C-15

C-15 Has Returned - Now Called S-10

Rob Nicholson today reintroduced C-15 as Bill S-10, the bill is slightly different, with mandatory minimum sentences kicking in at 6 plants, not 1. So, to say again, the bill no longer has a mandatory minimum sentence for 1 marijuana plant.
 
That being said, the bill is a disaster for Canada. S-10 will imprison thousands of Canadians for victimless crimes, send people to jail for growing 6 marijuana plants, making any hashish (or baked goods) and a host of other offences.
 
There is no evidence that S-10 will work, indeed, every scientific study says it will fail. We know that prohibition has never worked, and we know that mandatory minimum sentences only increase the violence in our society.
 
Please contact your Member of Parliament (Login to WhyProhibition.ca, your MP will display in the top Right of the page) and let them know you oppose S-10 or any mandatory minimum sentence for marijuana.
 
Additionally, please, call (866) 808-8407 to let the Conservative Party of Canada know you oppose their harmful and dangerous so called "tough on crime" strategy. The evidence is clear, S-10 will do nothing but harm our society and cost billions of dollars. Read more »

Criminal spending

By. The Ottawa Citizen
By the time Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page is through putting a price tag on the federal government's tough-on-crime agenda, even those who support the concept in principle might well be asking: "Why are we doing this?"
 
That could turn into a $10 billion question, or more, before all the costs are tallied, according to some estimates. Page is expected to release a report this week on ongoing and future costs of the government's crime bills, something the federal government has failed to do and may not have even calculated for its own benefit, considering the difficulty both Page's office, MPs, and senators have had gathering financial data. Early indications are that provinces will be on the hook for the bulk of the costs associated with one of those crime bills, the Truth in Sentencing legislation, also known as the two-for-one sentencing law.
 
As Craig Jones, executive-director of the John Howard Society puts it: "The government is asking Parliament to cut a blank cheque on the basis of no research on the cost implications and they are going to be horrendous." Read more »

C-15 to be reintroduced Thursday as S-10

Bill C-15 is likely to be reintroduced this Thursday as bill S-10. The Bill is reported to include the same 9 months for 1 plant provisions and the same 18 months for making hashish provisions; it is expected to cost billions of dollars.
 
Rob Nicholson, the Justice Minsiter is set to spout all the same non-sense as last time, and we at WhyProhibition.ca along with our allies at CSSDP, Cannabis Culture, the Vancouver Dispensary, Toronto Hemp Company, CALM, BC Compassion Club Society, Vancouver Seed Bank, Skunk Magazine, EndProhibition, BC Civil Liberties Association, John Howard Society, UBC Urban Health Research Initiative and many more will be fighting this bill to make sure we defeat it!
 
We need your help to stop S-10 from becoming law and putting all our friends and neighbours in jail. Sign up to WhyProhibition.ca, send an email to your MP, attend a No on S-10 Protest, Phone JAM the Conservatives! Get Involved, get active and help defeat S-10!
 
Together, we beat C-26, together we beat C-15 and together we'll beat S-10! Join today!
 

C-15 is about to be re-introduced - Time to get calling your Senators!

Stephen Harper's Conservative Government has announced plans to re-introduce C-15, mandatory minimum sentences of 6 months for growing even 1 marijuana plant. This bill will be re-introduced in the Senate.
 
This comes on the heals of a report which says that just 1 of the Conservatives so-called "Tough on crime" measures will cost $10 Billion dollars, with their entire agenda uncosted but certainly to cost more. This means that the Harper government plans to cut services and increase taxes, all to pay to throw minor marijuana growers into jail.
 
We need to lobby hard on this, so get ready! We will send out an email as soon as the bill is introduced. We'll need everyone to call every Senator to demand they vote against this costly, failed and disasterous war on drugs. No Mandatory Minimum sentences for marijuana!
 
Here's a list of all Canadian Senators, let them know that we don't want to increase taxes just to Harper can pretend he's tough. Prohibition has failed, let our Senators know!

Tories may revive minimum pot sentences as part of tough-on-crime agenda

By Mike Blanchfield, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The Tories are poised to revive a bill that would impose mandatory-minimum sentences on people convicted of growing small numbers of pot plants.
 
The Conservative government will re-introduce its drug bill this week in the Senate, as part of its continued re-tabling of tough-on-crime legislation that died when the last Parliament was prorogued.
 
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson dropped broad hints Sunday that the new legislation would revive a controversial provision - a mandatory six-month sentence for people convicted of growing as few as five pot plants.
 
The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee altered the Conservative bill in December raising the minimum-sentence provision to convictions for 200 plants, while preserving a judge's discretion for lesser transgressions.
 
At the time, Nicholson criticized the Senate and the Liberals for the changes, but the legislative debate ended when Prime Minister Stephen Harper was able to prorogue Parliament. The prime minister stacked the Senate with additional Conservatives to give them a majority in the upper house over the Liberals. Read more »

Conservative Crime Bills to Cost up to $10 Billion - Parliament Budget Watchdog

By Kathryn May, Ottawa Citizen
 
It appears Parliament saddled taxpayers with a bill worth billions of dollars when it passed a key piece of the Conservatives' law-and-order agenda with no firm handle on its financial impact.
 
Next week, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page is expected to release a report on the first major costing of the truth in sentencing legislation, one of seven tough-on-crime bills. By all accounts, the impact is said to be in the billions — a far cry from the $89 million earmarked in the budget this year and next to cover increased costs, such as building or expanding prisons.
 
Some estimate the cost could hit $8 billion to $10 billion by 2015. "This is the first time this kind of costing has been done," said Craig Jones, executive director of the John Howard Society. "The government is asking Parliament to cut a blank cheque on the basis of no research on the cost implications and they are going to be horrendous." Read more »

Evan Wood: Conservatives should get weak on drugs

By. Evan Wood, National Post
 
Citizens from across the political spectrum have largely considered illicit drugs such as cocaine and marijuana a grave threat to Canadian society. Accordingly, promises to get tough on drugs are proven vote-spinners for politicians coast-to-coast.
 
Not surprisingly, the mandatory minimum sentences for drug law violations proposed by the Harper government prior to prorogation received unconditional support from the federal Liberals. However, in more than four decades since former U.S. president Richard Nixon first declared America’s “War on Drugs,” researchers from across scientific disciplines have been closely examining the impacts of law enforcement strategies aimed at controlling illicit drug use. The findings clearly demonstrate that politically popular “get tough” approaches actually make the drug problem worse, fuel crime and violence, add to government deficits, rob the public purse of potential revenue, help spread disease and divide families. Read more »

So-Called Tough on crime stance an odd sight in pot-friendly Ottawa

By. Steve Collins, Metro Ottawa
On Tuesday, a mass of dope fiends gathered on Parliament Hill to flagrantly smoke marijuana — and the rest of Ottawa barely noticed.
 
Annual 4-20 decriminalization demos have gone on for years and they’re no longer news. Apart from an alarming rise in the prevalence of bongo drums, no incidents or arrests were reported here or at the majority of smoke-ins across the country. (In Toronto, one person was injured in a fight and another was arrested with what appeared to be a firearm).
 
In my neighbourhood, especially when the weather improves, it’s not uncommon to catch a whiff of someone’s weed as they stroll down the sidewalk. This experience doesn’t fill me with fear of drug-fuelled crime. Instead, it reminds me that on the whole, this is a safe enough city in which to walk around whilst buzzed, which is as good a measure of a community’s health as any. Read more »

Pot advocates puff en masse to protest against drug laws

By: Dene Moore, The Canadian Press
 
Pot advocates gathered across the country Tuesday and puffed en masse to protest the legal prohibition of marijuana.
 
The so-called 4-20 event held every year on April 20 is the "high holiday" for marijuana advocates, and smoke-ins were held from Toronto to Victoria and several points in between.
 
In Vancouver, the party/protest got started early and by noon there were about 2,000 people gathered in front of the city's art gallery. Read more »

Former MP Rahim Jaffer connected to alleged conman

By. Kevin Donovan, Toronto Star
 
The booze was flowing on the back patio at Harbour 60 Steakhouse in downtown Toronto.
 
Nazim Gillani of International Strategic Investments, four business associates, and three busty hookers dined in style last Sept. 10.
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