Neighborhoods with medical marijuana dispensaries do not have higher crime rates than other neighborhoods, according to researchers who examined 95 different areas of Sacramento, Calif., in 2009.
As more U.S. states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons, some people have expressed concern that outlets that dispense the drug and their clients will become targets for crime.
But that's not the case, according to the study in the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
The researchers found no evidence that neighborhoods with a higher density of medical marijuana dispensaries had higher rates of violent crime or property crime than other neighborhoods. Read more »
Crimes committed by known drug-dependent offenders fell by almost half when they successfully completed a drug treatment programme, according to new research published today. The largest empirical study ever conducted in England on the impact of drug treatment on crime also showed a similar drop in convictions among those retained in treatment for up to two years. The longer those individuals were retained, the bigger the drop in convictions. Read more »
The Conservatives' controversial crime bill will be put to final vote Monday night in the House of Commons, a few days later than the government expected.
It had planned to pass Bill C-10 last Wednesday, but the NDP was able to delay the last day of debate until Friday and push the final vote to today.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and other Tory MPs had even held a news conference on Wednesday to mark what was supposed to be the last time MPs dealt with the bill.
It had been sent back to the Commons by the Senate because of amendments made to the part of the bill that gives Canadians the ability to sue perpetrators and supporters of terrorism. Read more »
The expected passage of the government's omnibus crime bill has been pushed back to Monday.
Debate on the bill is expected to continue in the House of Commons Friday, with a vote now slated for next week.
On Wednesday, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and associate defence minister Julian Fantino, a former police chief, held an event to tout Bill C-10 in anticipation of a final vote on the controversial proposals in the House of Commons.
They were joined by representatives from victims' groups at a community centre in Woodbridge, Ont., where Nicholson said the bill meets the expectations of Canadians and is responding to what is happening on Canada's streets. Read more »
According to Statistics Canada, 2010 closed with the 33rd consecutive drop in both the rate and the severity of crime across Canada. Despite this, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has reintroduced their much-anticipated "law and order" agenda in the form of the colossal crime bill, C-10. Dubbed the Safe Streets and Communities Act, it combines nine of the former bills that had failed to pass into law due to opposition and repeated prorogations of Parliament.
Still other criminal law bills that failed to pass previously have been re-introduced separately by the Conservatives, focusing on tightening both our online freedoms and Canadian immigration law.
Safe streets and communities: Who wouldn't want that?Read more »
The Conservative government’s incompetence in drafting Bill C-10 is yet another reason they need to rethink the omnibus crime bill, said Liberal Leader Bob Rae and Liberal Justice and Human Rights critic Irwin Cotler today.
“The fact that the Minister of Public Safety was unaware of what was included in his own bill–or in this case, missing from it–is embarrassing and seems to be part of a troubling pattern with Ministers in this government,” said Mr. Rae. “It took the Liberal Party to pinpoint the holes in this government’s omnibus crime bill and present substantive amendments that even the Conservatives have now agreed were necessary.” Read more »
Canada's senators burnt the midnight oil Thursday as they wrapped up debate on the Conservatives' controversial crime bill.
The Tories' majority in the upper chamber helped pass their legislation in the face of stiff opposition from Liberal senators, two independents and one Conservative member, who voted against his party.
In the end the vote, 48 in favour to 37 opposed, was closer than expected, with nine Conservatives missing the midnight event along with seven Liberals and one independent.
Bill C-10, which was amended by a Senate committee, will be returned to the Commons for a final vote next week. Read more »
In his “State of the City” address, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn made an impassioned plea today for the legalization of marijuana saying in the illegal trade in drugs was fueling crime in the city.
“It is time we were honest about the problems we face with the drug trade. Drugs are a source of criminal profit, and that has led to shootings and even murders. Just like we learned in the 1920s with the prohibition of alcohol, prohibition of marijuana is fueling violent activity,” the mayor said in the written version of his speech.
He added that the war on drugs “fuels a biased incarceration policy. The drug war’s victims are predominantly young men of color.” Read more »
Enforcement of U.S. laws against marijuana possession serves to encourage and enrich Mexican drug cartels and the Asian and biker gangs that control the “B.C. Bud” market in Canada, according to two former top federal law enforcement officials.
“It is the money, not the drug, that drives these cartels and gangs,” Charles Mandigo, who served 27 years with the FBI and headed its Seattle office, told a legislative hearing in Olympia.
He was testifying in favor of Initiative 502, which would legalize the growth and possession of cannabis, tax it, sell-it at state-sanctioned stores, and give the State Liquor Control Board authority over it. Read more »
He comes from a solid middle-class family. He’s a smart, hard-working person with great potential and he’s never been in trouble with the law.
Like millions of Canadians teenagers before him, and at least a quarter of his contemporaries, he’s going through a marijuana phase: something that reliable justice statistics show he will eventually grow out of, just as many police officers, politicians, doctors, teachers and lawyers grew out of.
But times are about to change in Stephen Harper’s Canada.
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Neighborhoods with medical marijuana dispensaries do not have higher crime rates than other neighborhoods, according to researchers who examined 95 different areas of Sacramento, Calif., in 2009.
Crimes committed by known drug-dependent offenders fell by almost half when they successfully completed a drug treatment programme, according to new research published today. The largest empirical study ever conducted in England on the impact of drug treatment on crime also showed a similar drop in convictions among those retained in treatment for up to two years. The longer those individuals were retained, the bigger the drop in convictions. 
The Conservatives' controversial crime bill will be put to final vote Monday night in the House of Commons, a few days later than the government expected.
The expected passage of the government's omnibus crime bill has been pushed back to Monday.
According to Statistics Canada, 2010 closed with the 33rd consecutive drop in both the rate and the severity of crime across Canada. Despite this, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government has reintroduced their much-anticipated "law and order" agenda in the form of the colossal crime bill, C-10. Dubbed the Safe Streets and Communities Act, it combines nine of the former bills that had failed to pass into law due to opposition and repeated prorogations of Parliament.
The Conservative government’s incompetence in drafting Bill C-10 is yet another reason they need to rethink the omnibus crime bill, said Liberal Leader Bob Rae and Liberal Justice and Human Rights critic Irwin Cotler today.
Canada's senators burnt the midnight oil Thursday as they wrapped up debate on the Conservatives' controversial crime bill.
In his “State of the City” address, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn made an impassioned plea today for the legalization of marijuana saying in the illegal trade in drugs was fueling crime in the city.
Enforcement of U.S. laws against marijuana possession serves to encourage and enrich Mexican drug cartels and the Asian and biker gangs that control the “B.C. Bud” market in Canada, according to two former top federal law enforcement officials.
