cannabisnews.com: Read Between The Lines





Read Between The Lines
Posted by CN Staff on July 26, 2004 at 07:29:10 PT
Editorial - Sound Off
Source: Ottawa Citizen 
Claims by politicians and police that we need tougher drug-law enforcement to stop Canadian marijuana flooding the United States have become pretty much conventional wisdom. It's time that changed.Because of this conventional wisdom, we can expect the re-introduction of legislation raising sentences on growers when Parliament convenes. But before that happens, we would suggest parliamentarians take note of the latest RCMP report on drugs in Canada because, whether the Mounties intended it or not, the report contains powerful evidence that the conventional wisdom is completely wrong.
Exports of what is described in Canadian law as "marihuana" -- the law's spelling, like its thinking, is still stuck in the 1930s -- are indeed a "thriving industry," the RCMP notes in The Drug Situation in Canada, 2003. But for the first time, the Mounties put that industry in perspective. "Most of the marihuana available on the American illicit market still originates primarily in the U.S. and in Mexico. Canada ranks far below Mexico as a source for the U.S."Far below, indeed. In 2003, the report states, U.S. Customs seized over 400,000 kilograms of pot on the border with Mexico. In the same year, it netted a little more than 15,000 kilograms on the Canadian border. Seizures are only rough indicators of what's really going on in black markets, but these numbers suggest Mexican pot exports are 27 times higher than ours. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/lines.htmSource: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Published: July 26, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Ottawa CitizenContact: letters thecitizen.canwest.comWebsite: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmTight Border a Low Note for The High Tradehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19230.shtmlPot is Canadian Drug of Choice, Statscan Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19213.shtmlCanada's Pot Exports Overstated: RCMPhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19206.shtml 
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Comment #12 posted by BGreen on July 27, 2004 at 20:45:52 PT
re: comment #9
Thanks, ekim.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #11 posted by unkat27 on July 27, 2004 at 18:02:13 PT
I do Research
Please don't get me wrong, Rev. I do research, but the problem I have with research on places like China is, I don't know anybody in China, I've never been there, and as far as I know, they are a 'communist' country, which translates over here to 'anti-democratic', 'anti-American', and 'totalitarian'. Excuse me, but they said all the same things about the USSR and after it fell, actual CIA agents admitted that one of the books they peddled in the USA about the USSR was actually BS, designed specifically to make Americans and anyone else that read it 'hate' the USSR with a passion. It was BS! They admitted it! After turning countless thousands of Americans against the USSR, they admitted the book was a book of lies and exaggerations, and that the USSR portrayed in it wasn't half as bad as they made it out to be. How do I know there isn't a similar misinformation campaign going on now, directed at China? How do I know that AI and other orgs like HRW and CHRC haven't been infiltrated by CIA? Do you know for a fact? From what I know of the CIA, they can infiltrate anything, they're freakin infiltration experts, it's a part of their job. Bottom line, from where I stand, I don't like people who promote hate and I don't believe in hating people just because someone told me there was a reason to, without real, positive proof. Now, the only people I have any real positive proof that deserve my hate, those are the same guys who specialize in hurting people right here in my own backyard, the drug-warriors, many who work for DARE today, were once CIA commie-killers in eastern Europe. Ekim, despite my doubt about your earlier post, believe it or not, I did research for Howard Wooldridge and LEAP last year, before running into tech. problems with my com. Great guys, we need more like them. Keep spreading the word, together we'll put an end to the madness. 
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Comment #10 posted by BGreen on July 27, 2004 at 17:19:12 PT
Believe what you want, unkat27
Research nothing and repeat hearsay.You know nothing about the 40 year history of Amnesty International. To even mention the name of Rand Beers shows a lack of even the slightest knowledge of AI.Once again a simple search turns up many criticisms of Rand Beers from AI but nary a kind word.The only criticisms of AI I can find actually come from countries such as China and Singapore, not exactly believable bastions of freedom.AI has been a constant critic of the war against Iraq and the atrocities perpetrated by the US, hardly the actions of a US propaganda organization like you seem to think AI is.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #9 posted by ekim on July 27, 2004 at 16:36:50 PT
Please hear Howard Speak
Sorry to read of your loss BG. 
hello 27, did you catch the first comment. where a school administrator who admitted he planted pot in a locker to try to get a student expelled. this happen not far from me here in the US. Please join with us here in trying to inform oneanother on the War on Cannabis.
 
Howard spoke today at the Waverly Rotary, the Head of the Chamber of
Commerce in MI.was there as well. All forty something of the Rotartairans in
attendance seemed to agree with Mr. Wooldridge that the costly failed drug
war should be ended. I urge all those who feel the same to write or call the Chamber and tell
them Drug testing for Cannabis should stop. That good working people should
not be jailed and forced to loose there jobs and children for failing a
Cannabis test.Law Enforcement Against Prohibition:
http://www.leap.cc/events/events.php
Jul 27 04 Dearborn Fairlane Rotary 07:00 AM Howard Wooldridge Dearborn
Michigan USA
 After cruising into town, Board Member Howard Wooldridge breakfasts with
memebers of the Dearborn Fairlane Rotary to discuss the financial and social
impact of the failed war on drugs.Jul 27 04 Delta-Waverly Rotary Club 12:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Lansing
Michigan USA
 Members of the Delta-Waverly Rotary Club lunch with Board Member Howard
Wooldridge to discuss alternatives to the failed war on drugs.Jul 27 04 New Boston / Huron Twp Rotary 06:30 PM Howard Wooldridge New
Boston Michigan USA
 Board Member Howard Wooldridge meets with members of the New Boston /
Huron Twp Rotary to discuss issues related to America's failed war on drugs.Jul 28 04 Woodhaven Rotary 07:30 AM Howard Wooldridge Woodhaven Michigan USA
 Board Member Howard Wooldridge breakfasts with members of the Woodhaven
Rotary to explore viable alternatives to the failed war on drugs.Jul 28 04 Dearborn Heights Rotary 12:00 PM Howard Wooldridge Dearborn
Heights Michigan USA
 Board Member Howard Wooldridge meets with members of the Dearborn Heights
Rotary to discuss viable alternatives to the failed war on drugs.Jul 29 04 Lincoln Park (Metro Detroit) Rotary 12:00 PM Howard Wooldridge
Lincoln Park Michigan USA
 Honest Abe would be proud of Board Member Howard Wooldridge as he tells
the truth about the failed war on drugs to members of the Lincoln Park
(Metro Detroit) Rotary.
http://www.mmdetroit.org
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Comment #8 posted by unkat27 on July 27, 2004 at 13:51:18 PT
Government-Sponsored Propaganda is Not Necessarily
I've heard that Amnesty International cannot be completely trusted for such reports because is is basically a democratic-based American non-profit org that gets much of its funding through political special-interests and corporations that support bad US foreign policy and the PNAC. On the surface, Amnesty looks to be one of the most humane orgs in the world, but then again, so doesn't the Catholic Church, even while it creates anti-Muslim crusaders and supporters of Zionist Jews. I'm not saying it doesn't report the truth, but what i am saying, however, is that it has been known to exaggerate and report stories that haven't been substantially proven to be fact. In the case of this particular story, i would say it has been 'exaggerated' with the support of guys like Rand Beers blessings, who like to make US drug warriors out to be the good guys and love it when other nations totalitarian methods make their own facist ways look humane.
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Comment #7 posted by BGreen on July 26, 2004 at 20:37:37 PT
A Further Comment
Anybody would be a fool for believing anything anybody writes about anything anywhere when it's something that can be easily refuted or verified by a simple search on Google.com, which is why I found the information I did and formulated a reply 13 minutes after your post.In the time it took you to arbitrarily dismiss the comment by ekim you could have found enough corroborating evidence to save us all a tremendous amount of wasted time.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #6 posted by BGreen on July 26, 2004 at 20:16:19 PT
unkat27, Would you believe the BBC?!
China 'tops execution tables'Some prisoners are executed publiclyChina has been accused by a human rights group of being the world's leading executioner, killing more people than the rest of the world combined in 1999. Amnesty International said in its annual survey on Wednesday that China puts to death an average of 40 of its citizens every week. Even top officials, such as
Cheng Kejie, have not escaped the gallows
The London-based
group said that the figures it compiled from the Chinese media represented only a fraction of the actual total. In 1999, public reports cited 1,263 executions and 2,088 death sentences. Amnesty said it was concerned about what it calls unfair trials and the use of torture to gain confessions. It also slammed China's use of leg irons on condemned prisoners, the humiliation of convicts at mass sentencing rallies and the disregard given to mitigating evidence in some cases. Political prisonersMitigating evidence has
been overlooked, Amnesty says
Amnesty said the
death penalty was being used on political prisoners - "on charges related to state security" - in the separatist-hit Muslim region of Xinjiang, where trials were often conducted in secret. And it said courts were handing out more death sentences during the government's "Strike Hard" campaigns against corruption, drug trafficking and separatism. There were also more executions around public holidays such as the Lunar New Year festival, and on 26 June - international anti-drug day. "These peaks and the use of... 'Strike Hard' campaigns increase the possibility of miscarriages of justice and unequal and arbitrary sentencing," Amnesty said.The Chinese authorities have insisted there are very vigorous standards for deciding capital cases. The report comes ahead of expected strong criticism of China, particularly from the United States, at the United Nations annual human rights forum in Geneva. From 1990 to the end of 1999, Amnesty recorded 27,599 death sentences in China and more than 18,194 executions.
China 'tops execution tables'
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Comment #5 posted by unkat27 on July 26, 2004 at 20:03:36 PT
Proof please
Ekim said at the end of comment #2 that 'China celebrates Anti-Drug day annually by executing half a dozen drug 'criminals'...' I wouldn't believe that second-hand propaganda for a minute without actual first-hand proof. The US Bush regime, like many other US regimes before it, are in the habit of making US drug laws look more civilized by creating BS about other nations which make them look like uncivilized barbarians, knowing, of course, that very few if any Americans can prove them wrong. I say, let's see the proof, otherwise, I just don't buy it anymore.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on July 26, 2004 at 19:20:26 PT
ekim
Thanks! I'm watching MSNBC now because I like Chris Matthews but will check out C-Span then. I read about the problem at the border. It's a never ending list of abuse and hopefully in time we will be able to bring some change. If we can get the laws changed a lot of this abuse will stop I think.PS: Tom and Rollie were shot and killed and that's the one abuse I will never forget. Never!
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on July 26, 2004 at 19:15:01 PT
An unfortunate mistake?
The boy should have grounds for one heck of a lawsuit, it seems.
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Comment #2 posted by ekim on July 26, 2004 at 18:58:21 PT
FoM C=span on Dir TV ch 350 for convention
..but this one from today's papers about the Chinese business person who was roughed up and pepper-sprayed by U.S. Customs at the Peace Bridge crossing near Niagara Falls, NY because they thought she was with some pedestrian pot smuggler they were trying to bust is particularly noteworthy for the quote from the badly-shaken businesswoman (before she flew back to China after the ordeal, rather than continuing with her visit to the U.S.), who said "I have been to many countries in the past for business purposes, and the United States is the most barbarous": Tourist beaten at border U.S. SECURITY INSPECTOR CHARGED By AP 
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2004/07/24/554962.html A HOMELAND Security inspector was charged yesterday with violating a Chinese tourist's civil rights following an altercation that left the innocent woman's eyes nearly swollen shut and bumps and bruises on her face and head. The incident occurred late Wednesday at the Rainbow Bridge on the U.S.-Canadian border in Niagara Falls, after U.S. Customs and border officers confiscated marijuana from a male pedestrian. Officer Robert Rhodes, mistakenly believing the Chinese woman standing nearby was involved, allegedly sprayed her with pepper spray, threw her against a wall, kneed her in the head as she knelt on the ground and struck her head on the ground while holding her hair, according to witnesses. The woman, whose identity was withheld in legal documents, was treated at a hospital and released. "Subsequent investigation reveals (the victim) had nothing to do with the marijuana smuggling but was merely a tourist who happened to be in the area," a supervisor's affidavit said. See also, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/26/content_351467.htm . (Of course, this criticism is coming from a citizen of a less-barbarous nation, China, that annually "celebrates" U.N. Anti-Drugs day by publicly executing a couple of dozen drug "criminals" in a stadium for their celebratory pep rally). 
 
http://www.minorml.org
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Comment #1 posted by john wayne on July 26, 2004 at 13:25:51 PT
an unfortunate mistake
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-10/1090664640264450.xmlThe Kalamazoo GazetteCharges dropped against pot-planting assistant principal
Saturday, July 24, 2004
cmccool kalamazoogazette.com 388-8575 Marijuana possession charges have been dropped against a former school administrator who admitted he planted pot in a locker to try to get a student expelled. Van Buren County Prosecutor Juris Kaps said he dismissed the misdemeanor charge this week against former South Haven High School assistant principal Pat Conroy because a judge ruled a search warrant used to confiscate the marijuana invalid. "My wife, family and I are relieved ... and look forward with moving on with our lives," said Conroy, in a prepared statement. "I made a mistake for which I am truly sorry." Kaps said a technicality that led to the dismissal of the charges -- the arrest warrant carried the incorrect date for the officers' last visit to the school to search for marijuana.[snipped]
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