cannabisnews.com: Vancouver Mayor Touts Pot Legalization





Vancouver Mayor Touts Pot Legalization
Posted by CN Staff on May 09, 2004 at 08:17:10 PT
By The CTV.ca News Staff
Source: CTV
Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell has weighed in on the marijuana debate, and left no doubt where he stands. Speaking at a conference on legalizing pot Saturday, Campbell said he supports the plan but added it pot were available legally, he would "tax the hell out of it."Campbell said every tax dollar would go to health care, noting that without the pot industry, British Columbia would be in a recession. If pot ever is legalized, don't expect Campbell to spark up.
"In fact, I've never even smoked marijuana," the mayor told the conference. "My biggest fear is that I may like it more than cabernet, and then what the hell am I going to do?"Campbell says it's time to take the marijuana industry out of criminals' hands."What I do want is to stop seeing people go to jail. I want to stop seeing the waste of resources, our resources, taxpayers' resources," he explained. According to the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which helped organize the conference, punishing pot users doesn't make sense. The herb has been around for centuries but was only declared illegal about 80 years ago."You have to speak out," says the BCCLA's policy director, Kirk Tousaw. "You have to say, 'Hey, I do smoke cannabis and I'm not a criminal.' That's the next step people have to take. They have to come out of the closet."The forum's keynote speaker was Conservative senator Claude Nolin, who recently completed an 18-month Senate inquiry into marijuana use and laws in Canada, concluding marijuana should be legalized. Ottawa's plan to decriminalize marijuana is about to go up in smoke. The legislation hasn't made it to a final vote -- and won't if the prime minister calls an election. Still the issue will continue to burn, with the NDP vowing to make legalization a major election platform.Source: CTV (Canada)Published: May 09, 2004Copyright: 2004 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. Website: http://www.ctv.ca/Contact: newsonline ctv.ca Related Articles & Web Sites:BCCLAhttp://www.bccla.org/Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmMayor To Spark Pot Talkhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18816.shtmlLegalize Pot, Says Mayor Campbellhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16423.shtmlLegalize Marijuana, Senate Committee Sayshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13989.shtml 
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Comment #10 posted by rchandar on May 09, 2004 at 21:42:41 PT:
cloud7
yeah--I do think that when we really get some headway in the political world, and get them to approve legalization--wherever that may be, yes, some amount of compromise with the mental health or the treasury system will be an important part of drafting it as a sensible policy acceptable to a majority of citizens.if that ever happens...it did happen in the netherlands, but no one's followed that lead yet.-rchandar
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Comment #9 posted by rchandar on May 09, 2004 at 21:39:15 PT:
global warming
gw,you write good. We need more of this kind of moral consciousness in our activism and in our prose.--rchandar
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Comment #8 posted by afterburner on May 09, 2004 at 20:19:40 PT
Israel: Police Snuff Out Marijuana Day in Tel Aviv
Israel: Police Snuff Out 'Marijuana Day' in Tel Aviv 09 May 2004 
Jerusalem Post 
http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v04/n699/a04.html?397'The police knew I was supposed to speak at 4:00 p.m., and I interpret what happened here now as a suppression of free speech and not allowing a Knesset member to express his opinion." Bronfman said that the police told him the event was shut down due to instances of drug use, but the MK emphasized that rather than ending the event the police should have arrested only those who were using drugs. 'According to a copy of the Bronfman's undelivered speech received by the Jerusalem Post, the MK intended to say that although he does not support drug use, he believes the current "scare campaign" is a total failure. Bronfman was to announce his intention to introduce two related laws in the Knesset. 'One would allow persons with various illnesses whose symptoms can be alleviated by marijuana to obtain a prescription for medicinal marijuana directly from a doctor, whereas currently they must go to the director general of the health ministry or via a special panel. 'The second law would decriminalize use of marijuana and hashish.' 
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Comment #7 posted by Virgil on May 09, 2004 at 17:15:31 PT
The Pharmafia wants the public AIDS money
The Pharmafia wants the $15 billion they had the Congress approve for AIDS. It is there money and no one else can have it. They want the money or everyone can die. It was Merck that introduced AIDS to the world and now they want to reap the profits of this man-made virus- http://tinyurl.com/2xfuu
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Comment #6 posted by Jose Melendez on May 09, 2004 at 16:05:11 PT
also, join http://leap.cc
http://www.copvcia.com/
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Comment #5 posted by global_warming on May 09, 2004 at 15:30:10 PT
Pay Tax In Your Blood
Even the DEA folks hate this system for blood, for each sweaty dollar that the Government takes, is an ounce , a pound of flesh, a bucket of sweat, a liter of human blood, what is it worth? The fat and the mighty that seek the goals of leadership, shall come to nothing, for their rotting bodies, shall be as silent as the masses, that shall rest alongside their graves, there is no hiding place, and the justice that will reveal their atrocities, remains and demands an answer, the mystery of this existence, beckons us all, slowly and secretly, the grave calls us all, yet we toy with folly, while our brothers and sisters sry from the grave.The cries of the oppressed resound in eternity, you can hide for a small time, the truth will survive, like rhe day and night, rhe cycles of reality, expose the truth, and justice, who has been mocked, will revenge upon those fools that have prospered in folly, and the fruits of justice will bear weighty upon the souls of the jesters.With each lie, the chain is forged, the weight will pull you under, so that night and day, will not be a memory.There is no heaven or hell, there is reality, there is this world, there is the unknown, and it it those loose strings that will wind around your eyes and pull you down into the bowels of the abyss.We pray for your errant souls..gw
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Comment #4 posted by RasAric on May 09, 2004 at 14:28:36 PT
"Uncle Scam" get the hell out of my life
I despise this government and the way they think they can rob every person numerous times over; income tax, sales tax, tax this, tax that...ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX????? Talk about being robbed! AND I THOUGHT DUAL TAXATION WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It just means that nobody really own their home.  Tax my weed you bastards, go ahead, I still refuse to pay you.U.S. GOV CAN KISS MY A**
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Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on May 09, 2004 at 10:47:09 PT
No.
I must say, we have been taxed enough. At a minimum, there must be raw generic living access to seed. sprout leaf and flowers and unrestrained trade:http://65.18.211.65/terror/potusHint.htmlIf the market supports branded and taxed products, those MUST NOT EVER AGAIN be to the exclusion of the ancient and honorable trade in and uses of herbal foods, supplements, medications and intoxicants.Period. - jm
 
 - - -http://pipepeace.com/vote
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on May 09, 2004 at 09:34:30 PT:
Cloud, the market will eventually dominate
As it usually does.Hardly anybody grows tobacco in their backyards anymore. It's simply too easy to purchase tobacco products at almost every (ahem; for once they got it right) 'drug store', petrol station, you name it. But I've known some people who *have* grown their own. From seeds readily available at the local plant nursery. I even knew one person, a non-smoker of *anything* once tell me she grew it because of it's 'pretty flower'. (She was a gifted gardner, with all manner of exotic plants kept perfectly healthy.)I suspect the market would shake itself out in a manner similar to alcohol: the weed analogs of beer and wines at one end of the spectrum, and hash and 'pollen' acting as analogs to Everclear, vodka and 151 proof rum at the other end. Only logical...and profitable.But I suspect that there might be a tax on seeds. So be it. So long as the market is not monopolized, I, for one, would have no qualms. The taxation aspect is inevitable, as Uncle always has his hands out. But this is one tax burden I wouldn't mind bearing.
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Comment #1 posted by cloud7 on May 09, 2004 at 08:45:06 PT
"tax the hell out of it"
I understand how this distances him from being "pro-legalization" and would help to sway the middle ground, but we are almost at the point of creating large black markets for cigarettes and alcohol here in the U.S. because of excessive taxes. People are crossing state lines they save so much from one state to another. Let's not maintain a smaller blackmarket to get rid of the larger one. Id rather overtaxed, legal availability than nothing, but I would absolutely need the option to grow my own. If "taxing the hell out of it" is what it takes, well, I can suck up a few bucks rather than a few days in jail.
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