Get Involved! Help Defeat Prohibition

We need to get a lot of work done to legalize marijuana, here's some ways to help!

Howto: Volunteer Get active helping build activism in Canada!

Howto: Organize Protests: May 1, 2010 is the Global Marijuana March, and of course there is always 4/20 (April 20) and Cannabis Day, July 1. We need organizers working across Canada on these and other events.

Recruit new members: Send that link out over Facebook and Twitter, encourage your friends to sign up! WhyProhibition.ca will is the basis for a number of important campaigns, including a new BC referendum to legalize Marijuana. We need people to register so they can find out about upcoming protests, rallies, and laws.

Submitting Content: We need bloggers, researchers, newshawks, and activists to get posting! You can use the userblogs section to post blogs, news, upload files (especially pamphlets, we're looking to host as many drug policy pamphlets as we can find!)

Howto: Get involved in your community: One of the most important things you can do is get involved in your local community. Join other activist groups, volunteer at soup kitchens, march in local parades. When we get involved, not only do we reach out to potential allies, but we also represent the best of our community to people who may be unfamiliar with it. If you're unsure about a group, attend some meetings and see if they're amenable to drug policy reform.

Help Free Marc Emery!

What you can do:

Call:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Ottawa Office: (613) 992-4211
Calgary Office: (403) 253-7990
 
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson
Ottawa: (613) 995-1547
Local Office:(905) 353-9590, (905) 871-9991

Sample script: "I am a voter and I am outraged at what the government is doing to Marc Emery. I urge you to NOT extradite Marc Emery to the USA. I and many others are deeply moved and angered by Marc Emery's imprisonment. Free Marc Emery!"

Conservatives to ask top court to rule on Vancouver safe-injection site

By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun

The federal government is appealing the recent ruling of the B.C. Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

B.C.'s appeal court, in a 2-1 decision last month, upheld the lower court ruling that dismissed the federal government appeal.

The appeal ruling allowed Insite, the first legal supervised injection site in North America, to continue operating on East Hastings in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Insite was served notice Tuesday that the Conservative federal government plans to appeal the B.C. Appeal Court ruling, which was handed down Jan. 15.

Provinces to spend $2.7B on prisons

By. Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star

OTTAWA–Provinces are spending $2.7 billion to expand or replace aging and overcrowded jails across Canada – with little public scrutiny, an Ottawa researcher says.

Justin Piché, a PhD candidate in sociology at Carleton University, obtained data through freedom of information requests, email and phone contact with each of the provinces and territories.

In all, Piché says at least 22 new "bigger and better" provincial-territorial prisons are at various stages of completion, some still in the planning or early tendering stages. If all are built, he says, they will increase the capacity of provincial adult jails by at least 5,788 beds.

Victoria Police Censor Officers who Oppose Prohibition

WhyProhibition.ca is joining with LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and the BCCLA (British Columbia Civil Liberties Association) in opposing the decision by Victoria Police to censor one of their officers. It's clear that police departments across Canada and the United States consistently speak out in favour of prohibition, including producing, in the case of the RCMP, bogus research to support prohibition.

Join with LEAP, the BCCLA and WhyProhibition.ca and demand the Victoria Police stop this selective censorship of their officers who choose to speak out against the failure of drug prohibition.

Sign the Petition: http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com/freespeech

 

Canada's Federal Jail population set to rise 70 percent

By. Kat Lee
THE CITY is banking on the federal government sending more people to jail for longer periods of time if its hope of an economy-boosting jail here is to be realized.

A city co-sponsored feasibility study lists three pieces of legislation the federal government wants passed, each one of which would result in more people headed for federal jail cells.

One piece of legislation calls for minimum sentences for serious drug cases, another would end the practice of lopping off two days for every day a person is sentenced if that person has been in jail since first arrested and another would impose mandatory jail time for fraud.

The new sentence requirements could boost the federal jail population by 70 per cent, the study suggests.

Harper Government Borrowing, Increasing Taxes, to Build Prisons - Crime at 30 year low

By Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service

OTTAWA — The head of Canada's prison system says there will be "major construction initiatives" in the coming years to cope with federal legislation to imprison more offenders longer — an assertion backed by new spending estimates showing a 43 per cent increase in penitentiary capital costs next year.

Don Head, commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, set the stage for prison expansion in a recent e-mail, obtained by Canwest News Service.

In a brief note to staff sent on Dec. 23, Head announced changes to the senior ranks of the prison system "to best prepare itself to implement many of the changes associated with several of the pieces of legislation that will result in a growth of our inmate population."

Harper tough on crime? Not at all

Despite having spent most of last year arguing that his “tough on crime” agenda was urgently needed, Stephen Harper killed off most of it when he prorogued Parliament.

This means the legislation will have to be re-introduced and debated all over again over the next few months.

It is also a second chance for Canadians to see that his initiatives aren’t going to accomplish much, but they are going to cost taxpayers a lot of money.

Harper’s agenda involves increasing the amount of time people have to serve in jail or prison (at taxpayer expense) by imposing more minimum sentences, and making it harder for inmates to get parole.

More time, he argues, should equal less crime. It’s a simple solution and like most simple solutions to complex problems, it doesn’t work.

In real life, there is little correlation between crime rates and sentence lengths. Most people who break the law don’t stop to consider the consequences; they act on impulse, they may be under the influence or they don’t think they’ll get caught. Whatever the case, stiffer sentences do not stop people from breaking the law.

NYPD’s quotas mean innocent people being arrested: officer

A New York City police officer is alleging that his department has arrest quotas that result in innocent people being arrested.

Officer Adil Polanco told WABC channel 7 in New York that his precinct -- the 41st in the Bronx -- has a "20 and one" monthly quota, meaning each officer is expected to issue at least 20 summonses per month, and carry out at least 1 arrest.

If the officer doesn't meet the quota, the result can be denial of overtime pay, shift changes and denial of days off, Polanco said.

The force's "obsession with keeping crime stats down" is resulting in innocent people being arrested and charged, and often the targeted are minorities, reports WABC.

Ontario School Board Fails in Attempt to Expell Student for At Home Marijuana Use

Posted By KENNEDY GORDON, Peterburough Examiner

Jean Grant says her son was a test case for a new school rule -- and her battle with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board was a test case for parents who refuse to back down.

"I want other parents to know what school boards can do, what principals and vice-principals have the power to do," Grant said Monday.

In what Grant calls the first case of its kind, the Superior Court of Justice rejected an appeal filed by the board, which wanted to keep her son out of high school and was fighting a Child and Family Services Review Board decision to keep him in class.

Grant's son, now 18, was expelled from PCVS in December 2008 after a school investigation determined he and several other boys had consumed and sold marijuana.

Board officials could not be reached for comment.

Grant admits her son used marijuana, but not on school property.

Slowly, states are lessening limits on marijuana

By William M. Welchand Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less.

"I ask kids all the time, and they'll tell you it is easier to get marijuana than a six-pack of beer because that is controlled by the government," he said, noting that drug dealers don't ask for IDs or honor minimum age requirements.

Former Conservative MP Dodges Cocaine, Drunk Driving Charges

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News

Drunk driving and drug possession charges were dropped against former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer in court Tuesday, but he pleaded guilty to a lesser offence of careless driving.

Jaffer, 38, was ordered to pay a $500 fine within a month. He also donated $500 to the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, his lawyer said.

An agreed statement of fact read by Crown lawyer Marie Balogh said that last Sept. 10, an Ontario Provincial Police constable clocked Jaffer driving 93 kilometres an hour in a 50 km/h speed zone in Palgrave, northwest of Toronto.

The village is in the southern Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey held by his wife, federal Tory cabinet minister Helena Guergis.

Jaffer said he had consumed two beers two hours earlier and was travelling home to Angus, Ont., from Toronto, the statement said. The constable said Jaffer failed his breathalyzer test.

WhyProhibition.ca can show you your MP automatically!

Hey WhyProhibition.ca users!
 
If you're logged in to WhyProhibition.ca you can now see your Member of Parliament on the Top Right hand corner of the page.
 
If you've just created an account, the information wont be there right away, as we're just testing out the software for the first time.
 
After we've finished working out the kinks, we can start to identify your Provincial representatives, city representatives, local news media, and even potential friends!
 
Stay tuned to WhyProhibition.ca for more new and useful features. In the meantime, spread the word so your friends are signed up as well!

India celebrates festival of colours with holy marijuana milkshakes

By. France24

Holi is a spring Hindu festival celebrated in north India, well known around the world as an extravagant celebration of colours. But lesser-known is that it’s also traditionally celebrated with marijuana milkshakes.

The March festival (the exact date depends on the lunar calendar) is an occasion for men, women and children to play wildly with water guns and coloured powder. The partying also includes a drink that’s traditionally made with cannabis, which is technically illegal in India.

"Bhang thandai"- an almond-flavoured milkshake blended with cannabis - is widely served, from upper class private parties to street revelries. On this particular day, its use is completely acceptable for all adults, from youths to parents and grandparents.

Colorado State Senators send letter to Attorney General asking DEA to back off on medical marijuana raids

By Michael Roberts
House Bill 1284, Representative Tom Massey's legislative attempt to regulate Colorado's medical marijuana industry, was presented to the House judiciary committee last week, with plenty of law enforcement types testifying against it -- a process that advocate Rob Corry found unseemly.

Now, another curve ball. Massey and state senator Chris Romer, a co-sponsor of the bill, have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking that the Drug Enforcement Administration, which made some high-profile raids on medical marijuana enterprises -- most notably the home grow of Highlands Ranch's Chris Bartkowicz -- give it a rest while the lawmakers try to find what's described as "that rational middle ground."

Public safety minister's ruling inadequate, judge rules

Justice calls minister's refusal to let Canadian return from Costa Rica to serve his time ‘arbitrary;' lawyer alleges racial bias

By. Paul Koring, Globe and Mail

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has been ordered to reconsider the Harper government's refusal to allow a Canadian citizen to return home to serve out his prison sentence.

In an unprecedented federal court ruling, the minister was given 45 days to explain and justify or reconsider the decision. It seems “inconsistent and arbitrary, and therefore it lacks transparency,” ruled Mr. Justice Robert Barnes of the Federal Court.

Yavar Hameed, the lawyer representing Dwayne Grant, the Canadian black man denied permission to return home, said he believed bias played a role in the Harper's government's decision. Mr. Grant, 26, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Costa Rica where he was convicted, along with three others, of attempting to smuggle cocaine into Canada. He application to transfer home was rejected last July by then public safety minister Peter Van Loan. Two of those convicted with him – both women and also black – were allowed to return to Canada by Mr. Van Loan and are now free.