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Canada: Lawmakers, Police Seek Guidance After Pot Laws Quashed
April 14, 2011 – Lawmakers and enforcers are looking for guidance on how to react to an Ontario Superior Court decision quashing Canada’s marijuana laws. On Monday, a St. Catharines judge ruled the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional because patients are largely prevented from legally accessing the drugs they need. Justice Donald Taliano also struck…
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Canada: Marijuana Should Not be Criminalized
April 14, 2011 – It is hard to understand why Canada criminalizes marijuana. Make it illegal, sure – subject to a fine, as is wearing a face veil in France – but where is the high degree of harm, to others or self, that requires criminal sanction, including jail? The criminal law is not meant…
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Canada: Judge Rules Criminalization of Marijuana Unconstitutional
April 13, 2010 – An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that the federal medical marijuana program is unconstitutional, giving the government three months to fix the problem before pot is effectively legalized. In an April 11 ruling, Justice Donald Taliano found that doctors across the country have “massively boycotted” the medical marijuana program and…
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Toronto Freedom Festival Could Lose its Freedom
March 10, 2010 – The Toronto Freedom Festival – Canada’s largest cannabis-related event when held every year at the same time as the Global Marijuana March – has been denied an occupancy permit by officials responsible for the city’s parks. Activists planning the event, who have never had problems receiving a permit in the past,…
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Cannabis Battle is Winnable, Barney Frank says
PORTLAND – U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. told the state’s first Maine Medical Marijuana Expo on Saturday that current laws against marijuana use are expensive, applied unevenly and ought to be repealed. “People who make a personal decision to smoke marijuana should not be subject to prosecution,” said Frank, noting that the movement has allies…
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The Economics of Marijuana
February 18, 2011 – An advertisement for Oaksterdam University reads “Cannabis Industry Now Hiring,” along with claims to a salary between $50,000 and $100,000 dollars. To the average American, such an ad would surely be deemed a joke — but in Oaksterdam, a district in downtown Oakland lined with medical marijuana dispensaries, training centers, head…
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New York: What a Waste of Taxpayer Dollars-Marijuana Possession Is The Number One Reason For Arrest In New York City
The NYPD has been unkind to the possessors of ‘kind bud’. Marijuana possession was the top reason for arrests in New York city in 2010, according to a report by the State Division of Criminal Justice Services, that was obtained by the Drug Policy Alliance advocacy group. An astounding 50,383 people were arrested for having…
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Grassroots Activists Head to the Nation’s Capital to End Prohibition of Hemp and Cannabis
On April 20th, 2011 the “Overgrow the Government” movement is staging a rally in Washington D.C. to demand an end to cannabis prohibition. As of this writing the Facebook page for the rally has over 1,100 people signed up to attend and another 1,000 “maybe attending.” They are looking for one million people to come…
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Supreme Court Looks At Smell-Based Home Searches For Pot
January 19, 2011 – Police smelling marijuana coming from behind an apartment door can enter the home without a warrant if they believe the evidence is being destroyed, some U.S. Supreme Court Justices said on Wednesday. More than 60 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police couldn’t enter a residence without a warrant…
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Canada: Senate Quietly Passes Bill S-10 & Mandatory Minimums For Marijuana
December 19, 2010 – The Senate of Canada has passed Bill S-10, which includes mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana offenses. No this is not a drill. The bill will now move to the House of Commons for voting before it can become law. The Conservative-controlled Senate passed the bill on December 13 with barely a…