cannabisnews.com: Boards Go To Pot





Boards Go To Pot
Posted by CN Staff on May 11, 2004 at 11:22:13 PT
By Rob Granatstein, Toronto Sun
Source: Toronto Sun 
What are these guys smoking? That's what one member of York Region's Police Services Board was left wondering after Ontario's Police Services Boards voted down his motion opposing the decriminalization of the possession of marijuana at a conference in Hamilton Saturday. "I was stunned," said David Barrow, a regional councillor from Richmond Hill and chairman of the York Regional Police Services Board. "These aren't hip young guys, or kids of the '70s. 
"We're the old boys," said Barrow, who brought the motion after York's board approved it earlier this year. "I was standing there with my mouth open." Only three people even bothered to speak on the issue before the overwhelming vote against it by dozens of delegates. Barrow said a representative from Welland came up to him after the vote and said he fundamentally disagreed with personal use of the weed being illegal. Alan Heisey, chairman of Toronto's civilian oversight board, voted against the motion, as well. "I personally favour decriminalization," said Heisey, who went to the meeting with no position from his board and voted his preference. Still, Heisey said the decision caught him off guard. "I was surprised," he said. "The vast majority of smalltown Ontario voted in favour of decriminalization." Barrow didn't even fathom the motion could lose after the Canadian Association of Police Boards had already passed the motion. It is mainly the larger police oversight boards that belong to the Canadian organization. York Region, along with many of Toronto's suburbs, is battling major problems with grow houses in their neighbourhoods, Barrow said. Canada is also seen as the biggest exporter of pot to the United States. Note: Police Bosses Favour DecriminalizationNewshawk: CorvallisEric Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)Author: Rob Granatstein, Toronto SunPublished:  Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Canoe Limited PartnershipContact: editor sunpub.comWebsite: http://www.torontosun.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmToo Much Police Time Going To Pot?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18389.shtmlPolice Backing Off on Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16556.shtmlArresting Pot Smokers Not Worth The Effort http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16555.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by mayan on May 11, 2004 at 18:13:52 PT
Overwhelming!
When the "old guard" recognizes the absurdity of prohibition, the wall will come down very quickly. We could be witnessing a backlash against the Bushies and a demand for true Canadian sovereignty. If the rest of the world wants to get back at the American empire they can just legalize the herb(and help expose the 9/11 cover-up)!The way out is the way in...Did Saudi Investors Pressure Disney To Drop Michael Moore's New Film on 9/11?
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/05/11/1341206'BRIT TRAINED FOR 9/11'
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13084544,00.htmlFAA Manager Mangled, Cut, Destroyed 9/11 Tapes:
http://www.avweb.com/newswire/10_20a/briefs/187259-1.htmlEllen Mariani's "9/11 For the Truth" Petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/911ftt/petition.html
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on May 11, 2004 at 15:02:29 PT:
Sometimes, age begets wisdom
*"I was stunned," said David Barrow, a regional councillor from Richmond Hill and chairman of the York Regional Police Services Board. "These aren't hip young guys, or kids of the '70s. "We're the old boys," said Barrow, who brought the motion after York's board approved it earlier this year. "I was standing there with my mouth open."*'The old boys.' Yes, and perhaps old enough to remember what it was like to have inviolate civil liberties. Old enough to remember what it was like to *not* hear prohibition-spawned, dealer-initiated gunfire in your formerly peaceful neighborhoods. Old enough to know that when something causes more harm than good, you stop doing it. As they have chosen to.Of course, if Mr. Barrow doesn't like the ruling, he's quite welcome to emigrate. I'd happily take his place as he heads Southward to his ideolgical home...in (as Richard Cowan so pungently put is) DEALand.
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Comment #3 posted by global_warming on May 11, 2004 at 14:31:04 PT
What are these guys smoking?
Some common sense and compassion..it's about time.
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on May 11, 2004 at 14:08:26 PT
Despite Police Chiefs Blattering of Green Tide...
cannabis sanity is growing among Canadian politicians, judges, and Police Services Boards. More and more people in the know can see that instituting a US-style War on Drugs with its bloated prison system is not only an unnecessary 'big stick' approach to a small social issue, but also highly unaffordable to Canadian provinces and cities experiencing extreme budget challenges. Thank God we have police services boards; maybe they can rein in the over-zealous and self-serving attitudes and political lobbying of the police chiefs.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on May 11, 2004 at 13:03:25 PT
Canada biggest pot exporter to US? - false
Canada is also seen as the biggest exporter of pot to the United States.Weasel words. The insinuation, "Canada is ... the biggest exporter of pot to the United States," is a false insinuation. This is really awful reporting.Not so if interdiction numbers mean anything. "Ottawa has said that Washington's own data shows that of all the illegal pot seized by U.S. agents only 1.5 percent came from Canada," reports Reuters. While Canadian-grown weed can be of higher quality and certainly of higher price than the stuff stamped "hecho en Mexico," what our Southern neighbors lack in quality, they make up for in quantity. Using U.S. Customs data, Shannon McCaffrey of the St. Paul Pioneer Press points out that in fiscal year 2002 authorities snagged 1.2 million pounds of pot coming from Mexico. By comparison, authorities seized less than 20,000 pounds of Canadian cannabis. 
Joel Miller, Reefer Madness Again, 5/10/2004, 
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread18836.shtml

http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/canada
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