Women Will End Prohibition (Again!)

For anyone who didn't get a chance to watch "Prohibition" - the phenomenal 3 part documentary by Ken Burns and Kim Novick - you're in luck! PBS has gone all out and created an absolutely amazing web experience worthy of sharing so go check it out, and tell your friends!

Watch Women of PROHIBITION Pauline Sabin on PBS. (Click text if video is not displaying) See more from Ken Burns.

NORML reports: "In May 1929, Pauline Sabin founded the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). It was a platform for women who were demanding the repeal of the 18th amendment forbidding the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Known as the Sabin women, the leadership of the WONPR consisted primarily of the nonpartisan wives of leaders of American industry. In a little over a year, almost 1.5 million Sabin Women were publicly calling for an end to prohibition-inspired violence and political malfeasance related to the illegal production of alcohol." ~

The parallels between The Noble Experiment and The War on Drugs are glaringly apparent. The NORML Women's Alliance of Canada has been chosen* to lead Toronto's 2012 Global Marijuana March and would like to bring attention to the obvious by dressing in attire reminiscent of the 1920's and 30's prohibition era. Women were paramount to the success of repealing Alcohol Prohibition, and we are going to do it again regarding the Prohibition of Marijuana! It's time.

Jodie Emery is one of the strongest leaders in the cannabis legalization movement. Wife to imprisoned activist Marc Emery, Jodie has become a voice to be reckoned with in her own right. Mrs. Emery will also be at the front leading the Global Marijuana March alongside the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada.

*****

Follow the NORML Women's Alliance on Twitter: NORMLWomen'sAlliance - @NORML_CWA Join and "LIKE" the new Facebook Page for the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada. * - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - APRIL 27, 2012 The NORML Women’s Alliance of Canada Leads The 14th Global Marijuana March The NORML Women’s Alliance of Canada is pleased to announce we have been chosen to lead the 14th Toronto Global Marijuana March (GMM) throughout the city on Saturday, May 5, 2012. The GMM takes place annually in over 100 cities across the globe and will attract upwards of 20,000 cannabis enthusiasts and anti-prohibitionists to downtown Toronto alone. We believe that women will once again be a successful, driving force towards ending prohibition. In the spirit of the day the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada has chosen to honour those women who bravely campaigned for an end to alcohol prohibition in the 1920s and ‘30s by dressing in attire reminiscent of this era. The peaceful protest will assemble at 11 a.m. and launch at 12 p.m., north of Queen's Park North at Charles Street. It will traverse north to Bloor Street, east to Yonge Street, south to Gerrard Street and east to Church Street. After the march, the crowd will disperse to several marijuana-friendly events across the city. Members of the NORML Women's Alliance of Canada are mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, and caregivers of this nation. We are calling on the Canadian Government to end cannabis prohibition, re-prioritize spending to focus on our families, education, health care and a mandate to protect Canadians from being damaged any further by this harmful, tried and failed government policy. The NORML Women’s Alliance of Canada is a non-partisan coalition of socially and geographically diverse women from coast to coast to coast who believe that marijuana prohibition is a destructive and hypocritical policy that undermines the Canadian people, sends a mixed and false message to our youth, and destroys the cherished principles of personal liberty, freedom and sovereignty belonging to all Canadians. NORML Women’s Alliance of Canada

1990 Flashback - Drug Problems in Perspective

This article "Drug problems in perspective" is from June 1990. Alas, here we are almost twenty years later, still spending billions of tax payer dollars fighting an unwinnable War on (people who choose to use certain) Drugs.

"Drug use "endemic" (ingrained) rather than epidemic."

Cannabis is a plant that has been used by humans for medicine, religion, food, fiber, paper, fuel and gasp! recreation, for thousands and thousands of years. Just because our government bans its use doesn't make it magically disappear, we learned that valuable lesson already from the failed prohibition of alcohol. We have NEVER been a drug free species and never will be the Utopian drug free society our politicians insanely demand of us. When will the Canadian government realize that they can't legislate human behavior?

"Clearly, rumours of a Canadian drug epidemic overstate the situation, creating a hysterical "war-on-drugs" mentality."
Read the whole article here.

Utopia ~ \yu̇-ˈtō-pē-ə\

1 : an imaginary and indefinitely remote place

2 often capitalized : a place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions

3 : an impractical scheme for social improvement

What's next? Caffeine?



UPDATE: Read my post: How Cannabis Works

Embrace the Truth - Save the World: In Honour of Jack Herer

The Americans came and stole our Hemp, so we went and burnt their White House down.
Along with watching these videos, please also take the time to read this wonderful article: "Is the oldest plant known to man future-proof too?" and share it with everyone you know. This information should be common knowledge. Our existence as a species depends on the masses finding out the truth about Hemp, creating a massive global effort demanding that world governments step out of the past to nourish our countries and our planet. Embrace the truth, share the truth - save the world. We simply cannot fail future generations to come.

"We'd never have to cut down another tree."
~ Jack Herer, the Emperor of Hemp

Update: Thursday April 15th, 2010 -
With overwhelming sadness I write that the world has lost a great man today, a man of truth and integrity. Salem-News reports The Hemperor, Jack Herer has Died: "The sad news has been confirmed. Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes and renowned around the world for hemp activism, has died at 11:17 a.m. today, in Eugene, Oregon." Throughout the day more websites also passed on the sad news.
Dear Jack, Thank You for everything you have given us and for gracing us with your knowledge and spirit. You will always be a Hero in my eyes, a true inspiration, the very definition of a Freedom Fighter and Man of Justice. You have left an incredible everlasting Legacy and what you started we shall carry on, you will live on, a light and inspiration to the Earth and All Humanity. Rest in Peace Jack, you will be greatly missed!
What You Can Do
Get out your pen and paper Ladies and Gents, while sharing things on the internet about Cannabis/Hemp Prohibition is awesome, what our Members of Parliament and Congress really pay attention to are handwritten letters from VOTERS. For every 1 letter they receive, they consider that the opinion of 100 people!
420 is next week, Earth Day is April 22nd. and the Global Marijuana March is on Saturday May 1st - gather as many people as you can to attend the events in your area to let our politicians know that we are not giving up - let us all reaffirm, we shall honour Jack by continuing his valiant fight for true freedom with even more conviction than ever before. In his name we will bring an end to the insanity of Hemp and Cannabis Prohibition! All Hail The Hemperor!

This is Your Country on Drugs

Interview with Ryan Grim, senior congressional correspondent for the Huffington Post and author of the new book, "This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America".

Prohibition = EPIC FAIL

Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can't stop what it's meant to stop.
We like it.
It's left a trail of graft and slime,
It don't prohibit worth a dime.
It's filled our land with vice and crime,
Nevertheless, we're for it.

~ Newspaperman Franklin P. Adams, 1931,
in the New York World

The following is an e-mail I sent to Canadian Senators regarding Prohibition and Bill C-15.

Dear Senators,

I know you are off on Summer Break, but I just came across this and it is honestly the most well written article regarding Prohibition that I have ever read and I wanted to share it with you.

While the following is an open letter written for US politicians, I believe it echoes the position of many Canadians as well.

If Bill C-15 passes we will surely travel down the same doomed road our neighbours to the south have. I love Canada, I am proud to be Canadian, but I am appalled at the measures that Canadian politicians have placed upon the Canadian People under the guise of "being tough on crime" and "protecting us from ourselves".

Canada is a beautiful, strong country. I believe we should be World Leaders and adopt Common Sense Drug Policy - wherein we recognize that drugs are indeed a part of Humanity, they have been for thousands of years, and Canadians would be safer living in a land that controls and regulates the sale of drugs to adults. Leaving drugs to be sold by gangs and cartels will endanger Canadians further when prohibition related crime and violence escalates - and it will escalate - one need only look to the bloodshed happening every day in Mexico and Columbia.

As a Mom I implore you to help make Canada safer for my kids. I just can't bare the thought of my boys growing up in our fair land under a regime of political tyranny, afraid of the government and fearful of police, and even more afraid of being caught in the crossfire of a gangland turf war, becoming victims of prohibition created violence.

Canadians deserve better of our government, and as a Senator you have the power to represent all Canadians and our desire to peacefully live in one of the greatest countries in the world. As long as we live under the laws of Prohibition, we can never claim to live free. Please stand up for us. Stand for justice. Stand up for Canada, stand up for Freedom.

Sincerely,

Mrs........


Submitted by BuzzFlash on Mon, 07/06/2009 - 8:14am.

* Guest Contribution

BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
By Carmen Yarrusso

Dear honorable representatives of the American people:

The so-called "drug war" is a blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, grossly unjust, abject failure of our government.

Despite 30 years and more than a trillion (a million times a million!!!) dollars of taxpayer money spent trying to stop -- not robbery, not rape, not murder, not even shoplifting -- but trying to stop adults from using certain arbitrarily banned drugs, despite draconian punishments, despite currently jailing 500,000 non-violent American citizens, despite tens of thousands of prohibition related murders, these drugs are cheaper, purer, and more readily available than ever.

Why do you allow this insanity to continue?

How many more taxpayer billions must we waste, how many more thousands of productive Americans must we lock up, how many more thousands of human beings must die in drug war violence before you honorable representatives of the American people put an end to this foolish, futile carnage?

When will you find the courage to openly admit that drug prohibition (just like alcohol prohibition) is guaranteed to be counterproductive, guaranteed to be extremely violent, guaranteed to be perpetually futile, and guaranteed to leave a wide swath of human suffering and death in its wake?

When will you find the courage to tell the truth about drug prohibition?

Prohibition Truth Number One

The "drug war" is not a war against drugs -- quite the contrary -- it's a war for drugs. It strongly encourages both production and distribution of prohibited drugs by guaranteeing extremely high profits for everyone involved. Does it make any sense to believe a government policy that guarantees massive profits for any activity could possibly result in less of that activity?

Let's be very clear: the "drug" war is a war against living, breathing human beings, not drugs. Drugs are merely the dishonest excuse for an extremely profitable, ruthless enterprise, the victims of which are real people.

The violence in Mexico, where more than 6,000 have been murdered in just one year, where bodies are often mutilated and beheaded, is NOT the result of America's demand for prohibited drugs (as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has implied). Not at all. That demand, such as our demand for alcohol and nicotine, could easily be satisfied without any violence.

The thousands of murders in Mexico (and thousands more in this country) each year are the direct result of drug prohibition itself. When alcohol was prohibited, the murder rate in America skyrocketed, when Prohibition ended, the murder rate rapidly declined. When's the last time you heard of a murder during an alcohol deal gone bad?

How can you honorable representatives of the American people justify arresting and jailing hundreds of thousands, the killing of thousands more each year, and the squandering of billions in taxpayer money (most of it) on a guaranteed-futile attempt to stop adults from using marijuana?

When will you find the courage to tell the truth about drug prohibition?

Prohibition Truth Number Two

This patently wasteful and highly destructive war against human beings continues unabated because the various special interests that profit greatly from prohibition have sufficient control over you, the honorable representatives of the American people.

These special interests are well aware they would lose billions in profits if you were to find the courage to end prohibition, again.

If prohibition were to end again, the illegal drug industry (cartels, dealers) would lose billions. Industries spawned by prohibition (drug testing, incarceration) would also lose big money. But the most significant special interest group that would lose billions if prohibition ended again, the special interest group with by far the most political power, is our own government.

Prohibition has become an extremely lucrative, institutionalized part of our government. At least 50 government agencies profit greatly from this war against real human beings. Millions more taxpayer dollars are spent on patently deceitful propaganda to keep fooling Americans about prohibition and to keep taxpayer billions flowing to these agencies.

These government agencies are quite literally addicted to drug money. They're hooked on the taxpayer billions they waste each year as they pretend to fight an enemy created and sustained by prohibition itself.

When will you find the courage to tell the truth about drug prohibition?

Arguments against prohibition

Any one of the following arguments should be sufficient to convince reasonable people that prohibition is an egregiously immoral policy.

Argument 1) Prohibition is blatant government fraud -- guaranteed to fail

Prohibition pretends to fight drugs. In fact, it guarantees massive profits to anyone in the world who can produce and deliver prohibited drugs to our streets. It pretends to regulate drugs. In fact it completely abandons regulation. It pretends jailing drug dealers is "fighting drugs." In fact this just creates lucrative job openings for more efficient, more ruthless, eager replacements.

It pretends intercepting large quantities of illegal drugs is "winning the war." In fact only a small percentage of drugs are intercepted and those seized are easily and cheaply replaced. Prohibition pretends to be protecting us from "dangerous drugs" (such as marijuana) while legal nicotine and alcohol kill 500,000 Americans each year.

Prohibition is a massive government fraud. It creates, sustains, and handsomely rewards the illegal drug industry while pretending to fight that very same industry. Like the classic mafia "protection racket," our government creates a perpetual problem and then charges us big money to "protect" us from it.

Argument 2) Prohibition violates our most basic human right

Prohibition denies us the right of sovereignty over our own bodies and gives this power to our government. Does any other human right make sense if we don't have sovereignty over our own bodies? There's a word for people who don't have sovereignty over their own bodies: slaves.

Prohibition declares our master (the government) has ultimate control over what we individuals can and cannot put into our own bodies. Should we disobey our master, and trust our own minds, we can be punished -- often very severely.

If we find using marijuana as medicine eases our suffering, we must get down on our knees and beg our owners at the state level to get permission to put this medicine into our government-owned bodies. But even if we get permission, our slave master, the federal government, can still put us in chains.

Prohibition is overt government tyranny.

Argument 3) There's no moral justification to criminalize any drug use

The most insidious and evil aspect of the "drug war" is it manufactures its own enemies by simply criminalizing our most basic human right -- the right of sovereignty over our own bodies.

Prohibition could not exist without our government inventing a bogus crime.

The use of drugs (even dangerous drugs such as alcohol and nicotine) simply doesn't meet any reasonable moral definition of "crime." Real crime requires action that harms another. Real crime requires both a victim and a perpetrator.

Even if the act of ingesting certain drugs were somehow a crime, we can't commit a crime against ourselves. Just as it's not criminal to stab ourselves, or to rob ourselves, we can't be criminals for merely putting something into our own bodies. Only a corrupt, depraved government could invent a crime we commit against ourselves.

Living, breathing human beings are being taken from their loved ones and locked up for a "crime" created out of thin air by our government.

Prohibition is overt government tyranny.

Argument 4) Users of illegal drugs are not debased human beings

Human beings in all cultures throughout history have regularly altered their minds with a wide variety of drugs. Drug use is hardly an isolated anomaly -- it may even be part of human nature. Billions around the world derive positive benefits from mind-altering drugs (especially from alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and marijuana).

Many respected, productive people, including many of you honorable members of Congress, are (or were) regular users of illegal drugs. Many of you are regular "users" of alcohol or nicotine. Demonizing and criminalizing some drugs, while approving others, without rational criteria, is patently arbitrary and deceitful.

Just as the vast majority of alcohol users consider their drug of choice a positive part of their lives, the vast majority of illegal drug users consider their drug of choice a positive part of their lives. No matter what their drug of choice, we should show compassion and help those with problems. They need treatment, not prison. We don't put alcoholics in jail.

Why are "drug dealers" condemned for "pushing poison" or "ruining lives," but alcohol and nicotine dealers aren't?

Propaganda generated by our government (and other special interests that profit greatly from prohibition) necessarily demonizes those who use prohibited drugs. It's fine to have a few beers at the ball game, or smoke cigarettes to get a mental boost, but if you relax with a joint, you're a low-life "drug user" or "druggie." It's then a small propaganda step from "druggie" to "criminal."

Yet more prohibition insanity

The "drug war" also causes considerable collateral damage. Promising research on medical uses for marijuana and LSD has been forbidden or forfeited to other countries. An entire industry, hemp production, was eliminated.

Medical marijuana research

To protect their drug money, special interests within our government have dishonestly thwarted legitimate medical marijuana research for decades.

Marijuana has been used as medicine in many cultures throughout history. It's been shown to be effective treating a variety of ailments. Recent studies have identified cannabinoid receptors in many parts of the human body, including areas outside the brain that control vital bodily functions. This suggests there may be multiple medical uses for marijuana yet undiscovered.

But pretending to stop adults from using marijuana is much more profitable to our government than medical marijuana research.

Hemp

Prohibition also bans hemp, once a mainstay of the American agricultural economy. Hemp, "nature's perfect plant," could bring a bonanza to American farmers, greatly reduce America's dependence on fossil fuels, and thus help mitigate global warming and climate change.

This environmentally friendly plant grows without herbicides, nourishes the soil, matures quickly, and provides high yields. Hemp is the number one biomass producer in the world -- 10 tons per acre in four months! It could be an excellent fuel-producing crop.

Hemp can be made into paper, paneling, injection-molded plastics, clothing, and thousands of other useful products. The highly nutritious seeds can be used to make flour, cooking oil, and even cattle feed.

But pretending to stop adults from using marijuana is much more profitable to our government than easing global warming.

Conclusion

Supporting a government policy guaranteed to both fail and cause vast human suffering is egregiously immoral.

Prohibition is a deep, self-inflicted wound on humanity. Arbitrarily punishing users of certain politically incorrect drugs is just plain cruel. Severely punishing those who produce and deliver illegal drugs is like dangling meat in front of starving dogs and then beating them unmercifully when they disobey your command and lunge for the meat.

Prohibition guarantees lucrative jobs for desperate people all along the chain of production and distribution. Most are motivated by survival not greed. Rampant corruption of foreign governments (e.g., Mexico, Colombia, Afghanistan) is driven by massive drug profits -- human life and human rights are secondary.

Yes, if prohibition ended again, many businesses would fail. Many government agencies would lose billions. Tens of thousands of decent Americans would lose their government jobs. But that's no reason to continue this insane war against our fellow human beings for even one more day.

Even if one accepted all the positive claims of prohibitionists, the benefits don't come close to outweighing the massive costs in cash and human suffering. For what? Most of the drug war billions are spent trying to stop adults from using marijuana.

The best interests of the American people would be better served by treating drug users who need help instead of spending billions arresting and jailing them. Treatment could be totally financed by taxing and regulating these drugs.

We, the undersigned, demand that you uphold your moral duty to represent the best interests of the American people. We hereby demand you honorable ladies and gentlemen use the power we have entrusted in you to peacefully end the blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, futile-by-design, government tyranny know as the "drug war."

Humanity has suffered long enough.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/2009

Thank You, Carmen, for writing this wonderful, powerful, letter. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart! ~MaryJane

Canadian Senator Larry Campbell

Tree of Life

Tree Of Life
Words and Music by Human

I wanna tell y’all a little bit about a plant I know that can save the world.
It grows long and tall and has flowers that can make your mind swirl.
It’s a sacred plant with a fiber that is resistant to rain and mold.
It’s the strongest plant fiber known to man, the best rope you’ll ever hold.

Now the pioneers covered up their wagon train with a canvas made of hemp
Washington and Jefferson grew it on their farms and said to make the most of it.
The first stars and stripes were made on hemp the first constitution too.
Its used around the world for fuel fiber oil medicine and food.

If you press its seeds you wont have no need for any other oil,
You can make paints and inks or run your car, grow it back next season it’ll fix the soil.
The most nutritious seed you can put in your mouth with Omega 6 and 3
We can feed the world with the tree of life and live sustainably.

Chorus:
If we cut down all the trees, then we won’t have no air to breath,
Grow a field of hemp instead, you can make your paper, build your house from it. The Goddess plant growing wild and free, livin’ the way we oughta be, gone leave my children a better world than my ancestors left me.

The flowers of the female hemp plant make the best medicines on Earth,
Helps cancer and AIDS patients eat their food, helps those with depression overcome the blues,
Glaucoma, Epilepsy, Nausia, Insomnia, Stress, Neurosis, Psychosis, Pain PMS
All the studies have been done all the doctors agree, but the corporations can’t make money off this plant you see, because its free, it grows from a seed, wild and free like we oughta be.
The future is growin in our backyards.

Chorus

In this modern world we seem to lack a little spirituality,
This one plant can bring us back 10.000 years in history.
To the Shiva Parahanas, The Jesus The Christ, to Buddah, The Pagans, The Goddess, The Light. To commune with all the animals, commune with all the trees, to realize the god I seek is inside me.
Yeah the futures in our hands, we’ve gotta take care of the Earth.
Because the Earth is the mother that gives life birth.
We can end all our pollution with a single green plant and we can start right now, start right now.

Chorus

So you see in this modern day and age, living in the lap of luxury,
There is really only one plant we need to harvest for almost everything.
We can run our cars on clean hempseed oil, run our generators too.
Stop! Wow I can’t believe hemp has so many uses! I say three cheers for Hemp: Hemp hemp Hooray! Hemp Hemp Hooray! Hemp Hemp hooray!

Chorus

From The Human Revolution website:

"Based on the rocky Mendocino Coast of Northern California, The Human Revolution performs all original music in a style they call “mystic country rock,” their live performances with the full band feature rocking guitars, funky fiddle playing, a solid rhythm section, and reality-based lyrics with a message. The band travels on E-85 ethanol, biodiesel or SVO (straight-veggie oil) whenever possible, and their CDs and merchandise are manufactured as ecologically as is commercially available.

The core of The Human Revolution’s sound is Human, the energetic, singer-songwriter and front man weaned in the Appalachian region of the U.S. on lead vocals, harmonica and rhythm guitar."


Check out The Human Revolution where you can listen to more of their music, find out where they are playing and order their CD's, including their newest release: "The Love Revolution".


To find out more about Hemp, our Tree of Life, please visit Jack Herer's website - learn from the best!

Canada has finally re-legalized Hemp as of March 1, 1998, wherein farmers can officially apply for licenses to grow and process Hemp. Alas, there is still much work to be done - Hemp needs to be utilized and embraced the world over - for the sake of our environment, and the long term survival of The Human Race.


Hemp use in the UK

The Philosophy of Liberty

A very important video that everyone should watch. Pass it on and share with others.

**********

"I, as a responsible adult human being, will never concede the power to anyone to regulate my choice of what I put into my body, or where I go with my mind. From the skin inwards is my jurisdiction, is it not? I choose what may or may not cross that border. Here I am the Customs Agent. I am the Coast guard. I am the sole legal and spiritual government of this territory, and only the laws I choose to enact within myself are applicable" ~ Alexander Shulgin PhD, Chemist and author, at the DPF Conference, November 1996

A Tale of Two Prohibitions

Am amazing short video showing the similarities between Alcohol and Cannabis Prohibition. Edited by Marijuana Man, music by the Tall Brothers.

I Am What I Am

A truly insightful article!

Popeye the pothead | Cannabis Culture Magazine

42.0 Cannabis History and Facts

Awesome! Pass It to The Left.

Marijuana (Weed) History and Facts

Posted using ShareThis

Those Who Forget History Are Doomed to Repeat It

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived,
but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
~ Maya Angelou

On what may be the eve before the passing of Bill C-15, I implore all party members to realize just what is lying in store for our nation if we duplicate the mistakes of our neighbours to the South.

Sen. James Webb, (D-Va.) is trying to change things, before they can possibly get any worse and has launched an ambitious new effort to reform U.S. prisons nationwide.

From Slate.com:

"Webb has no problem locking up the serious baddies. In fact, he wants to reform the justice system in part so that we can incapacitate the worst of the worst. But Webb wants us to recognize that warehousing the nation's mentally ill and drug addicts in crowded correctional facilities tends to create a mass of meaner, more violent, less employable people at the exits. And unlike Guantanamo, there are always going to be exits.

The Justice Department estimates that 16 percent of the adult inmates in American prisons—more than 350,000 of those incarcerated—suffer from mental illness; the percentage among juveniles is even higher. And 2007 Justice statistics showed that nearly 60 percent of the state prisoners serving time for a drug offense had no history of violence and four out of five drug arrests were for drug possession, not sales. Webb also reminds us that while drug use varies little by ethnic group in the United States, African-Americans—estimated at 14 percent of regular drug users—make up 56 percent of those in state prison for drug crimes. We know all of this. The question is how long we want to avoid dealing with it."


Should we not be learning from the failed policies of the Americans? Why is the Canadian government attempting to follow down this road of failure and misery?

One thing is for sure, those Members of Parliament who support the draconian bill will be publicized, and summarily voted out of office by Canadians when our country falls further down the rabbit hole.

The future consequences of Bill C-15...... welcome to The United States of Canada!

How Cannabis Works

"It all started with the Sea Squirt.... "






Update: March 13, 2010. Read the article: Are You Cannabis Deficient? My reply: It makes absolute perfect sense that one of the reasons there is so much disease and ill health in our world may be because we (our bodies) have been denied Cannabis/Hemp, (beginning in the 1910's, 20's and 30's) a plant that has been used by us literally since we have existed here on Earth. When you take away a necessity and generational mainstay for our health and well being, we suffer physically and emotionally as a species. We are wired to accept Cannabis!

UPDATE March 2011 ~ Read the awesomely informative article: Worth Repeating: Body's Own Cannabinoids Are The Bliss Within 

Yes they should, Philosoraptor, yes they should.....

Update: 4/20 2013 - Check it out; PBS has a great site for "The Botany of Desire"

"Cannabis—more commonly known as marijuana—seems to have long ago adopted a strategy of tying its fortunes to humans, appealing in particular to our innate desire to alter consciousness, a desire that spans nearly every culture and historical period. In exchange, humans have gone to extraordinary lengths, often at their own peril, to help the plant grow and reproduce."

Tories, Liberals, Ignoring the Facts

Why are the Conservatives and Liberals ignoring the facts? In my opinion most Canadians are unaware of Bill C-15 and what it means to their everyday lives. Crime affects every single one of us as we share this beautiful country, and this Bill is going to bring more harm to more Canadians in the guise of being "Tough on Crime".

CANNABIS :
OUR POSITION FOR A CANADIAN PUBLIC POLICY

REPORT OF THE SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ILLEGAL DRUGS
SUMMARY
Chairman: Pierre Claude Nolin
Deputy Chairman: Colin Kenny
SEPTEMBER 2002

While this is the Summary, I believe everyone should read it. You don't have to be a politician or a lawyer to understand:

Tolerance

Reduced response of an organism and increased capacity to support the effects of a substance after a more or less lengthy period of use. Tolerance levels are extremely variable between substances, and tolerance to cannabis is believed to be lower than for most other drugs, including tobacco and alcohol.

Toxicity

Characteristic of a substance which induces intoxication, i.e., “poisoning”. Many substances, including some common foods, have some level of toxicity. Cannabis presents almost no toxicity and cannot lead to an overdose.

Introduction

The Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs addressed the question of drugs just as everyone else does, with the same preconceptions, attitudes, fears and anxieties we all share. Of course, we had at our disposal the 1996 study our colleagues conducted on government legislation dealing with illegal drugs, which had enabled them to hear a number of witnesses over several months. We also knew at the outset that research expertise would be available to us, but it is still difficult to overcome attitudes and opinions that we have long taken for granted. Whether one is in favour of enhanced enforcement or, on the contrary, greater liberalization, opinions often resist the facts and in a field such as this the production of facts, even through scientific research, is not necessarily a neutral undertaking. We, like you, have our prejudices and preconceptions. Together we must make the effort to go beyond such predispositions. That is one of the objectives of this report.

The public policy regime we propose expresses the fundamental premise underlying our report: in a free and democratic society, which recognizes fundamentally but not exclusively the rule of law as the source of normative rules and in which government must promote autonomy as far as possible and therefore make only sparing use of the instruments of constraint, public policy on psychoactive substances must be structured around guiding principles respecting the life, health, security and rights and freedoms of individuals, who, naturally and legitimately, seek their own well-being and development and can recognize the presence, difference and equality of others.

We are aware, as much now as we were at the start of our work, that there is no pre-established consensus in Canadian society on public policy choices in the area of drugs. In fact, our research has shown us that there are few societies where there is a broadly shared consensus among the general public, let alone between the public and experts. We are well aware, perhaps more so than at the outset, that the question of illegal drugs, viewed from the standpoint of public policy, has a broad international context and that we cannot think or act in isolation. We know our proposals are provocative, that they will meet with resistance. However, we are also convinced that Canadian society has the maturity and openness to welcome an informed debate.

Further points throughout the Summary include:

Ø Cannabis itself is not a cause of other drug use. In this sense, we reject the gateway theory.

The relationship between cannabis use and delinquency and crime, based on research evidence, we concluded that:

Ø Cannabis itself is not a cause of delinquency and crime; and

Ø Cannabis is not a cause of violence.

Chapter 12 - The National Legislative Context

Drugs have been prohibited for fewer than a hundred years; cannabis for slightly more than 75 years. It is tempting to think that the decisions made over the years to use criminal law to fight the production and use of certain drugs are in keeping with social progress and the advancement of scientific knowledge about drugs. But is this really the case? The history of legislation governing illegal drugs in Canada, like the analysis in Chapter 19 of the structure of international conventions, suggests that it is highly doubtful. To what extent is such reasoning really rational? Is the rationale of the system of controls acceptable in the eyes of civil society, users as well as abstainers? What criteria motivated legislator decisions? Indeed, were there criteria? What motivated parliamentarians from Canada and elsewhere to prohibit certain substances, to control access to certain others, and to permit still others to be sold over the counter?

Knowing where we have been helps in understanding where we are going. That is the goal of this chapter, retracing the evolution of Canadian drug laws from 1908 to the present day. We have identified three legislative periods. The first, and longest, spans 1908 to 1960, the period of hysteria. We were told that drugs were made criminal because they are dangerous. Analysis of debates in Parliament and in media accounts clearly shows how far this is from truth. When cannabis was introduced in the legislation on narcotics in 1923, there was no debate, no justification, in fact many members did not even know what cannabis was.

The second period, much shorter, runs from 1961 to 1975, the search for lost reason. Following the explosion in drug use in the early 1960s and demands for reform from various sectors of society, governments appointed a commission of inquiry in Canada, the Le Dain Commission. Last comes the contemporary period at the beginning of the 1980s. Reform is not on the policy agenda any more and anti-drug policies have forged ahead.

In summary, we observed that:

Ø Early drug legislation was largely based on a moral panic, racist sentiment and a notorious absence of debate;

Ø Drug legislation often contained particularly severe provisions, such as reverse onus and cruel and unusual sentences; and

Ø The work of the Le Dain Commission laid the foundation for a more rational approach to illegal drug policy by attempting to rely on research data. The Le Dain Commission's work had no legislative outcome until 1996 in certain provisions of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, particularly with regard to cannabis.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.htm

~Pic Courtesy of Jeff Christen-Mitchell

Knowing this it's quite astonishing the Conservatives and Liberals are pushing Mandatory Minimum Sentencing. All so they can trumpet "We're tough on crime!"

When people hear the word "crime", they are most probably thinking of murder, rape, armed robbery.... not someone sparking a joint in the privacy of their own homes.

My argument to the Government of Canada is, after reading the full 2002 Senate Report, that using Cannabis should not be a crime in the first place.

Shame on any politician who votes in favour of Bill C-15. My only hope is that if it does pass, the Canadian people will wake up and revolt by voting every single one of you out of Parliament.




(note: Bolding is mine)

Canadians: Get Up! Stand Up!

"I want to start with a quote from a 35-year-old African American man talking about his drug use as a younger man. He said:

'You might just be bored, or alone. Everybody was welcome into the club of disaffection. If the high didn't solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world's ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism.'

That man called himself a junkie and a pothead. He said he was a confused teenager. He also went on to become the President of the United States, Barack Obama."

~ Professor Eugene Oscapella (Barrister and Solicitor, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Ottawa

Canadians, albeit slowly, are becoming more aware of the utter failure of the racist, greed filled War on Drugs and question draconian government policy regarding Cannabis.

From Canadian Senator Larry Cambell's Web Blog:

"According to recent crime statistics, it is estimated that the federal and provincial governments spend between $300 million and $500 million a year enforcing the law against simple possession of cannabis. Now maybe Canadians have become used to hearing about such amounts of money, but I know that a lot of communities, particularly those where our Aboriginal peoples reside, could make much better use of such funds.

It’s about time that we get over the stigma associated with many of the false assumptions that dominate this debate, and pragmatically move forward on eliminating pot prohibition. As someone who has both walked the streets as a member of the RCMP’s drug squad and examined legislation for passage into law as a Senator, I have a sharp understanding of what constitutes a criminal.

Those that use pot just don’t fit the profile."

The Americans have been telling us: Do not duplicate our failure!






Are you as a Canadian prepared to live in a society that will now be spending billions more in Cannabis enforcement? Do you think that your hard earned tax dollars should continue to be wasted in a war on people that will never, ever end? Are you willing to accept that with the passing of Bill C-15 (Update: now renamed Bill S-10 after prorogation by the Tories) Canada will no doubt end up like the United States, who consists of only 5% of the worlds population, but incarcerates 25% of their citizens?"

Canadians, please educate yourself on Bill S-10, which will enact mandatory minimum sentencing. If we continue down a path of incarceration instead of rehabilitation as the United States has erroneously done, it won't soon be long that Big Brother will have to build dozens more super jails to house all of us. And taxpayers will pay for it all. Please visit whyprohibition.ca for all of the information on this Bill, including a petition and where to write your Members of Parliament.

I warn you now though that Prohibition does affect you and your families' safety, you should be very concerned. Prohibition creates the black market, that market makes untaxed money, and lots of it. The "BC Bud" cash crop alone is estimated to make 7-12 Billion dollars a year for the Underground Economy. Organized crime and gangs need money to fund further illegal enterprises and buy weapons to carry their tasks out. So in fact, the very government prohibition is handing cartels and gangs their profits on a silver platter, and in the process exposing you and your family to living in a country that must endure more crime from increasingly violent territorial turf wars. Disputes are settled in the streets with guns, not the courts.

Sound Familiar? It should. It's exactly what happened during Alcohol Prohibition in the 1920's and 30's.


Innocent people get caught in gun crossfire. Innocent people are dying because we have a government that would rather be viewed as "tough on crime". But wouldn't you rather have a government that is smart about crime?

I'll say it again. As it stands cartels and gangs control the whole illicit drug industry, are making huge profits, and using the money from drug sales to fund other criminal enterprises that do cause harm to society.

Like Identity Theft. ((Update: (01/28/10) Because the Conservatives prorogued parliament on New Years Eve, a bill to address the growing problem of Identity Theft died. Check out Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament )

"From the Report to the Minister of Public Safety Canada and the Attorney General of the United States,October 2004

Identity theft refers to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's identifying information for the purpose of fraud or other criminal activity, typically for economic gain. The perpetrators of identity theft include members of organized criminal groups or networks, terrorists and individual criminals. Identity theft is usually done for economic gain but has also been used by terrorists to obtain cover employment, finance their activities and avoid detection when carrying out their attacks. Criminals also use identity theft to divert law enforcement focus away from the true perpetrators of crimes.

There are indications identity theft is growing rapidly, due in part to the Internet and modern technology. During a one-year period in 2002-2003, total losses to individuals and businesses related to identity theft in the United States were estimated at approximately US$53 billion. In Canada the losses for 2002 were estimated at approximately CAN$2.5 billion.

On the basis of available data, it appears that identity theft is likely to continue to grow substantially over the next decade and become increasingly important in cross-border criminality. It is expected to pose a threat to tens of millions of people and businesses in Canada and the United States unless law enforcement authorities and private-sector entities mount a vigorous and coordinated response to the problem."

So which is a bigger threat to you? Someone enjoying a joint in the privacy of their own home, or the growing chance that criminals are using their black market drug money to steal your money?

You don't have to advocate drug use. If you think that it's "wrong" to use a substance, it's your belief and you are free to hold it. But the next time you reach for a Tylenol for a headache or a Robaxacet for your bad back, remember that they are drugs too. In fact, drugs taken as prescribed in hospitals are the fourth leading cause of death in Canada – about 10,000 deaths a year. Perhaps another 10,000 are caused outside hospitals. Pharmaceuticals dominate our medical care to the point that we spend more on legal drugs (in 2005 prescription and Over the Counter amounted to $24 Billion) than we do on doctors ($18 Billion) while seriously injuring over 100,000 people a year in Canada, and over two million in the U.S.

Cannabis has never, in the history of all mankind, killed anyone.


"The "Gateway Theory" doesn't work.

The money saved from ending prohibition can be put towards education for children, health care, housing and community programs, and most importantly, funding for police efforts dealing with real crimes like murder, child and domestic abuse, paedophilia, child pornography, theft and so on. It is also much more cost effective to offer rehabilitation programs for hard drug users then it is to house them in jails, where they learn how to be - better criminals.

Of course there will still be rules. For example, no driving or using heavy machinery (just like it says on prescription medication bottles) after use. Proof of legal age for Cannabis purchase at regulated dispensaries would apply, similar to the sale of alcohol and cigarettes. This immediately eliminates the job of "Drug Dealer", and we all know they ask kids for ID, right? If anything, governments biggest argument that drugs can be dangerous is the smartest reason to control it.

Over 600,000 Canadians now have criminal records because they chose to use Cannabis. For the most part, these are otherwise law abiding, caring, socially productive individuals who have made a personal choice to use a naturally grown non-toxic plant.

Cannabis has been used by humans for thousands of years, we as a society should not sit idle when people who hurt no one else are filling prisons for profits. Legalizing will put cartels out of business and Canadians will no longer have to suffer the collateral damage that prohibition and the war on drugs causes.

Whether one chooses to use Cannabis, a natural plant, or not is a personal choice. Just as one can decide to have a beer watching a hockey game, a glass of wine after the kids are in bed, or start your morning off with a nice hot cup of coffee. The last time I checked I did not hand the federal government the authority to make that decision for me. I am an adult of sound mind and I have autonomy over my own body. Criminalizing people who choose to use an herb that has ZERO recorded deaths is outright ridiculous.

What I ingest is my business. What you ingest is your business. Not that of politicians and police. Alcohol, nicotine, prescription drugs, unhealthy eating, coffee, these all contribute to thousands of deaths in Canada every year, but we don't throw Alcoholics, sugar-fiends and drinkers of Timmie's Cafe Mochas in jail either. Too much junk and fast food can pack on the pounds - does this mean we should incarcerate obese people because they are harming themselves and costing society money in health care costs? Where does it end? How far will the government go in the name of "Keeping us safe from ourselves"? Ask yourself: "Just how free are we?"

This video is one everyone should see, and hopefully pass on. Barry Cooper, a highly ranked former DEA Agent who fought on the front lines of the War on Drugs speaks to students at the University of North Texas. The event was organized by the Texas chapters of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) April 5, 2007.

"Now what I contend is that my body is my own, at least I have always so regarded it. If I do harm through my experimenting with it, it is I who suffers, not the state."
- Mark Twain

Excerpts from:

The 19th meeting of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts.

Mr. Gord Perks (Councillor, Toronto City Council, and Chair, Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Plan):
Canada's prisons and criminal justice system do not have enough capacity at present. Prisons are overcrowded and courts are congested. In reality, it is the provinces and territories that will feel much of the financial impact of this legislation, as many of the mandatory sentence terms will be less than two years. However, there is only one taxpayer, and Canadians will pay the increased prison, court, and police costs resulting from Bill C-15. The average cost of incarcerating someone in Canada's federal system is $93,000 per year, or $255 per day. How I wish I had those kinds of resources to help members in my community who are struggling with addiction. It costs substantially less to maintain an offender in the community than in prison: $23,000 per year versus $93,000.

Mr. Philippe Lucas (Executive Director, Vancouver Island Compassion Society and Canadians for Safe Access):
I just want to differentiate between drug-related crime, which Mr. Bagnell mentioned, and prohibition-related crime. When we talk about shootings in Toronto, when we talk about shootings in Vancouver, these are not people on drugs shooting each other. These are people shooting each other for drug profits. Nothing to do with the actual substances themselves has caused this violence. This violence is caused by the profitability of these drugs. So obviously addressing the difference between drug-related crime, which is typically petty crime that feeds someone's substance abuse and dependence on substances, is very different from prohibition-related crime, which is the high violence we're seeing and the gun violence we're seeing in our major cities in Canada.

Professor Eugene Oscapella (Barrister and Solicitor, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Ottawa:
I want to start with a quote from a 35-year-old African American man talking about his drug use as a younger man. He said:

You might just be bored, or alone. Everybody was welcome into the club of disaffection. If the high didn't solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world's ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism.

That man called himself a junkie and a pothead. He said he was a confused teenager. He also went on to become the President of the United States, Barack Obama. It's ironic to see so many of the politicians on Parliament Hill salivating at the prospect of being seen in the presence of this man when under this law (Bill C-15) he would in all likelihood have been condemned to a two-year mandatory minimum prison sentence because he used cocaine. As you know, under the current drug law, even just passing a joint or passing a powder to a friend, not selling it, is considered trafficking. That can also probably be said of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both of whom have admitted their past drug use. Is this not a bit hypocritical?


I appeal to all Canadians, please stand up for civil rights on behalf of your children, your families, your friends and your fellow citizens who are presently incarcerated for using a plant that is said to be in the anointing oil of Jesus Christ. Speak up and be heard. Let your government officials know that you are in the dark no more. You see the bigger picture and realize that prohibition of Cannabis has amounted to a complete and total failed policy with all of Canadian society becoming an unwilling victim.

You realize government cannot legislate human behavior. Educate yourself about prohibition, and how Cannabis came to Canada and was unceremoniously criminalized without debate, because it really does affect us all. Take this knowledge and spread it. Our chance for a more peaceful country urgently depends on it. If you do nothing, if we don't all become involved in something so important as securing a safer, kinder, future for generations to come, Canada, as a nation, will surely fail.


Marley &Tosh -
"Get Up, Stand Up! Don't Give Up the Fight"

Mixing Politics And Morals

A video of Canadian politicians that have admitted to consuming cannabis. None were arrested.



Politicians are the people that make, shape, and write our laws. Why is it that many of them tell us "No, no, no." when they themselves puff, puff, passed...? And I wonder, how many great minds has our world missed out on because they had the unfortunate luck of being caught for simple possession and their true career paths were derailed because of a possession conviction?

Millions of good, otherwise law-abiding citizens use cannabis, we are only "criminals" because common men and women judge us as "immoral". What right is it of theirs as to impose their beliefs on us? When it comes to individual rights, we should be allowed to govern ourselves and our own bodies. Even if people don't always make the right decisions, (like drinking too much) they are our decisions to make, and we shall own the consequences of those decisions. (like the hangover and puking that can accompany too much drinking)

What I also do not understand, is how when alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine are legal, politicians dare to tell us that cannabis, which is proven to have killed no one ever, is "wrong" and "illegal" or "immoral". They are drugs too, which cause tens of thousands of deaths every year, if government was serious about "keeping us safe from ourselves" then many more substances, prescription drugs and activities (hockey concussion, anyone?) would be on the banned list and face criminal penalty.

We have learned from our own history that prohibition does not work, in fact, prohibition is unrealistic. It is just not possible. Humans are fallible and have been breaking laws since the most popular one was commanded (Don't eat the Apple!). Of course it is not right to harm others and laws that punish people for physically and financially hurting others are justifiable, but face it politicians, your constituents are not "perfect" - no matter how much you expect or want us to be.

We should be trusted though, an October 2007 Zogby Poll asked "If hard drugs like heroin and cocaine were legalized, would you be more likely to try them?

Poll: 99 Percent Wouldn't Use Hard Drugs If They Were Legalized

Posted in Chronicle Blog by David Borden on Wed, 12/05/2007 - 11:09am EDITORIAL ADVISORY -- December 5, 2007

If Heroin or Cocaine Were Legal, Would You Use Them? Zogby Poll Suggests Prohibition Doesn't Reduce Hard Drug Use

Washington, DC -- Marking the 74th anniversary of the repeal of national Alcohol Prohibition, StoptheDrugWar.org today released polling results suggesting that drug prohibition's main supporting argument may be simply wrong. Drug policy reformers point to a wide range of demonstrated social harms created by the drug laws -- crime and violence, spread of infectious diseases, official corruption, easy funding for terrorist groups, to name a few -- while prohibitionists argue that use and addiction would explode if drugs were legalized. But is the prohibitionist assumption well-founded?

Zogby polling data released today asked 1,028 likely voters, "If hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine were legalized, would you be likely to use them?" Ninety-ninety percent of respondents answered, "No." Only 0.6 percent said "Yes." The remaining 0.4 percent weren't sure.

You see, Politicians, we CAN be trusted to make our own decisions. Please stop treating adults like children. It's not your place to interfere in our lives: isn't that what the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states?

7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

"except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice." is where things get tricky. Some excerpts from The Parliament of Canada Web Site: (Please read the whole report, it is quite informative.)

CHARTER RIGHTS OF CANADIAN DRUG USERS:

A CONSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE CLAY TRIAL AND RULING

Andrew D. Hathaway, Ph.D.

Rights and Freedoms of Drug Users Under the Charter

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Part I of the 1982 Constitution Act herein referred to as the Charter) states that everyone has such "fundamental freedoms" as "freedom of conscience and religion" and "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression." No formula is provided, however, by which the selection of particular rights and exclusion of others might be explained. In this context, the right to use one’s drug of choice can be promoted in one of two ways: "First, such a right or freedom can simply be proclaimed as part of the basic rights package. If such a proclamation is lacking, the second possibility is to argue that a specified right, such as the ‘right to liberty’ guaranteed in section 7 of the Charter, extends far enough to cover the disputed action."

University of Western Ontario law professor, Robert Solomon accordingly observes:

If the right to liberty in section 7 protects personal decision making (and it seems to me if the state wants to intervene, it should do so in a principled fashion), if they wanted to draw the barrier in terms of...life and death decisions and did it consistently, I could understand that, but it doesn’t…. I am overwhelmingly of the view that if section 7 allows you to die for your religious beliefs,...if a law prohibiting access to abortion interferes with your right to life, liberty, and security as a person, if the courts recognize a realm of private decision making in the area of health and autonomy, then there is no way you can justify our current laws criminalizing possession of many drugs which are now illicit.

Since the final report of the Le Dain Commission inquiry over a quarter-century ago, a legal-political stalemate has arisen around cannabis, leaving policy reform advocates in limbo awaiting the next opportunity to press the issue back into the judicial or political forum. Steadfast resistance on the part of our law enforcement institutions has proven all the more resilient in view of the apparent ‘easy out’ option available to policy makers in passing the issue back and forth between the two forums. Although constitutional challenges are expensive to launch and would seem to stand little chance of success legally, however, Osgoode Hall law professor Alan Young underscores their importance in maintaining the media spotlight and public attention, "...because the press is very interested in the issue, and if the press is interested and the public is interested, the politicians may have to respond."

Citing recent international developments in progressive law reform and a general interest in society regarding recreational drug use, Professor Young characterizes the 1990’s revival of the cannabis reform movement as a "Renaissance period" wherein (following the repressive drug policy "dark ages" ushered in by Presidents Reagan and Bush in the US) public discussion and debate on the issue has been able to ensue once more. Since interest in drug consumption and policy ebbs and flows over time, he suggests the timing of challenges may be crucial, and that today’s socio-political climate presents a prime opportunity for law reformers to take advantage of favourable public opinion and press coverage.

While the date this report is written is not posted, I believe much of the same can be said today. With so much recent conversation regarding our prohibition laws, it is now our time once again to massively campaign for our right to use Cannabis responsibly. It must be now as Bill C-15 (UPDATE: Bill C-15 has been reintroduced as Bill S-10 and requires defeat in the House of Commons.) has been tabled into Parliament by Stephen Harper's Conservatives. While the Liberal Government is also tabling Bill C-359, (marijuana possession would still be illegal and people would receive a fine for small amounts of Cannabis) it is still not enough. Decriminalization does not stop the problem of the Black Market or the violence and drug cartel profiteering that comes from it. The only way to ensure our citizens true freedom and a safer country in which to live is to legalize Cannabis.

Will Bill C-15 kill the twin scourge of illegal drugs and gang violence?
Libby Davies, NDP MP, Vancouver East answers on Straight.com:

“There’s a lot of information, both in the United States and in Canada, that shows that mandatory minimum sentencing regimes for drug offenses are ineffective. This is all about window-dressing for the Conservatives’ crime agenda. They want to impress people with their tough-on-crime approach. One thing that will happen is that it could very much overcrowd our prisons. We find the bill to be misdirected and based on a very faulty premise. It’s based on the U.S.’s war on drugs, which has been a complete failure.”

Tomorrow, I will be joining an expected 25 000 people at the 11th. Annual Global Marijuana March. I'm hoping to be a part of history, a part of a movement that contributes to the end of prohibition. To me, persecuting Canadians who choose to use cannabis as medicine and for recreation is unethical and immoral. Our politicians must hear our cry for justice and legalize our gift from Mother Nature. Puff, Puff, Peace, everyone.... Pass It to The Left.



IMPORTANT UPDATE AUGUST 2011 - The Conservatives are now trying to pass all of their "Crime" bills in one large Omnibus Bill. Please visit www.cannabisacts.ca and whyprohibition.ca for more info. Thanks, MJ (Article updated August 19, 2011, as Ontario provincial Conservative candidate Tim Hudak has admitted he "grew up normal" and smoked pot.