Canada scraps plan to decriminalize marijuana use

[Radio_Guy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060403/wl_nm/marijuana_dc_4

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's new Conservative government will scrap draft legislation which would have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday.

The legislation, drawn up by the previous Liberal government, alarmed police officials in Canada and the neighboring United States who said it would only encourage the already booming trade in pot.

Under the Liberal bill, people found with small amounts of marijuana would have been fined but would not have received a criminal record.

Estimates for the value of Canada's booming pot business trade vary widely and some experts say it is worth C$10 billion ($8.5 billion) a year. The main center is the Pacific province of British Columbia, where criminals export potent marijuana, known as BC Bud, to the United States.

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Another step backward. Decriminalize and tax it. That will help bring in all kinds of money for schools, healthcare, etc.

[Wickerman]

1. one more sign that Conservatism sucks n/t

[Benhurst]

2. Way to go, Canada.

Going, going, gone.

How sad!

[pbca]

3. Only temporarily

Because Harper (who's government was elected with just over 30% support) is a moron. The other 3 parties are all for decriminilization and the Supreme Court of Canada has already declared the current laws unconstitutional, so there really is no way around it. It's been delayed but not abandoned.

[Vincardog]

5. Good do you need any help on the domestic production end?

[pbca]

6. lol...well if you head up to BC

I'm sure you can find work there, with it still being illegal you won't even need a work permit and, although it's against the law, it's probably the biggest industry in the province so it's not exactly a taboo subject.

[BlueManDude]

10. Except the NDP will always help elect the Cons. Truth hurts.

you guys think you've got a temporary situation up there but you've let the camel get his nose under the tent and getting him out won't be easy.

but hey - you made a stand on principle right?

[pbca]

12. Different strokes I guess

Here we have a multi-party system: The Conservatives, the Liberals, the NDP, the Bloc and now the Greens (plus about 100 marginal parties). Here you don't vote for the lesser of two evils. You vote for someone you actually support. So, you could just as easily say the Liberals help the Conservatives get elected, or the NDP helped the Liberal get elected the last time or whatever - someone invariably says all of those things but it's really all hogwash. If the Liberals hadn't boched things so badly, they'd probably still be in office so they've only themselves to blame.

[theobscure]

14. I hate the fact that Harper's election will be used in the U.S. by

people, mostly liberals and progressives unfortunately, to bolster the corrupt, undemocratic two party system that has this country on the brink of catastrophic collapse. The sad irony is that liberal and progressive "Democrats" have the most to gain by reforming our election laws to break up the duopoly.

[BlueManDude]

15. Suit yourself but

I think progressive Canadians are kidding themselves if they think that it's OK to have the Cons in power for a while b/c they'll be thrown out soon. I'm not sure Canadians are any less suceptible to religious right hocum (Ralph Reed was nosing his away aroundthe north country last election) or RW media dominance (isn't Fox now infilitrating up there?).

You guys may look back at the Martin years with fondness.

Beyond that i just don't trust Mr Layton. He has the air of the huckster about him.

[u4ic]

4. Well, it's all that really matters, doesn't it?

That and gay people marrying each other.

Poverty, the environment, health care, national daycare...piffle. :eyes:

[Logiola]

7. can this not be brought up on an opposition day? and still be passed?

[kenny blankenship]

8. You can't have a police state

without lots of little laws to catch the bulk of the population with.
There are two only good states as far as cops are concerned.

1) Nobody is doing illegal stuff routinely. Expectations on law enforcement are low and so are staff and budgets. Laws are few. Crime is rare. Police snooze around the jailhouse in chairs with their hats tipped down over their eyes--Mayberry, RFD. Friction within the community rarely rises to involve the police.

2) Crime is omnipresent. Every car stop can turn up something. Everyone who might fall in the clutches of the police has some incriminating evidence in some form, and thus can be turned into an informant against their friends. Laws are multiplied with bewildering profusion. Drugs, morals, finances--almost everyone is guilty of something. Law enforcement is officially called on to turn back the tides and stop the Sun in its course. Accordingly, police have sweeping powers and gigantic staffs and budgets and constantly run from one critical mission to another. Things are out of control in every sense--it's Gotham City. It's NYC as seen in The French Connection. Wherever a policeman turns there is work for him: he can do anything, yet he's powerless to improve the situation. Wherever he turns he sees the enemy.

The more Canada follows the United States in its legal code and police practices, the more it will resemble the U.S. over time with respect to the type and violence of crime occurring there.

[Lisa]

9. I'm just visualizing a BC Marijuana Control Board store ...

That is, if they use the same model for selling pot as they do for other intoxicants. It would be a drab-looking place in a strip mall, staffed by resigned-looking clerks who will stuff your purchases into a paper bag for you. There will be no excitement or glamour at all to buying weed! (This might be just the right thing, since it would turn off anybody who mainly wanted to smoke because it was "naughty".) Not so much run-down as reminiscent of the place where you get your driver's license renewed.

In BC, one of the first thing US visitors comment on is how few places sell hard liquor -- until recently, the only stores that had racks of booze were run by an arm of the government. I remember being astounded when I visited Oakland and saw what seemed like a streetful of places advertising tequila, etc., in their front windows. When I was growing up in Ontario, the only way to get beer, wine, or rye etc. was to purchase it at the LLCBO store (usually one store per 100,000 people or so). Quebec was thought to be daring and exotic because you could buy beer or wine in corner stores there -- so of course the high-schoolers would scheme about driving all night to get to Hull or wherever, so they could get something to drink. In the couple of decades since, a lot of provincial governments have privatized their booze shops and allowed broader distribution of beer and wine -- but I swear that the decor and selection in the government stores has not changed during that time!

http://www.bcliquorstores.com/en/about

[underpants]

11. LOL way to set your priorities

Is pot really the number 1 problem?? Really?

[u4ic]

13. Ask BushCo

Harpie's 'idols'.

Terrorism is #1, but damnit the Tim Horton's incident wasn't one...so pot will have to suffice for now. :eyes:

[Harper_is_Bush]

16. Fuck 'em. Cops let the small amounts go usually anyway.

It's stupid to waste justice system money on small amounts of MJ.

Harper knows we're already there, it's inevitable now. The nation realizes the intelligence of decriminalizing...the debate is over.
He's just sucking Bush dick with this issue.

[CHIMO]

18. Police crack down on marijuana users

Brian Fitzpatrick has openly used marijuana for years to control his epilepsy, and police have never bothered him.

All that has changed.

Police forces across the GTA, taking their cue from the new federal Conservative government, are again cracking down on the simple possession of marijuana.

York University law professor Alan Young says such pot busts have increased over the past months, with word that the Conservative government won't resurrect Liberal efforts to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144015810771&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

[Harper_is_Bush]

19. I don't buy it.

They've always gone after grow-ops, so that part is not new.

As for the rest, a few anecdotes out of the "greater Toronto area" is hard to put much faith in. In general, I doubt most cops are going to treat small amounts differently than before.

I have no way of demonstrating this, but my gut tells me that's the case. I know a couple of cops, but that doesn't count for much.

[CHIMO]

20. Police cheer PM's tough talk

OTTAWA — Stephen Harper is winning plaudits from police for promising to lock up violent criminals and throw away the key — and drawing fire for a pledge to abolish the federal long-gun registry.

Harper, in a speech Monday to the Canadian Professional Police Association, reiterated Conservative campaign vows to bring in tougher sentences for gun crimes and drug offences.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144058692387&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467



The guy on the left is the one who just happened to put the guy on the right in power or vice versa.

[Harper_is_Bush]

22. Not related to the MJ issue really.

[HuffleClaw]

17. no surprise, but its futile in any case

once he's out of power it'll come back, and likely in a better form. harper and his minions are gonna end up doing what mulroney did to the conservative party, render it powerless for a decade or so. this ham-handed approach to things is making the rank and file of his party get pretty uptight. this is NOT the canadian way and they know it. many are downright appalled by this neocon toadying to bush/american interests as well.

[stepnw1f]

21. Conservatism or Fanaticism?

just asking...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

23. Wow, I thought it was already decriminalized.

When I was in Montreal for New Years, I saw people advertising it with signs on the street. We found some no problem and we smoked it openly (with some Canadians we befriended). Cops were around, but no one bothered us.