cannabisnews.com: Canada Headed 'Wrong Way' on Illegal Drugs-Walters





Canada Headed 'Wrong Way' on Illegal Drugs-Walters
Posted by CN Staff on October 09, 2003 at 11:40:18 PT
By Reuters
Source: Reuters 
Washington -- John Walters, the White House's top drug policymaker, said on Thursday Canada was a blemish in an otherwise successful effort by the United States to cut back illegal drug production in the Western Hemisphere."It is the one place in the hemisphere where things are going the wrong way," said Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has been an outspoken critic of a proposed Canadian law to ease penalties on marijuana possession.
Speaking before at Washington think tank, the Center for Strategic International Studies, Walters said Canadians who have privately expressed their concerns with the policies of Prime Minister Jean Chretien should stand up and make their objections public.Walters' comments came just as Parliament was beginning debate on a bill introduced by the Chretien government that would end criminal penalties for possession of 15 grams, about half an ounce, of marijuana.Walters said Canadian laws were too soft on traffickers and that marijuana shipments south were booming."It's their domestic policy in a sovereign country, it's their business," he said. "Shipping poison to the United States is our business."Walters has previously warned that this law could force a clampdown at the U.S. border, potentially jeopardizing the valuable U.S.-Canadian trading relationship.The United States is funding a multibillion dollar effort to cut cocaine and heroin shipments from Latin America, mainly by aggressively spraying coca and poppy crops. Mexico has also stepped up its efforts to stop illegal drug trafficking gangs, garnering praise from the White House."We're not kidding about this. This is not some kind of culture war with Canada, Walters said. "This is about the center of the drug problem in the United States."He said marijuana had become a major problem for young Americans, noting that three out of five treatments for illegal drugs in the United States are for marijuana dependency.Source: ReutersPublished: October 9, 2003Copyright: 2003 Reuters Related Articles:U.S. Answer To Drug War Proves Harmful http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17517.shtmlCanada's Marijuana Law Will Worsen US Problemshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17135.shtmlNot Leaning on US To Halt Marijuana Billhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17110.shtml
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on October 10, 2003 at 08:02:20 PT
News Article from Snipped Source
U.S. Drug Czar Says Canadians Ashamed of PM'A joint in other hand': Joking about trying marijuana not funny, John Walters says. 
Sheldon Alberts and Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service Friday, October 10, 2003
 Copyright: 2003 National Post 
 
WASHINGTON - The White House's drug czar lashed out yesterday at Jean Chrétien for relaxing marijuana laws and said Canadians are "ashamed" at the Prime Minister's recent jokes about smoking pot when he retires.John Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy Office, said Mr. Chrétien was being irresponsible when he said last week that he might try marijuana when he leaves office next February.Canadians "are concerned about the behaviour of their Prime Minister, joking that he is going to use marijuana in his retirement," Mr. Walters told the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington."They're ashamed."Canada is "the one place in the hemisphere where things are going the wrong [way] rapidly," he added. "It's the only country in this hemisphere that's become a major drug producer instead of reducing their drug production."Martin Cauchon, the Justice Minister, who is shepherding the federal government's marijuana legislation through the House of Commons, responded that Mr. Walters should "look in his own backyard" before criticizing Mr. Chrétien."There are over 10 states that have in place what we call alternative penalties, so you know, if it is not correct to move in that direction, maybe he should spend some time talking to his own states," Mr. Cauchon said.Mr. Walters's outburst followed an effort by the Prime Minister to make light of his government's controversial decriminalization legislation.During an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, Mr. Chrétien said he had never tested marijuana, but might once decriminalization legislation is approved by Parliament."I don't know what is marijuana. Perhaps I will try it when it will no longer be criminal," he said. "I will have money for my fine and a joint in the other hand."Jim Munson, Chrétien's director of communications, declined to comment on Mr. Walters's claim that Canadians are ashamed of their leader."I am not going to get into those kind of comments. I mean, they have their point of view, and we have our point of view," Mr. Munson said.The Prime Minister, while joking about his own lack of personal experience with marijuana, also spoke about the need to crack down on growers and dealers of pot, Mr. Munson said."There was laughing, but he was very serious about where this country stood on drug pushers and on growers, and that this bill will reflect that," he said. "But it will also reflect the reality that a young person with a small amount would have a fine and not face a criminal record."The marijuana bill was handed yesterday to a special parliamentary committee, instead of the busy Commons justice committee, which would not be able to hold public hearings on the controversial legislation until after Christmas.Randy White, a Canadian Alliance MP on the special committee, said that members do not intend to rush the bill. The Americans will be among the witnesses who will be invited to the hearings."We don't need any particular approval from Americans to do this, but we have to understand that this is a touchy issue on the borders," Mr. White said during a debate on the bill in the Commons."We will be inviting the Americans here to talk to us and we want to see what their point of view is. There is little point in developing a process in this country when we offend everybody south of us."The marijuana bill proposes to decriminalize possession of 15 grams or less, so that people would be fined from $100 to $400 instead of receiving criminal records. But it also seeks to strengthen penalties against marijuana grow operations.The federal government, which is under intense pressure to toughen its bill, is seriously considering several amendments. They are: 
 
Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=DA5DE870-0D31-47F0-9041-F8622EAEF154 
  
 
 
 
 
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Comment #19 posted by ekim on October 09, 2003 at 19:31:44 PT
ej and max who is the AG now-- 
dont la have a guy like Jerry Brown . they need one. 
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Comment #18 posted by goneposthole on October 09, 2003 at 18:52:33 PT
drug dollars
The amount of money falling into the hands of Canadian marijuana growers and distributors has grown substantially the past few years. The total number of US dollars in sanctioned trade between the US and Canada is less than the total number of US dollars that are in the hands of Canadians. Hence, the dollars that are greater are from cannabis 'sales'.Let's use 10 tonnes of cannabis from Canada as an example of the amount 'exported' into the US. 10,000 kilos of bud times 8000 US dollars per kilo equals 80 million US dollars. Times 5 years of cannabis trade exports is 400 million US dollars in unsanctioned monetary trade between the two countries. Enough money to raise some eyebrows in Washington, D.C. 400 million extra US dollars traded in for Canadian dollars will depress the value of the US dollar.The drug dollar is a real worry for the powers that were in old Washington, D.C. Especially if the powers that were aren't on the receiving end of those dollars. They are turning into worry warts because of it. Keep up the good work, Canadian cannabis growers.
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on October 09, 2003 at 18:24:33 PT
It's Relative...
Drug epidemic predicted:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7507316%255E1702,00.html It seems that Walters is more concerned about a harmless plant than he is about meth! Imho, it goes to show that the ban on recreational marijuana is ultimately a ban on medical marijuana & industrial hemp. The fascists know that if recreational marijuana is recognized then there will be no reason to maintain the ban on mmj or hemp. The petro-chemical & pharmaceutical companies which own most U.S. politicians don't want the competition from cannabis.Cannabis Hemp - The Invisible Prohibition Revealed:
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/invpro.htmlSHADOW OF THE SWASTIKA - The Real Reason the Government Won't Debate Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp Re-legalization:
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.html
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Comment #16 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 09, 2003 at 16:27:38 PT:
!!!H E L P!!!
Would somebody P L E A S E take the microphone away from Johnny?!
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Comment #15 posted by global_warming on October 09, 2003 at 16:02:24 PT
The 21st Century
Hi All--"It is the one place in the hemisphere where things are going the wrong way," said Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has been an outspoken critic of a proposed Canadian law to ease penalties on marijuana possession." Hey Mr. John, welcome to the 21st century, smell the coffee, wake up, all of the civilized nations on this PLANET have accepted the FACT, Mary Jane is here to stay, if you have such a problem with this, you should take your Puritanical Outlook and shove it up your Witches Broom..I have faith, that the Truth Shall Set Us Free, we will uncover the facts, that you have been on the payroll of the Mafia-Drug Cartel Bosses-Mr. Big..the ones you never hear of, the ones who rub elbows with the finest gentry, the most excellent barons and baronesses, the ones who pay your miserable salary, so that you may rot in HELL, for the crimes that you are supporting, ..Yes Mr. John, we are a community, and we will see your ways, we will recognize your Bosses, and they will be humbled, for the weight of this world cannot be held on the backs of the few rich and comfortable,..Yes Mr. John, keep those jails a comin', keep those prisons full, the day is comin', when you must choose, to fill your belly or fill your prisons, the day will come, when your gulags will be empty, like your blind ambitions that cloud 
this world, and on that day, I shall know, that GOD is comin, to rescue the few, that abstained from judgement and abstained from greed.gw
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Comment #14 posted by observer on October 09, 2003 at 15:43:39 PT
Walters and Scapegoating
Walters: "Shipping poison to the United States is our business."re: poison''Our official understanding of the drug problem rests on a fallacious scapegoat-type imagery and a correspondingly erroneous approach to remedying it. For example, we conceptualize self-medication -- say, with marijuana -- as self-poisoning rather than as self-pleasuring, and then rely on this image of the drug as poison to justify using state power to punish people who possess marijuana. Although in his important study, The Scapegoat, René Cirard does not refer to drugs as scapegoats, he remarks -- apropos of our scientific progress from the Middle Ages to the present -- that "frequent references to poisons" has remained a constant feature of the imagery and rhetoric of scapegoating. "Chemistry," he concludes, "takes over from purely demoniac influence."13 The chemistry that takes over, I would add, is not pharmacological chemistry, but ceremonial chemistry.''Thomas Szasz, Our Right To Drugs, 1992, pp.62-63
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0815603339 
http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pot the very latest breaking pot news
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Comment #13 posted by Virgil on October 09, 2003 at 15:42:09 PT
Stuff
Just because I am for regulation of cannabis like T&A does not mean I am soft on crime at heart. I am not a big supporter of the death penalty as it really makes no difference what I think, but I could make allowance when we have mass murder imposed around the globe. My cousin had a piece of a truck stolen once by people wanting to return to Oklahoma from SC. It broke down in Tennessee and at the trial where they were convicted of theft, the judge asked my cousin at sentencing what he should do with them. He said, "South Carolina still has death by electric chair." Anyway I liked "Hung by the tonque" as it would make a good line in a song, The Legend of Johnny Pee. It is good poetic justice.Not to ramble, Frontline will have a special on PBS tonight titled, "TRUTH, WAR AND CONSEQUENCES." - http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/arts/television/09STAN.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1065737887-p9rxQllfEhAEQN08MGn+qgBut more importantly as background information there is this link up at buzzflash to an article titled "Canadians have frosty views of U.S. policies"- http://www.freep.com/news/nw/can2_20031002.htmIt does not go into the softwood tariff put on Canadian timber over 2 years ago or the effect of the hempfood ban by the US. Also Canada grows a lot of canola and Monsanto has a genetic strain that is immune from the poison they sell to kill every thing else, just like they do with soybeans. They are trying to charge people that have had their crop tainted with this patentable strain $15 an acre if there is any plant at all in the crop. Then their is the issue of the selling of pollution rights that allow plants near the border to put more sulfur in the air than the laws before Bu$h allowed and this increases acid rain in Canada.Now back to the article- why doesn't Johnny Pee go up there and debate them? I guess he realizes CP is indefensible and he is blind but not that blind.
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 09, 2003 at 15:36:34 PT
News Brief - AFP
US Slams Canada as Lax on DrugsOctober 9, 2003WASHINGTON (AFP) - US drug czar John Walters slammed Canada for relaxing its drug policies and reserved special criticism for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who suggested he may try marijuana when he retires. 
  Canada is "the one place in the hemisphere where things are going the wrong (way) rapidly," Walters said in remarks to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "It's the only country in this hemisphere that's becoming a major drug producer instead of reducing their drug production," he said. Walters slammed Chretien, in particular, for recently joking that he may smoke pot once he retires in February 2004. "I don't know what is marijuana. Perhaps I will try it when it will no longer be criminal. I will have my money for my fine and a joint in the other hand," Chretien told the Winnipeg Free Press in an interview published last week. Many Canadians "are concerned about the behavior of their prime minister, joking that he is going to use marijuana in his retirement. "They're ashamed," Walters said. In July 2001, Ottawa made "medical marijuana" use legal for hundreds of chronically ill patients. Under proposed legislation, people caught with small amounts of the drug would only pay a fine. 
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Comment #11 posted by 420toker on October 09, 2003 at 15:08:09 PT
I agree
Tell ya what Johnny you quit poisoning us with the white stuff and we will quit trying to help Americans stand their own country buy exporting weed.
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on October 09, 2003 at 14:21:12 PT:
So, what you gonna do, Johnny Pee?
Invade Canada? Gawd, I am so bloody embarassed sometimes when such a rube arrogantly presumes to speak for *all* of us.Funny, I don't hear too much from our very polite and long suffering neighbors to the North about the trans-shipment of cocaine from South through Central America into the US and up to Canada, Johnny. How many foolish Canux have stuffed that crap up the honker and croaked from it? How many Canuck families wish they'd never heard of the stuff? Most important of all, how many wish that the US would stop allowing itself to be a base for 'shipping poison'? It has to be warehoused somewhere en route; the distances are just are too great for nightly overland runs, the safest of methods. If anything is poisonous, Johnny-me-lad, its that damnable white river. Weed's never killed anybody; do you dispute that? *Dare* you dispute that? You offered to debate, if my ostensibly THC-damaged memory recalls correctly. Bruce Mirkin of MAPP has very generously accepted, and is quite willing. What's the matter, Johnny? Afraid of a level playing field? Lack the convictions necessary for a sleeves-up, gloves-off debate? Prove to us, Johnny Pee, that you have what it takes to speak for America...or just plain zip the lip and slink away. This is getting tiresome.
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Comment #9 posted by MikeEEEEE on October 09, 2003 at 14:18:15 PT
darwin
I'm not exactly sure how the recalls work in other states but the people have spoken, they're not happy. If the people vote for a jerk instead, that may say something about the intelligence level of the audience. Since I don't watch TV I can't say how the masses are affected by the spin.I guess I'd have to say that the recalls work if the majority knows what it's doing -- good luck with that point. And, it may be affected by the political deals we don't know about.
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Comment #8 posted by darwin on October 09, 2003 at 13:46:52 PT
Huh?
MikeEEEEE writes:
"The recalls have put the idiots on notice."What exactly do you mean. In my eyes, the recall has put the idiots in office. The Gubernator has ties with Ken Lay and other oily bastards. Cruz was fighting to reclaim the 9 billion that was bilked out of CA. Forget it now. Ahhnuld will protect his backers. With no political background (or experience, or education) he could get away with sitting on the fence as a moderate and suckering an electorate full of rage. Basically the oil barons stole billions from CA, and now have taken the resulting anger and used it against the democrats to take power in CA, where the '04 presidential race might come down to.This recall is a joke. If MN had a recall law, the Dems and Reps could have recalled Ventura (a true independant with political experience) the day he took office. He only won with like 35-40%! It should take at least 2/3rds to recall.
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Comment #7 posted by Max Flowers on October 09, 2003 at 13:25:38 PT
Sister Somayah
Those bastards who think they're doing "the right thing" chopping that woman's plants down actually *are* doing the right thing in a way. They are so stupid! It's amazing! Every move they make brings us closer to our goals. The outrage that will spill forth from this high-profile abuse of power in high-profile L.A. with a new high-profile governor coming in will be yet another nail in the coffin of the PR aspect of the terminally wounded, thrashing war on cannabis. Sister Somayah is well known to be a caring African-American activist, with sickle cell anemia I think it is... they have busted her before and it accomplished nothing and she went right back to it. Now it's going to be even worse for the antis when they try to explain why, just like they did with the Corrals, they raid a bona fide medical patient/provider, steal the plants and then not press charges. They are just so lame and stupid, with every move they are hastening the demise of cannabis laws, not enforcing them. I have a feeling this one is going to be a huge mistake for them, and will backfire in a much larger scale than the plants they hacked down. New plants can be grown, but the feds will not be able to reverse the animosity and disgust they will create among the people with this latest cowardly theft of citizens' medicine and property. With any luck, and with Somayah's already-established courage, this injustice will blow up in their faces and become even bigger than Ed Rosenthal's case.Is there a lawyer in the house? Mr. Petersen? Certainly there has to be some kind of potent legal point somewhere in there regarding the LAPD, who are supposed to be protecting CA citizens, colluding with the DEA to bring them in and harass her. She was legal with CA so the LAPD brought in the DEA to do their dirty work. These scumbags are beneath contempt. The time and energy spent on raiding this compassionate woman for plants in her back yard could have been spent fighting much more worthy enemies such as meth or heroin gangs, but no... those people might fight back, so that's too dangerous. What a bunch of cowards! They make me sick.MF
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Comment #6 posted by MikeEEEEE on October 09, 2003 at 13:11:45 PT
After 30 years of failure
Is anyone listening? There won't be any job security in prohibition.Is anyone listening to the Bush administration after all the failures in Iraq and the economy? The recalls have put the idiots on notice.
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Comment #5 posted by darwin on October 09, 2003 at 12:52:58 PT
Is it the politicians or the media
A lot of politicians would not support prohibition if not for fear of being branded as soft on drugs.
I think the media is as guilty, if not more so than the politicians. They whip up the fear of druuugs and an ignorant electorate continues to vote for the status quo because of that fear. How often does mainstream media report a no knock raid on the wrong house or that leads to an unjustified police killing? Compare that to often we see reports of "the bigggest bust in recent history" or scare stories on the NEW drug menace. Why don't Americans get to see DEA agents holding automatic rifles as they bust people in wheelchairs in what should be a state issue? The real evil is not individual politicians (except maybe Souder and a few others), the evil is the big money interests behind the scenes, like Dupont, Merck, Pfizer, and alcohol companies.
These companies drive the media where they want with their advertising money and use this power to control the message we see and hence, maintain their profitability. The common American can't even speak with their wallet by not buying their stock. We've all fallen for 401K's and IRA, where we have little influence over where our retirement is invested, and are hence, inadvertantly supporting the very organizations that fund the fight against us. We need to break this relationship between corporate interests, media, and politicians before we can fix anything.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 09, 2003 at 12:51:26 PT
Thanks EJ
That's terrible!http://www.geocities.com/sistersomayah/
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Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on October 09, 2003 at 12:51:18 PT
Virgil this isn't ancient Rome
Well, er, um, not exactly...
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on October 09, 2003 at 12:45:11 PT
Breaking news
The DEA just visited Somayah, cut down all her plants. One was so big it took six men to chop it down. They took her in and then brought her home.It was based on a report from the LAPD officers who have it in for her.
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on October 09, 2003 at 12:10:51 PT
Hung by the tongue
Now a lot of people do not think I am serious when I say hang them all. Actually, I am quite serious that I think it would be true justice when every member of Congress was physically hung for murder and conspiracy of murder for their total prohibition of cannabis. That would require a justice system instead of an injustice system so that would not happen. But for Walters, justice would be to hang him by his tonque until dead. It would only be fitting to be on the steps of the Supreme Court and with a hemp rope of course.Now for real world consequences of this madman's words that appear above, his upsidedown thinking will get converted into Canadian freedom and sovereignty. They will receive it the same way I receive it- the guy is a madman- 100% crazy. Please continue the lunacy, madman. It has the exact opposite effect of what your upsidedown thinking is telling you. What is really sad is that half the country thinks Bu$h is doing a satisfactory job. Seems like an upsidedown conclusion to me.This is a figurative nightmare. Cannabis Prohibition is indefensible
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