P.M. Harper may "backdoor" BILLC-15 into Parliament?

Despite a petition signed by many supporters of Compassion Clubs and testimony from
representatives and experts to the Senate.(see video) The (P.C.)s and Harper may use
prorogation as a "backdoor" to reintroduce BILL C-15. to parliament again despite the lack of support for their unpopular bill. The BILL C-15 includes possibly introducing mandatory minimums,(despite proof they are costly and ineffective in the U.S. also creating "super-prison" systems.). The further increased criminalization of marijuana is NOT supported by the majority of Canadians.(Polls vary 60-85%) We must NOT support ineffective government / police policy.
Compassion Clubs are safe and effective at helping sick people receive their needed medicine and care. Medicine that "big pharma" can't deliver. Marijuana should also be listed in the Pharmaceutical Drugs Guide for inclusion, so the sick can receive medicine they may not be able to afford.(ie:read article in news)
Links:
Please Read:RT.CK.new-tab
More Links: Drug War Facts LINK
L.E.A.P.- Law Enforcement AGAINST Prohibition.L.E.A.P.Site LINK

A Petition Site; www.care2.com/take-action/


Watch:
Cannabis Facts: CDN. FACTS LINK
Walter Cronkite on disaster of Mandatory Minimums & The Drug WAR:
Eugene Oscapella Ottawa Lawyer of Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy



PLEASE HELP. Write a letter / email your MP. sign a petition forward this blog to all
your email contacts( Click small envelope at below) AND VOTE!! (clk. subscribe too)
Article:Article Link
2009 News storiesLink
BC C.Club Info:Link

Thanks Tim. PDF LINK:10 Cannabis Facts PDF


More news soon. Tim

ADDED Feb.24/10

COMMENTARY and related NEWS.
---------------------------

As expected, the rightist Harper regime this week announced plans to
appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, to undo a provincial court
ruling allowing Insite, the supervised injection site in Vancouver,
B.C. It wasn't that Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was ordered by
party apparatchiks to loudly oppose Insite as a sop and distraction
tossed to the conservative political base, oh no! Rather, it is that
the existence of Insite raises abstruse legal points, "regarding the
doctrine of inter-jurisdictional immunity and the division of powers
between the federal and provincial governments," - points which the
justice minister feels obligated to explore.
When confronted with the need for a needle exchange - inside prisons
- government faces a dilemma. Allow a needle exchange which would
save lives (not to mention future health care costs) but in so
doing, admit not even the prohibition of prison walls keeps out
drugs. Or, to not admit the regular breaches of prison security and
futility of prohibition, by not allowing needle exchanges in prison.
While supporting needle exchange in prison, a piece in the Canadian
Chronicle Herald newspaper this week nicely glosses over this larger
issue. "In an ideal world, it would be impossible to smuggle drugs
into a jail, and that would solve the problem. But the real world is
not water-tight, and where there is a will, there is a way." Which
sums up the failure of prohibition.
In a heroic action to save children from the clutches of drugs, the
RCMP raided a medicinal marijuana dispensary in icy Nunavut, Canada
Jan. 29, sparing countless young lives from the death and
degradation which accompanies drug use. The proprietor of Nunavut's
first medical cannabis dispensary, Ed deVries, 51, instead claimed
that more than 500 citizens of Iqaluit (about 7% of the town) were
registered with Health Canada as legally able to use cannabis for
medicine. Eric Idlaut, of the Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate Society:
"Elders who use marijuana as medicine would benefit from having a
place they can obtain it without having to pay street prices."
The Arizona Republic this week ran a lengthy article on the newest
slogan to be repeated about Mexico. Because of the "drug cartels"
you see, we must now repeat the following mantra: "Mexico is a
'Narco-State'". Grudgingly, the Republic mentions legalization - if
only to immediately dismiss such an idea (which it buries near the
end of this whopper of an article). The real take home and take
action message the Republic would have us believe? The "government
needs to focus on the prosecution of crimes" - Mexico isn't jailing
enough of its own people. Because, you know, throwing lots of people
in jail always solves drug problems. Will Mexico never learn this
fact from the more enlightened United States?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
"The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single
dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free
nations and free men." - John F. Kennedy



-----------Canada: JUSTICE Minister Has Switched Sides On Sentencing----------------

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n080.a07.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap

Webpage: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/news/2512087/story.html
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Feb 2010
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

-----THE JUSTICE MINISTER HAS SWITCHED SIDES (flip-flopped) ON SENTENCING----

Rob Nicholson Was Vice-Chairman Of A 1988 Parliamentary Committee That Opposed Fixed Sentences
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, one of Canada's most vocal champions of fixed minimum prison sentences, once opposed the idea of removing discretion for judges to sentence as they see fit.
As a Tory backbencher in 1988, Nicholson was vice-chairman of a parliamentary committee that rejected the expansion of automatic incarceration, asserting that it doesn't work, overcrowds jails and takes too hefty of a social and financial toll.
The sweeping report on sentencing, based on a yearlong study of the criminal justice system, concluded that judges should follow guidelines, but that "each case should be decided on its own facts."
Two decades later, mandatory minimum jail terms are central to the Harper government's law-and-order agenda.
Nicholson, as justice minister for the last three years, has aggressively pushed for automatic incarceration for selling drugs, growing marijuana, white-collar crime and offences involving guns.
He has repeatedly accused his political opponents of being soft on crime for challenging his get-tough approach.
Most recently, he blasted the Senate when it amended a key bill designed to impose automatic prison terms for a variety of drug-related crimes, by redrafting a component that would jail pot growers who cultivate as few as five plants.
The bill died when Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended Parliament in late December, but Nicholson said last week he will revive his proposed legislation.
Nicholson's press secretary, Pamela Stephens, said that times have changed since the 1988 report and the government's plans for mandatory minimums have "evolved" to reflect society's demand for tougher penalties for serious crimes.
"I can't get into a debate about minimum penalties, but as a government we believe that it is the role of the legislators to reflect the citizens who elected them, and it is the role of the legislator to give guidance on maximum penalties as well as minimum penalties," Stephens said.
Drug trafficking, for instance, is now fuelled by organized crime and therefore demands harsh penalties, she said.
Stephens pointed out that the previous Liberal government also created many mandatory minimum sentences and the Conservatives have been building on that list, which now stands at 43. New Democrat Libby Davies said Nicholson's apparent change shows that the Harper Conservatives are more ideologically driven on crime than were the former Tories.
"I think it does show very much a difference, between the old Conservatives and today's Conservatives, which are hell bent on this ideological agenda of being tough on crime," said Davies, who strongly opposes minimum prison terms for drug crimes.
"This is all that Stephen Harper's got and they have wrapped themselves in that and they have played on people's fear."
The vast majority of witnesses who appeared at Senate and House of Commons committee hearings on Nicholson's drug-sentencing bill lambasted mandatory minimums.
Several American states have retreated from mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in recent years, amid mounting evidence they have a disproportionate effect on young people, visible minorities and the poor, yet haven't made a difference in curtailing the drug trade.
At the time of the 1988 report, minimum mandatory terms existed in the Criminal Code for murder, treason, drunk driving causing injury or death and the more minor offence of bookmaking. The justice committee 22 years ago opted against wider expansion, as recommended a year earlier by a sentencing commission. The committee recommended only violent sexual assault carry a term of at least 10 years. The former Liberal government dramatically increased the list, imposing fixed incarceration terms for a variety of gun-related crimes, as part of its 1995 gun-control package, and later, for nine child exploitation crimes.


--------------------Canada: Safe-Injection Site To Go To Top Court------------------




URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n103/a08.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap

Webpage: http://mapinc.org/url/fy1Ceu2D
Pubdate: Wed, 10 Feb 2010
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Insite (Insite)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

---SAFE-INJECTION SITE TO GO TO TOP COURT---

The federal government plans to ask the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a B.C. ruling that allowed a safe-injection site to remain open, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Tuesday.
"This case raises important questions regarding the doctrine of inter-jurisdictional immunity and the division of powers between the federal and provincial governments," he said.
"We recognize that injection drug users need assistance," he said. "This is why our National Anti-Drug strategy focuses on prevention and access to treatment for those with drug dependencies."
Nicholson said the B.C. Court of Appeal and the Government of Canada both believe it is important that the Supreme Court of Canada be asked to rule on this matter.


-----------------CN SN: Column: Fighting Crime On Emotion, Not Facts----------------


URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n120.a03.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap

Webpage: http://www.leaderpost.com/Fighting+crime+emotion+facts/2568853/story.html
Pubdate: Tue, 16 Feb 2010
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2010 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Susan Riley, the Ottawa Citizen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

FIGHTING CRIME ON EMOTION, NOT FACTS
When you look beyond the paternalism, cynicism, genuine concern -- whatever motives drive the Harper government's punitive approach to crime -- only one question matters. Is it effective?
Will closing Vancouver's safe injection site, Insite, reduce drug addiction and related crime? Will imposing six-month minimum jail sentences on anyone caught with as few as five marijuana plants inhibit pot-smoking among teenagers? Will expanding prisons reduce violence in our streets?
Most legal experts, criminologists, addiction researchers and street-level health workers, along with many police chiefs and past reports from parliamentary committees, say "no" -- as does the experience of other "tough-on-crime" jurisdictions.
It may be emotionally satisfying to punish evil, or express revulsion, with harsher sentences, but it is widely held -- by those who actually work in the field -- that prevention, better policing, services for the mentally ill and poverty alleviation are more useful if
the goal is to make communities safer. The Liberals even used to believe that, before they became bashful.
But this government mistrusts experts, rejects evidence that doesn't confirm its own beliefs and dismisses critics as weak and deluded. It seems to believe most criminals, like wilful teenagers, only need the threat of a few months in the slammer to see the light -- downplaying the fact that so many crimes are impulsive, and so many criminals mentally ill, addicted, or scarred by horrific abuse themselves. Not the types, in other words, to consider consequences before they act.
And curiously, despite its righteousness, the government isn't above resorting to mendacity itself. Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, for instance, have excoriated the "Liberal-dominated" Senate for, in Harper's words, "eviscerating law and order measures urgently needed and strongly supported by Canadians."
In fact, as Senate Liberal leader James Cowan outlined convincingly this week, it was the unexpected prorogation of Parliament that "gutted" the Conservative anti-crime agenda.
Last session, the government introduced 19 crime bills and 11 were still before the Commons at prorogation. Of the eight that went to the Senate, four were passed. Two were still being debated when Harper pulled the plug, and another -- a Senate-initiated attempt to end the long-gun registry -- was withdrawn after a similar Commons bill passed.
Another bill, which would prevent convicts from subtracting two days from their
sentences for every one day already served, was passed by the Senate in October and only died because cabinet didn't enact it quickly enough.
Nor was a bill cracking down on auto theft stalled in the Senate for six months, as Nicholson claimed -- at least, not entirely by Liberal senators. The delay was partly the result of a scheduled summer break.
Only the marijuana bill -- it would impose a mandatory minimum six months in jail for anyone caught with five or more plants -- was significantly amended. After hearing from a parade of witnesses that mandatory minimums are ineffective in dealing with drug crimes ( a conclusion backed by a 2001 Justice Department report ), Liberal senators voted to leave it to judges to decide sentences for anyone caught with fewer than 200 plants.
An irritated Nicholson has vowed to reintroduce the bill in March, when Parliament resumes -- but here's another curiosity. The Hill Times reported recently that, in 1988, Nicholson, then a Progressive Conservative MP, was vice-chair of a Commons committee that recommended against mandatory minimums, except for repeat violent sex offenders. Asked about this apparent change of heart, the minister's spokesperson noted the drug world and values have changed. But the facts haven't.
As New Democrat Libby Davies noted: "What they are doing is not based on evidence, whatsoever. It's a political stance."
The same can be said of Harper's implacable resistance to Insite -- a modest clinic in Vancouver's downtown east side, where addicts can get clean needles and access to medical care. The clinic doesn't provide drugs, but, through a legal exemption, allows addicts to administer their own narcotics.
Intended to get addicts out of back alleys and reduce the transmission of disease through dirty needles, the pioneering clinic has considerable community support: Leading B.C. politicians, provincial courts, Vancouver police, doctors and, after initial resistance, local businesses. But the Harper government has announced it will challenge the special exemption at the Supreme Court, because it believes the clinic encourages drug use.
It doesn't bother providing facts, or even arguments; it appeals, as usual, to resentment, ignorance and frightening headlines that obscure the fact that crime rates have been declining. And, with the brave exception of Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, most of Harper's political opponents, including those who know better, are afraid to object.
If Conservatives were as concerned with victims as they claim to be, the effectiveness of crime-fighting measures would be paramount -- not their political appeal. And they'd be counselling wisdom in this complex issue, not revenge.


CN BC: Column: War On Drugs An Abject Failure


URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n122/a02.html
Newshawk: Herb

Pubdate: Tue, 16 Feb 2010
Source: Maple Ridge Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc
Contact: editorial@mrtimes.com
Website: http://www.mrtimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1372
Author: Keith Baldrey

-----WAR ON DRUGS AN ABJECT FAILURE-------
Prime Minister Stephen Harper dropped by the provincial legislature last week for a feel-good speech about B.C. and the Winter Olympics, but he didn't stop to take any questions from anyone.
That's too bad, as his aversion to having anything to do with the media means he's able to duck some pressing issues.
I certainly had a question or two of my own. I wasn't planning to spend gobs of time talking about the irony ( or, some say, hypocrisy ) of him addressing a provincial legislature after he untimely prorogued his own federal house.
And I wasn't particularly interested in grilling him over his government's economic plan, its problems in Afghanistan or even potential election timing.
But I did have a question or two about one of his government's dumbest moves in recent days that have a direct bearing on this province.
That would be the Conservative government's decision to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling that Vancouver's Downtown Eastside safe injection site ( Insite ) is a legal operation and should be allowed to remain open.
Harper has already lost two key court challenges on this. In trying yet again to get the courts to follow his ideologically based prejudice, critics say he has abandoned common sense, strong legal analysis and sound public policy.
There is no question Insite is a controversial facility. The idea that governments and the health-care system implicitly inject themselves into an illegal activity - consumption of banned drugs - strikes many as wrong.
But those who oppose the existence of Insite - where addicts are given a secure place to take drugs, such as heroin, with sterile needles - conveniently ignore a larger truth that underscores the need for places such as Insite. That would be the fact that our whole approach to illegal drugs - the so-called "war on drugs" - has been a complete, abject failure.
To stick to the conventional method of dealing with drug addiction ( i.e. prosecute addicts and do everything possible to deny them access to drugs ) is a head-in-the-sand approach that is not only wrong but also dangerous.
Addicts are sick people. Simply telling them to stop taking drugs is a useless approach. Some will engage in criminal activity, such as robbery, to find ways to pay for their drugs.
As well, drug addiction is an illness and a medical condition. If not treated as such - at the very least, ensuring addicts access to safe conditions when it comes to consuming the drugs their bodies now need - - invites compounding the threat of an already potentially dangerous situation.
Serious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C can result from dirty needle use, and that threatens non-addicts ( to say nothing of the fact that it adds even more costs to our already too-expensive health-care system ).
Renowned medical experts such as Dr. Gabor Mate ( a staff physician at Insite ), the province's chief medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall and many others all agree that, from a medical and health standpoint, Insite makes complete sense.
Even the B.C. Liberal government, a supposedly right-wing regime, supports Insite's continued existence. These positions are all rooted in evidence-based analysis. For example, the number of drug overdose deaths has declined remarkably, and so has drug-related crime in Insite's neighbourhood.
Yet the Harper government continues to cling to the out-dated and unworkable notion that simply cracking down on addicts and "forcing" them to drop their habits is best approach.
This is an example of the occasional ideological extremism that critics of his government fear will come with increased regularity should it ever hold a majority position in government.
Holding power in a minority parliament provides significant checks on Harper's power to go too far in any particular position. He must pick his way carefully.
Will we see other ideology-based changes to health policy should the Tories ever win a majority? Why cling to the failed policies of the past? Why not shed your ideological blinkers and embrace a proven success story such as Insite?
All good questions, and all ones I would love to have posed to him when he was in Victoria. But he simply wasn't interested in talking to anyone.


CN NU: RCMP Raids 'Medicinal Marijuana' Club


URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10.n101.a06.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Mon, 08 Feb 2010
Source: Nunavut News North (CN NU)
Page: 3
Copyright: 2010 Northern News Services Limited
Contact: editor@nunavutnews.com
Website: http://www.nnsl.com/nunavutnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4240
Author: Kassina Ryder
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

--------------RCMP RAIDS 'MEDICINAL MARIJUANA' CLUB----------------

Charges Laid Against Two Men Involved With Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate Society
IQALUIT - The RCMP raided Nunavut's first compassion club selling marijuana for medicinal use Jan. 29, and charged two men with drug trafficking.
Police seized two pounds of marijuana, $7,200 in cash, a GMC Yukon and trafficking materials during a search of two Iqaluit residences, according to an RCMP press release.
Ed deVries, 51, was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. Sakku Kripinak, 30, was charged with one count of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Both are members and organizers of the Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate Society, which received societal status under the Nunavut Societies Act on Dec. 14.
DeVries was released with conditions and is next scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 15. Kripinak was also released and is scheduled to appear in court on May 7.
"I know that Mr. deVries was subject of the search and seizure and subsequent charges," RCMP Supt. Steve McVarnock said. "But again, whether or not it was in relation to his club or whether it was personal, that's all got to come out in the court process."
When pressed about the relationship between the bust and the compassion club, McVarnock said: "My understanding is that it is associated. The compassion club is associated to the investigation."
In an interview prior to his arrest, deVries said more than 500 people in Iqaluit, a city of nearly 7,000 people, were registered with the society, including elders, and the list was growing.
"We're not in hiding. We're in an appropriate downtown location that is respectful to the neighbourhood," he said. "We run controlled hours, very strict hours, and we're acting in respect to the neighbourhood."
The club, which deVries said sold marijuana for medical use, is modelled after southern compassion clubs.
Clients must sign up before purchasing marijuana from the club and there is a 10 gram limit per day.
DeVries said he hoped making the club an official society under the Nunavut Societies Act would help change public perception about marijuana.
"I think the validation by our government will allow a lot of people who have been holding back to give them a little more confidence to come forward," he said. "It's given the people of Iqaluit that have come to the compassion club a different perspective on herbal cures."
In December, deVries said the society had made contact with an RCMP liaison to discuss the society's activities, but had yet to receive a response.
McVarnock said the RCMP's role is to enforce the law.
"Basically the RCMP, we have no position on a compassion club. We look at drugs and drug trafficking in the context of the legislation we have to work with," he said.
The society was hoping to get an exemption under section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which allows possession of a controlled substance if "the exemption is necessary for a medical or scientific purpose or is otherwise in the public interest," according to the act.
"We'll be presenting a petition plea to our ministers at all levels and our health representatives to grant the society that exemption," deVries said in December.
But even with an exemption, compassion clubs are illegal in Canada, according to Health Canada.
"The only organization that can legally supply marijuana seeds and dried marijuana is the Government of Canada, who currently obtains its supply from Prairie Plant Systems. This supply can only be accessed by individuals who have applied for authorization to possess marijuana for medical purposes and have received this authorization from Health Canada," according to a statement e-mailed to Nunavut News/North from Health Canada media relations officer Philippe Laroche.
The Marijuana Medical Access Regulations only apply to individuals for personal use.
"Once approved under the MMAR, individuals have three options for obtaining a supply: they can apply under the MMAR to access Health Canada's supply of dried marijuana; they can apply for a personal use production licence, or they can designate someone to cultivate on their behalf with a designated-person production licence," stated the e-mail from Laroche.
"I guess it's time to change the law, that's my stance on it," deVries said.
In an interview with Nunavut News/North before the bust, Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate Society media representative Eric Idlaut said the idea of a compassion club was becoming popular in Nunavut's other communities.
"We're receiving a lot of inquiries from smaller communities on how to become members with our society," Idlaut said. "The first inquiry is how to become members of our society and how they can come up with a compassionate society in their own communities."
Elders who use marijuana as medicine would benefit from having a place they can obtain it without having to pay street prices, Idlaut said.
"Looking at prices being paid for medicine in smaller communities, it's crazy especially when elders are paying almost $100 ( a gram )," he said. "When you reduce it to $7 ( a gram ) that's a huge difference."
DeVries said the club will focus on assisting Iqalummiut with applying to Health Canada under the medical access regulations for marijuana for personal use.
He added that people in Iqaluit will still purchase marijuana, whether it is purchased from a compassion club or off the street.
"You don't take away people's medicine just because the doctor died," he said.

(60-85% of Canada supports decriminalization of marijuana, because its humane.)

LINK TO Democracy Now Story On INSIGHT ,Vancouver BC.w/ Dr Gabor Mate.

LINK