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Lothar121

Canada Drops Plans to Decriminalize Small Amounts of Marijuana
The Houston Chronicle | 04/03/06

OTTAWA — Marijuana possession will remain a crime in Canada, the country's new conservative prime minister said today in announcing the demise of legislation U.S. authorities worried would weaken efforts to curb drug exports.

Under the bill, drawn up by the previous Liberal Party government, getting caught with about half an ounce or less of marijuana would have brought a citation akin to a traffic ticket.

While possession of marijuana would have remained illegal, the bill was intended to prevent young people from being saddled with a lifelong criminal record.

Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking to the Canadian Professional Police Association, said the bill would not be reintroduced when the new Parliament convenes for the first time today.

The bill, which had alarmed law enforcement officials in Canada and the United States, died on the floor of the House of Commons after the Liberal Party lost elections in January.

Canada has numerous marijuana farms, particularly in the lush western province of British Columbia. Authorities in July said they discovered a 360-foot drug-smuggling tunnel beneath the U.S.-Canadian border in the U.S. border town of Lynden about 90 miles north of Seattle.

Canadian marijuana activist Marc Emery of Vancouver, known as "the prince of pot," who was recently profiled by CBS' "60 Minutes," is under U.S. indictment targeting his multimillion-dollar marijuana seed business. He claims to make $3 million a year from selling marijuana seeds online and by mail, mostly to buyers south of the border.

Harper, who was to later address the first Conservative-led Parliament in 13 years, told the police association that fighting crime was one of his top five priorities.

"We are going to hold criminals to account," said Harper. "This government will send a strong message to criminals: If you do a serious crime, you're going to start doing serious time."

He also vowed to keep his campaign pledge to demand tougher sentences for gun and drug offenses.

He won prolonged applause for his campaign promises to crack down on parole and do away with mandatory supervision, the practice of releasing most convicts after two-thirds of their sentences.

Harper also promised to get tough on child pornography and improve the national databank of DNA samples of convicted criminals.

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reggie_the_dog

well, Harper has no majority in the legislature, he will likely pass no laws making cannabis penalties tougher.

MrIMStoned

Isn't the news supposed to be new? I've read this story a million times.

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"In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable what then?"

nerphroll

You don't think anyone outside his party will side with him on this issue? I agree probably not, but it may be too early to tell.

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HELP ME IVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER 13 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!
PURIFY ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dimebag-Dave

Harper isn't vowing to make marijuana possession laws harsher, he's just abandoning the bill headed by the liberals to decriminalize small amounts. All in all, no news to report. This bill probably wouldn't have passed even with a Liberal gov't, because it was a minority.

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Some say that marijuana leads to harder drugs because '90% of hard drug addicts smoked marijuana first'
Huh...?
Can you think of anything else that 90% of hard drug users did before they became addicted?
I can: ate a hamburger, went to school, went to church, read a newspaper, etc.
So, what, do these activities lead to harder drugs as well?

 

Little Nicky

The thing is this....he is making the RCMP enforce the laws already on the books. No one, for the most part, did that in the past. Can anyone say "Bye Bye Marc."

reggie_the_dog

"The thing is this....he is making the RCMP enforce the laws already on the books. No one, for the most part, did that in the past. Can anyone say "Bye Bye Marc."



does he have the power to do this???

any Canadians out there that can explain how this works in your country???

Can harper dictate how the police enforce the laws? Or is that something that is taken care of at the provincial level?

Also I believe the most liberal part of Canadian drug policy is the COURT SYSTEM, which usually does not give drug offenders jail time, which is not at all controlled by Harper or his party.

BC.Buddy

Laws are not enforced by the government, or even the police, they're enforced by the courts.

By this I mean, if courts are not handing out any real penalties for selling marijuana seeds, than what good does it do for the police to enforce those laws?

It's not that complex.

And what Harper has done is throw a stick in the spokes in terms of the decrim bill. Remember, decriminalization was first suggested 30 years ago!

I don't understand why he's stupid enough to fall for those American threats about border security; there's states with better decrim status than the bill that was put forward up here!!
It's a shame that Marc's message went unheard to people like you. He was pointing out the validity of the laws and whether or not they should be on the books. That's what you're supposed to do as an activist... something

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Little Nicky

Chill!!! Fall Back Brother, I'm on your side!!
I love Marc as much as you do....just pointing out the fact that the government in Canada is about to throw Marc under the bus, DEA style.