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| Smoke Signals From The Coast |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 14, 2002 at 19:11:52 PT By Brian Dryden Source: Victoria News 
Leave it to cantankerous former Brian Mulroney-era cabinet minister Pat Carney to let a well-kept B.C. secret out of the bag every now and then. Senator Carney’s sporadic forays back onto the national political stage almost always revolve around her giving the grand Pooh-Bahs back East a geography lesson. The lesson passed on ad nauseam is to point out to the standard-bearers of what passes for a government of all of Canada these days, that there is a West Coast connected by land bridge to the centre of the universe. Snug in the belly of the beast, where the corridors of power zig and zag like a snake alert to danger, through the board rooms and alleyways of southern Ontario, it would appear that far too often those making federal government decisions know next to nothing about the various parts which comprise the whole. So, news last week that the first crop of pot for the federal government’s supposed medical marijuana experiment turned out to be “bad weed”, for the purpose it was grown, does not come as much of a surprise, considering the feds ignored the obvious and instead set up a legal grow-op in Manitoba. That “obvious” thing which the feds missed did not go unnoticed by the esteemed Senator from B.C. Carney, who quite rightly pointed out that if you want some good weed in Canada, British Columbia is where it’s at. Perhaps it’s a bit presumptuous to expect the federal government of Canada to know that B.C.’s underground marijuana-growing operations are world famous and, if truth be known, are a huge boost to the province’s official, above-ground economy. Perhaps the federal government is just too busy getting its MPs in line, executing such clever moves as killing private members’ bills of honourable MPs, such as the Canadian Alliance’s Esquimalt-based representative Keith Martin. It must be so much more fun sticking it to out-of-order MPs rather than addressing the issues, such as marijuana decriminalization, head on. Or perhaps the federal government just doesn’t know what it’s doing. It is too much, at this point, to expect those with the power to foster change to stand up and acknowledge that existing laws on the legality of substances for personal consumption have no logical basis, and the ongoing war on drugs should really be renamed the war on personal freedom. Yet, if the federal government is really serious in at least easing the restrictions on marijuana so that those who claim a medicinal use — such as many supplied through illegal compassion clubs which operate in many major North American cities, including Victoria — then get on with the job of supplying the stuff. If there’s a need to consult experts, then consult the real experts out here in B.C. If need be, consult a map. Source: Victoria News (CN BC) Related Articles & Web Site: Canadian Links Carney Pushes B.C. Bud for Official Pot Crop B.C. Pot Growers Blast $6 Million Waste MPs Present Petition To Reintroduce Pot Bill Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #2 posted by p4me on May 14, 2002 at 22:53:49 PT |
| I am working with my computer to get Word working and screwed up comment 1. It should have copied this. the ongoing war on drugs should really be renamed the war on personal freedom. I somehow thought that was understood. Maybe we are guilty of acting like a conquered tribe adopting the language of our oppressors. We know it is a War for Freedom even if it is not said enough. It is like Highways. North Carolina was so backwards in the 1890's it was called the Rip Van Winkle state and to change things there was a massive effort that drafted men to work on roads to at least get the county seats linked by roads. And since I do not want to be part of the dumbing down of America I will mention Iredell County that is the junction of I-77 and I-40 with that intersection being about 42 miles to both Charlotte and Winston-Salem. For educational purposes I will mention that Iredell County is bordered by 9 counties, the most of any county in America. Anyway the road from Statesville to Hickory was called the Hickory Highway and from Hickory to Statesville it was called the Statesville Highway. What Statesville called Salisbury Road, Statesville called the Salisbury Highway. The same was true for Charlotte, Wilkesboro, and so on. I would not have the attitude I do if I regarded as a War against the War on Drugs. I do not like the waste and the misdirection of effort, but what gets me going is that it is a War for Freedom. Sometimes we say to the other side you mean a War on Some Drugs there don't you, you freedom-robbing BAHstard. But make no mistake about it, it is definitely a War for Freedom we are fighting and the prohibitionist are fighting reason and good sense as well as doing something to drive up the price of drugs that the usually call the WOD. VAAI. Down to dogcather. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by p4me on May 14, 2002 at 22:42:57 PT |
| the ongoing war on drugs should really be
renamed the war on personal freedom. [ Post Comment ] |
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