cannabisnews.com: It's Time to Declare Peace





It's Time to Declare Peace
Posted by FoM on April 17, 2000 at 08:09:14 PT
By Iain Young
Source: Globe & Mail
It seems we can't turn on our TV sets or open our newspapers in British Columbia without being subjected to a bombardment of media coverage of police raids on marijuana-growing operations. We read strong statements from police all over the lower mainland about "cleaning out these operations." 
Recently, a B.C. judge handed down a stiff sentence as a "deterrent" in one of these cases. Predictably, The Vancouver Sun called this "the right thing to do." Clearly, the provincial establishment is trying to pull together on this get-tough stance on marijuana.But what do they think this hard line will accomplish, and how far would they like it to go? In the United States, the use of what amounts to paramilitary police squads and mass incarceration programs with mandatory life sentences has already been tried. In the past 20 years, Washington's "war on drugs" has cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. It has brought social disaster to hundreds of thousands of families, clogged courts and prisons, bankrolled organized crime by inflating drug prices, and caused widespread corruption among police departments. Yet it has not resulted in any decrease in the availability of drugs.So, given this example, why are our media not asking the get-tough advocates in Canada what they think their proposals would actually achieve?And why haven't the media given much serious consideration to what it is these police raids are trying to wipe out? Marijuana is one of the most intensively researched drugs in history. That research started in the 19th century with the British Commission on Indian Hemp, and has continued in Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Britain and Canada. All the major studies have concluded that, for most people, marijuana is relatively safe, non-addictive and not a gateway to more serious drug use. Indeed, we are now recognizing several beneficial medical effects from its reasonable use.So why are we continuing to criminalize tens of thousands of our citizens every year for using this generally safe, pleasant and beneficial plant? Well, here is the bottom line, and it is something that the media don't have the guts to say. The laws on marijuana are simply wrong. Wrong because they are not based on scientific research or any kind of social reality. Instead, we Canadians are being directed by the socially disastrous ideology of the American war on drugs.If we adopted an intelligent, effective and socially realistic approach to drug control, we would have to be willing to resist the political pressures that would be brought to bear on Canada by the war-on-drugs interests in the United States. The war on drugs is not only unjust and uneconomic, it is unwinnable. The Americans have proved that. Arresting, fining and imprisoning thousands of Canadians to please the Americans by going along with their inhuman, corrupt and socially bankrupt fantasy is not a good idea.So let's start asking our guardians of freedom in the media to stop going along for the ride on this issue. It's time they found the courage to ask our politicians intelligent and honest questions about the future of the war on drugs. It's time our politicians found the courage to give us honest intelligent answers. Iain Young, who runs a Vancouver communications firm, has worked with several not-for-profit organizations on the issue of marijuana use. E-mail: iyoung uniserve.comMonday, April 17, 2000Copyright © 2000 GlobeRelated Articles from Vancouver:Emery's Visit Rekindles City Lights Past Nostalgiahttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5420.shtmlU.S., British Columbia Attempt to Draw the Linehttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5413.shtmlBritish Properties a High-Class Home to Marijuana Growshttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4660.shtmlhttp://google.com/search?lc=&num=10&q=cannabisnews+Vancouver+site:cannabisnews.com
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Comment #11 posted by djzodiac on January 23, 2002 at 01:00:13 PT:
I hear ya
I hear ya weed Chicky person dude,heh...its sad to see something so amazing go down drain like waste,It breaks my heart too. When I was up north the raided a field with 8.million dollars worth of weed, god did it make me mad,we need to stop dis non-sence and legalize it or something
Snatcherz wicked Clown Style
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Comment #10 posted by weed chicky on August 23, 2001 at 02:16:51 PT:
yeahhhhhhh weed fuckn rocks!!!!
yeah, i didnt read anything but just wanted ta say weed fuckn rocks! smoke more of it! its the like 23rd or sumthin n i just saw a drug raid on tha news, seriously i had fuckn tears in my eyes! they had fuckn mass garbage bags full of fuckn huge ass buds!!!!!!! (tears are cumin back!) anyways i hope sumone has a mass ass platain tha size of a county sumwhere(near me) n id fuckn like to see wat da piggers would do out it!!!!!!!! laterz!!!!!!smoke weed every day!!!!!!
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Comment #9 posted by silentninja2000 on April 23, 2001 at 11:32:36 PT
weed
I've smoked weed now for about 19yr. It can cure a stomach ache , headache, car sickness,inlighten,some of my best building ideas have been when i'm stoned,i'm more creative,and easier to get a long with. (so my wife say's) But somethings pot wont do is, make you go crazy,and shoot or kill someone,O.D.,wreak your car head on kill someone else,or rob. The one thing we stoner's have to worry about is there a 7-11 open!
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Comment #8 posted by Jen on March 10, 2001 at 10:59:23 PT:
Pot legalization
smoking pot is not like smoking crack or shooting up dope. From personal use, I have found that it makes me more creative in doing work. When high on pot, I right some of my best wok. Marijiuana should be legalized for those over the age of 21.
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Comment #7 posted by Juan on May 03, 2000 at 07:55:34 PT:
legalize hemp
America cannot be at peace it gots to much of a violent past to be at peace, the coldwar is over now the war on drugs.but this war is different than any other war,this war is against its own citizens.Marijuana was highly exeptedin this countryduring the cold war even thou there were laws against it, now random drug test are putting fathers out of work keeping marijuana illigal is making gangsters out of our kids,& they wanted Ellian Gonsalez to stay in America so he could grow to be a gangster too.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on April 18, 2000 at 21:04:05 PT
Drug Situation In Canada 1999 - April 18, 2000
Drug Situation In Canada 1999 - Royal Canadian Mounted Police http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/html/rcmp2.htmProduced by Drug Analysis Section, Criminal Analysis Branch, Criminal Intelligence Directorate March 2000 This report describes illicit drug trafficking activity in Canada in 1999. It is based on information and intelligence gleaned from investigations and seizures conducted not only by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but also by various Canadian agencies and departments involved in drug enforcement.
Drug Situation In Canada 1999 - April 18, 2000
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Comment #5 posted by Alexandre Oeming on April 18, 2000 at 11:49:51 PT:
Re: Kanabys
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I've been ashamed of my status as a US citizen since, oh, about the first time i got high as a freshman in college and saw the drug war in all its non-glory and hypocrisy. I'm 25 now and don't know how much longer i can take this filth. I work with a guy who immigrated from Hungary and asked him how much trouble it is to move across the Pond. I'm referring to the Netherlands, of course. Not b/c i can then get high all i want in their coffeeshops, but rather b/c living in a society that has that much common sense has to be a step up. I'll be checking out the whole scene in May as i vacation in France and Holland. I want to live with common sense, compassion, and freedom from brutality for consenual, adult choices as everyday occurances. It would mean giving up a lot and is not going to be a choice to be made lightly, but i really don't know how much longer i can take this nation's hypocrisy and intolerance. "America! Love it or leave it!" I'm coming to the precipice and might just have to make a choice in the next 5-10 years. *sigh*
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Comment #4 posted by Kanabys on April 18, 2000 at 10:31:42 PT:
I'm an American
And I'm ashamed of it!!! I don't care what anyone thinks, the US gov't has run amok. If I were to go abroad, I would not admit to being from the US. I know for a fact that most of the civilized world thinks (knows) that americans are immoral, stupid and superficial (and the list goes on). But this is for only for the majority of the population. There are the few of us, like the readers of this website for instance, who are more enlightened. I am proud to be in the company of all of you. I would not be surprised if most of you are from another country. We will prevail eventually, but patience is wearing thin. I want badly to be proud of America again, but it's almost impossible for me at this time. Peace
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Comment #3 posted by freedom fighter on April 17, 2000 at 21:55:25 PT
canada the land of freedom
i would move to canada if i could!Oh Land of freedom who finally understood the tryannny!Just a deaf freedom fighter
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Comment #2 posted by John R. Bills on April 17, 2000 at 18:11:42 PT:
Yea Baby Yeah!!!
I second the motion; Hooray for Canada!!!I only wish our own media had the cahones to stand up to the hopeless insanity of the "drug war".
Libertarian Party
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Comment #1 posted by mungojelly on April 17, 2000 at 11:01:28 PT:
hooray for canada!
the more i read this site, the more i like canada! 
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