lives of drug users, infringe on civil
liberties, foster organized crime and do absolutely nothing to stop people
from getting high. Inevitably, critics were quick to offer the usual
objections in response to the senators' call for legalization. "As a
parent," Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper observed, "I simply don't
share the view that alcohol is more harmful than marijuana." For their
part, The Globe and Mail and National Post published cringing, wishy-washy
editorials calling for decriminalization rather than outright legalization.

The sole problem with the committee's recommendations is that they apply
only to cannabis.

When it comes to drugs, the only humane policy is to legalize them all.
Ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, PCP; prohibition has failed in equal measure for
all of these substances. Prohibition has enormous social costs and does
more harm than good. It's time to junk the entire approach.

Prohibitionists say legalization would trigger massive increases in drug
consumption and addiction.

This reflects an extremely simplistic understanding of the relationship
between legalization and usage.

As the Senate committee notes in regard to cannabis use among the young,
"we have not legalized cannabis, and we have one of the highest rates in
the world. Countries adopting a more liberal policy have, for the most
part, rates of usage lower than ours, which stabilized after a short period
of growth." (Italics added.) Similarly, heroin use is almost three times
higher in the ultra-prohibitionist United States than in freewheeling
Holland. The idea that legalization means epidemic consumption is mostly
hysteria.

Of those who do try drugs, many, perhaps most, experiment in their youth
and then stop. Of those who do keep using, the majority do so without
becoming addicted. Two years ago, Ottawa Citizen journalist Dan Gardner
obtained a 1995 World Health Organization study on cocaine, the most
extensive ever conducted, and quoted one of its key findings: " 'Occasional
cocaine' use, not 'intensive' or 'compulsive' consumption, is 'the most
typical pattern of cocaine use.' " (Such findings so discredited America's
drug policy that it threatened to withhold WHO funding, and the report was
never released.)

As for actual addicts, prohibition only compounds their misery.

Someone with a drug problem doesn't need a jail sentence, he needs help.
The Senate report notes that 90% of government spending related to drugs is
devoted to enforcement. That leaves only 10% for things like addiction
treatment and harm-reduction programs, where anti-drug dollars would be
better spent. Several studies have documented that when addicts overdose,
other users who are present frequently don't call 911, out of fear they'll
be arrested. Prohibition is a direct factor in such preventable deaths.

That's not the only area where prohibition kills.

As Gardner wrote in 2000, "From 1920 to 1933, the years of [alcohol]
Prohibition in the U.S., about 800 gangsters died fighting each other in
the streets of Chicago. In just the last two years in Tijuana, 1,000 people
have been killed fighting over the drug trade." Tijuana is only an extreme
example of a phenomenon that takes place around the world.

Prohibition creates a black market.

That gives rise to organized crime and violence, from Quebec's biker wars
to inner-city shootings in the U.S. to the destabilization of entire Latin
American countries. Only removing the control of drugs from criminals will
address the root problem.

This is one reason why decriminalization doesn't go far enough.
Decriminalization means getting caught with drugs results in the equivalent
of a traffic ticket rather than arrest.

But selling drugs is still illegal -- so criminal distribution chains
remain completely untouched. Decriminalization also does nothing to address
the massive resources that would still be wasted targeting traffickers and
ticketing users, or the violations of civil liberties prohibition entails.

Endless numbers of innocent people are subjected to the indignity of
airport strip searches -- or worse -- thanks to the current drug hysteria.

For many of these problems -- especially the carnage afflicting Latin
America -- we can thank the United States and its tragically misguided "War
on Drugs." The U.S. has consistently bullied other countries whenever
they've considered liberalizing domestic drug laws. Aid packages have been
withheld, official passports denied, threats of trade sanctions issued.

In Canada, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency recently conducted a covert
sting operation that involved "blatant acts in disregard of Canadian
sovereign values and law," as a B.C. judge ruled in August. All this in the
name of a policy that has consistently failed to eliminate drugs.

Wars have victims, and the war on drugs is no exception.

In recognizing this simple, crushingly obvious truth, the Senate has
produced a rare government document that speaks in a voice of moral sanity.

Prohibition will always fail. Why are we so afraid to try something else?
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D

 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 22:38:52 -0700

Subject:NV: Weed the People Up TOC

Newshawk: Krissy www.mpp.org
Pubdate: Wed, 11 Sep 2002
Source: Las Vegas Weekly (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Radiant City Publications, LLC
Contact: lasvegas@lasvegasweekly.com
Website: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1036
Author: Damon Hodge
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (Question 9 (NV))

WEED THE PEOPLE

Long enamored of tobacco, Nevada youth are becoming fond of another puffable
plant product - weed. The No. 1 smokers in the nation - 33 percent of Nevada
high-schoolers used tobacco products last year - our kids can also toke with
the best of them, ranking seventh in an Office of National Drug Control
Policy report of first-time users, ages 12 to 17.

Gathered in a high-school parking lot, several teen cannabis connoisseurs
expressed little surprise at pot's popularity. Asserting that it is neither
addictive and nor the cause of drug-addled deviancy, they say weed is an
affordable and available alternative to cigarettes and alcohol.

"Weed is like food," says one teen, chuckling. "Plus it's easy to get."

Nearly 40 percent of teens in a poll from the National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse said they could buy marijuana in a few hours; 27 percent
in an hour or less. On the first day of school, it took one student 15
minutes.

Another bonus, say the teens, are the profits from peddling pot. No one in
this ethnically diverse group admitted to selling, but say they know those
who do. Those street pharmacists make hundreds of dollars daily. Should
voters and the Legislature decriminalize possession of up to three ounces of
weed, they expect profits to soar.

"Three ounces is a lotta herb," piped one minor, noting that there was money
to be made on "nickel bags," referring to thumb-size $5 sacks of pot
weighing less than an ounce.

Meanwhile, debate continues over relaxing possession laws. Reformists says
minors will understand that buying, selling and smoking marijuana is
illegal. Opponents such as Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell fear
an increase in addiction and crime.

Citing a National Academy Press study, Bruce Mirken, who works with the
Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., says there's no conclusive
link between the severity of sanctions and drug use. "It's yet another twig
on the growing pile of data that shows that stricter penalties don't stop
kids from using marijuana," he says.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk

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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 09:16:28 -0700
Subject: Canada: Legalizing pot not such a bad idea Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Source: Meadow Lake Progress (CN SN)
Pubdate: September 8, 2002
Website: http://www.bowesnet.com/mlprogress/
Address: 311 Centre Street, Meadow, Lake, Sask., S9x 1l7
Contact: mlprogress_mlp@sasktel.net
Copyright: 2002 Meadow Lake Progress
Fax: (306)236-3130

                 Legalizing pot not such a bad idea

Right on, dude...looks like the feds are pondering the legalization of
marijuana. A Senate committee has unanimously called for the legalization of
the drug across the country. The idea has sparked debate across Canada and
has stirred criticism from the United States. The Senate committee also
wants government-licensed production and sale of the drug to any Canadian
over the age of 16.

In it's 600-page report, the committee concludes that dope is not harmful
and should be readily available to cannibis consumers. Purchasing the drug,
if it is legalized, would be as easy as purchasing tobacco or alcohol
products. Marijuana has been banned in Canada since 1923.

While the Senate committee is stoked about the idea of making pot legal,
other organizations are not so thrilled.

The Canadian Police Association is calling the plan "a back-to-school gift
for drug pushers."

Hardly. By legalizing pot, the senate is not encouraging it's use.
Legalization is not an endorsement of it's use.

It is a way of opening up some doors to accept a soft drug which does
nothing more than make the user see some really cool psychadelic colours.
Marijuana is not nearly as serious as heroin, for example. With dope, the
user does not share needles, does not risk disease, and does not ruin their
life. Hence the classification - soft drug...recreational use.

Domestic and international experts, along with regular Canadians have said
that imposing criminal records on users is unacceptable, at least in this
country. The attraction to the drug is that it's illegal. Maybe this
attraction is from the 12 to 17 year olds of our society. Without accusing
or singling out teens, the opportunity for them to try a soft drug without
harsh consequences makes it appealing. It should also be noted that nearly
two million Canadians over the age of 18 use cannibis on a daily basis. That
number is more than double the number of teens using the drug in the same
frequency. Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said making pot legal will actually
result in the decreased use of marijuana. Why? Because the risk of being
caught is taken away. The thrill of doing something illegal disappears.

Prosecuting drug charges in Canada costs close to $1.5 billion annually, and
nearly one third of those charges involve marijuana.

The committee's chair, Progressive Conservative Senator Pierre Claude Nolin,
said it's time to steer away from a "regime where we stick our heads in the
sand, like ostriches. We are aware that several hundred thousand Canadians
are using cannibis. The hipocrisy of the current system is not the way to
go."

The committee formed it's opinion after more than two years of studying drug
policy and interviewing 234 witnesses across Canada and around the world.
As a case-in-point, cannibis is technically illegal in Holland, but is
tolerated. More than 450 coffeeshops in Amsterdam offer a safe place to sit
down, chill out and smoke up. The Dutch are known for their tolerance, and
this is no different. The coffeeshops offer a place to buy and use soft
drugs, because they separate the soft drug users from the hard drug dealers.
In any coffeeshop you can roll a joint, smoke a pipe or get blitzed from a
bong. They too are regulated by the government on a local level, which
requires them to obtain a license and pay taxes.

The whole idea behind the Dutch tolerance of marijuana, amongst other
things, is that recreational use of pot is less harmful to society than
persecution and incarceration. It's time we took a lesson from the fine
folks over in Holland.

Legalization of this soft, harmless drug is a smart move by the Senate.
It is a simple, liberal, with-the-times move that allows those who are sick
easier access to a drug which will ease their pain. Those who want to get
blitzed for fun can do so. No big deal. At least they aren't costing the
health care system billions of dollars in treatment of lung cancer, or
addiction to alcohol.



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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 09:17:00 -0700
Subject: Canadian Senate Committee recommends legalization of marijuana Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Source: Mountainview Weekly, The (CN BC)
Pubdate: September 9, 2002
Website: http://www.tmwnews.com/
Address: 420B Mt. Ash Crescent, Box 1444, Sparwood, BC V0B 2G0
Contact: tmw@tmwnews.com
Copyright: 2002 The Mountainview Weekly
Fax: (250)425-7455

     Canadian Senate Committee recommends legalization of marijuana

The Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs released its final report on
cannabis, last Wednesday. 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 last week 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 andillegal drugs, focusing 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 and 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 stake-holders 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 de-criminalization 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 in-formation and its report can be found.

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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 09:23:30 -0700
Subject: Canada's Pot Policy Under Fire From US Up TOC

Newshawk: Carey Ker
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Sep 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page A7
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Graeme Smith

CANADA'S POT POLICY UNDER FIRE FROM U.S.

DETROIT -- Canada's marijuana policy is flawed by a lack of information and
outright lies, according to the highest-ranking drug official in the United
States.

John Walters, director of U.S. national drug-control policy, sharply
criticized Ottawa yesterday for allowing ill people to smoke pot and for
considering relaxed antimarijuana laws.

Mr. Walters said at a Detroit news conference that Canada has done
insufficient research, so it cannot justify liberalizing its cannabis policy.

"I asked the ministers in Canada when I was there: What do you estimate to
be the level of use in Canada, and what are the trends? What do you
estimate to be the level of dependency and the need for treatment and the
trends?

"The answer is that they don't know. They don't have surveys. They do not
have the data," Mr. Walters said.

"In our view of working policy, you don't make a major step that involves
these kinds of dangers without first telling the people what the danger is,
what the trends are and what the problems are."

Mr. Walters suggested that policymakers in Canada are naive to be persuaded
of marijuana's medical benefits.

"The claim that medical marijuana is an efficacious medicine is a lie.

"It is used by people who want to legalize marijuana, cynically."

He acknowledged that the United States is considering tighter border
security -- recently strengthened to handle terrorist threats -- if Canada
relaxes its antimarijuana laws.

"What happens in Canada as a sovereign nation -- as long as it stays in
Canada -- is Canada's business," Mr. Walters said.

"The problem today is that Canadian production of high-potency marijuana in
British Columbia is a major source of marijuana [in the United States] . .
. and it's spreading. Just like cocaine, shipped up from Mexico."

Mr. Walters repeatedly said that the U.S. prohibition on marijuana is based
on scientific evidence, and he attacked studies that suggest cannabis can
relieve symptoms of some illnesses.

He emphasized that U.S. scientists have done more research into the effects
of the drug than have their colleagues in Canada.

"We have the most powerful, successful and sophisticated medical
institutions in the history of humankind."

The news conference was Mr. Walters's only public appearance as he meets
with law-enforcement officials, government leaders and drug-prevention and
treatment advocates from both sides of the border.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth

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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 17:13:00 -0700
Subject: Nevada Considers Legalizing Pot Up TOC

Newshawk: Beth2
Pubdate: Sat, 14 Sep 2002
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2002 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact: letters@suntimes.com
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Brendan Riley

NEVADA CONSIDERS LEGALIZING POT

CARSON CITY, Nev.--In Nevada, they love gambling and tolerate prostitution.
Now they are talking about legalizing pot.

A measure on the ballot Nov. 5 would make Nevada the first state to allow
adults to possess marijuana--up to 3 ounces, enough for maybe 100 joints.

People over 21 would be allowed to smoke it in their homes but not in cars
or public places. Pot would be sold in state-licensed smoke shops and taxed
like cigarettes.

''This initiative will allow the police to spend more time going after
murderers, rapists and other violent criminals,'' said Billy Rogers, leader
of the group that is pushing the measure.

Whether it could actually take effect is unclear. Federal law bans
marijuana possession. Also, Nevada voters would have to approve the
proposal again in 2004 before it became law.

Nevada, home of the nation's gambling capital, has long had a fondness for
what others forbid. Although prostitution is banned in Las Vegas, Reno and
Carson City--and in 49 states--it is legal in 10 of Nevada's 17 counties.

Opinion polls on the marijuana measure show Nevadans almost evenly split.

''What message are we sending our youth if this initiative passes? That
it's OK to take drugs?'' said school counselor Teresa Jempsa. ''If
marijuana becomes legal, then what drug is next?''

But Jeff Oakes, a North Las Vegas resident, said he supports legalization.
"The most dangerous effect of marijuana possession and use is jail,'' he
said. AP
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart

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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 17:13:25 -0700
Subject: MA: Grass Roots Protesters To Rally For Legalized Pot Up TOC

Newshawk: Libertarians 1 - Drug Warriors 0 - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Sat, 14 Sep 2002
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2002 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact: letterstoeditor@bostonherald.com
Website: http://www.bostonherald.com/news.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Author: Laurel J. Sweet
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

GRASS ROOTS PROTESTERS TO RALLY FOR LEGALIZED POT

A smokin' time is guaranteed today when the 13th annual "Let Freedom Grow"
love-in for the legalization of marijuana lights up Boston Common.

In addition to bands and a hemp fashion show, the free six-hour pot pep
rally, starting at "high" noon, will feature scheduled appearances by Green
and Libertarian parties candidates for governor and U.S. Senate.

"The majority of Massachusetts people who go out and vote support the
decriminalization of marijuana," claims Bill Downing, president of the
Georgetown-based Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition.

For the record, "We don't encourage anyone to smoke marijuana," Downing
said yesterday.

"We just think responsible adults who smoke marijuana responsibly shouldn't
be penalized."

Boston police will be out in force on the Common grass.

Last year, about 23 revelers were busted on drug charges.

"The people who get busted are the ones who aren't careful," Downing said.
"They want to make a public demonstration of the lack of support for our
cause."

Support won't be too lacking.

As in years past, Downing said "tens of thousands" are expected to show up
today.
__________________________________________________________________________
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

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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 18:52:40 -0700
Subject: CA: Man Arraigned On Assault, Pot Charges Up TOC

Newshawk: MCAGiraffe
Pubdate: Sat, 14 Sep 2002
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Webpage:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/14/BA2423343.DTL
Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

MAN ARRAIGNED ON ASSAULT, POT CHARGES

SAN FRANCISCO - A suspected pot grower from Sebastopol was arraigned in
federal court Friday on two felony counts - assaulting a federal agent and
manufacturing and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

Robert Schmidt, 52, grew 3,454 marijuana plants in 10 plots on the land he
rented at 848 Martin Lane, according to the criminal complaint.

During an early morning raid Thursday, Schmidt allegedly grabbed the barrel
of a federal agent's automatic rifle and attempted to wrest it away.

He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and $4 million in fines on the
marijuana charge, and three years in prison and a $250,000 in fines on the
assault charge.

Schmidt has said he has a doctor's recommendation to use pot for medicinal
purposes, and that his caregiver nonprofit, Genesis 1:29, helps ill people.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk

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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 21:38:13 -0700
Subject: Medpot Advocates Plan Powerful Protests Up TOC 

via DdC 

Medpot Advocates Plan Powerful Protests
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14113.shtml

DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 2002
TIME: 3:00pm

ADDRESS:
Santa Cruz City Hall
809 Center Street
Santa Cruz, CA

 From http://www.wamm.org/

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer
"This is targeting people who consistent with California voters
direction are trying to provide medicine to people that are terminally
ill and in need of help. For the federal government to step on that it
just strikes me that they're a bunch of big bullies,"

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt
Called the DEA's actions "absolutely appalling" and praised WAMM as an
"extremely responsible collective; they have operated in a way that has
been exemplary. It is not reassuring to me to know that federal agents,
instead of concentrating on issues of national security, are running
around the mountains of Santa Cruz County disrupting the work of people
who provide a valuable medical resource to the community," she added.

U.S. Representative Sam Farr
Said the DEA should focus on more pressing woes, calling Thursday's
action "outrageous." "With all the difficult problems the world faces,
I find it hard to believe the DEA should further punish sick people,
most of whom are terminally ill, by arresting them and carting them off
to jail," Farr said in a statement. "This is truly outrageous."

"The DEA under the Bush administration has made it perfectly clear that
they don't care about the will of California voters, who think medical
marijuana should be available for people whose doctors believe they
would benefit from it," Attorney General Bill Lockyer's spokeswoman
Hallye Jordan said Thursday.

Santa Cruz Mayor Christopher Krohn
"We want to call attention to this issue. There was an injustice here
being done, and I think it's incumbent of the elected representatives
to stand up for their constituents and make a statement."

Santa Cruz City Attorney John Barisone
"The thought is, do they want to come and confront a 70-year-old woman
in a wheelchair?" He said. "The comments that council members are
getting from people on the street are along the line of, 'With all of
the things the DEA is responsible for, how did this get to No. 1 on the
'to do' list?' "

Deputy Kim Allyn of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department
Said the DEA never told his department about the raid. Deputies went
there after the fact only to keep the peace between protesters and DEA
agents, he said: "Our concern is to make sure nobody gets hurt."

The department has a marijuana enforcement team targeting illegal
trafficking, Allen said, but meets regularly with the Corrals and had
deemed WAMM in compliance with -- and protected by -- state law.

Santa Cruz City Councilman Mark Primack
"we are expressing what we feel to be the entire community's outrage
and our support for those who are struggling to make this program work.
"

Vice Mayor of Santa Cruz, Emily Reilly "It's just absolutely loathsome
to me that federal money, energy and staff time would be used to harass
people like this,"

Santa Cruz Pot Ordinance Allows Medical Marijuana
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5221.shtml

"I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and
as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."
- -- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787"

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain
occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. It will often be
exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I
like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the
Atmosphere.
- -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Abigail Adams, 1787

Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the
law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes
at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim -- when he
defends himself -- as a criminal.
- -- Frederic Bastiat, "The Law"

Peace, Love and Liberty or the Merchants of D.E.A.th!
DdC

Stop Maintaining Dysfunction!
http://www.angelfire.com/ca7/ddc/DEAth.html

JC or DC?
http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/politics/media/40/40295.gif

=====
Safe Sacramental Cannabis, Food, Fuel, Fiber, FARM-aceuticals
Hardrug, Booze & Petro-Chem Alternative
Eliminated by Legislation and Administrated Education Depravation!
Welcome
http://www.angelfire.com/ca7/ddc/index.html



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/

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 21:40:37 -0700
Subject: Canada: One Toke Over The Line Up TOC

Newshawk: CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap)
Pubdate: Thu, 12 Sep 2002
Source: Prince George Free Press (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 BC Newspaper Group
Contact: editor@pgfreepress.com
Website: http://www.pgfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2135

ONE TOKE OVER THE LINE

As Canadian society and our federal government march inexorably towards the
decriminalization of cannabis, there remain a few hurdles to be cleared.
Amongst these is the fear that the moment that pot is decriminalized our
otherwise upstanding and law-abiding pillars of the community will rush
out, buy a big bag of dope, and proceed to fire up the old chainsaw and go
on a rampage.

Showing their usual aplomb for judging the opinions of the Canadian people,
the Canadian Alliance Party, and in particular its new leader Stephen
Harper have characteristically brought nothing of value to the debate.

Harper's clinging to the notion that pot is somehow worse than alcohol is
simply irrelevant and completely contrary to the Senate's recommendation.
His stance flies in the face of the Senate's report on decriminalization
and ignores one key point: legalizing cannabis and thereby bringing it
under some kind of government control would be a positive step towards
keeping it out of our schools and away from our children.

Some of those who would have cannabis remain illegal have suggested that
legal cannabis use is increased cannabis use. The logic of that claim is
not readily apparent. Legal or not, cannabis is everywhere. It seems more
likely that those predisposed to use the drug recreationally have had the
chance to do so and the feared rush to the local Marijauna Distribution
Branch outlet at the mall will just not materialize.

The precurser to this geologic shift in political opinion occured nearly
thirty years ago when Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau responded ever
so coyly when asked if he had ever tried 'it'.

It was, after all, just a matter of time before even a staid and often
stodgy group like our Senate would have to come to this point. The "We are
stardust. We are golden" generation has come home to roost. The only
difference is that in the new millenium they are not wearing flowers in
their hair, beads around their necks, tie-died T-shirts and driving VWs.
They are now wearing three piece suits, driving Mercedes SUVs and are
captains of industry and pillars of their communities.

But they still have a pack of Zig Zags in the glove compartment.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex

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 #192
********************************