kirk tousaw
Bill C-15 nails tenants growing medicinal marijuana
Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Wed, 12/23/2009 - 10:04am
By Matthew Burrows, Georgia Straight
About one-third of the 24 cultivators contracted to grow medicinal marijuana exclusively for the B.C. Compassion Club Society will be affected if the minority Conservative government’s Bill C-15 becomes law. The bill is seeking mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders.
Jacob Hunter, policy director of the Beyond Prohibition Foundation, told the Georgia Straight by phone that as a result of Senate amendments, growers who own homes can cultivate up to 200 plants and not face a mandatory minimum. “If they are renting, however, and even if they are a medicinal grower, one plant is a nine-month mandatory minimum,” he said.
Jeet-Kei Leung, communications coordinator at the society’s Commercial Drive cannabis dispensary, told the Straight “there are a dozen different ways in which this is bad news.”
Leung dismissed the Conservatives for being “stuck in the 1950s”. However, he didn’t spare the federal Liberals, who have almost unanimously followed the governing party through three readings of Bill C-15 in the House of Commons. If the House approves Senate amendments, only royal assent separates the bill from becoming law.
Egocentrism or me in the media
Submitted by Kirk Tousaw on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 12:10pm
If you don't know of MAPinc, you need to. It is an online news and LTE (letter to the editor) aggregator. You can do a lot of remarkable things with it including various searches. For example, here is the search for me and what turns up:RE Jon Ferry, Province Aug 7
Submitted by Kirk Tousaw on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 6:54amJon:
You are right that ad hominem attacks are not exactly the most convincing form of argumentation. That said, Health Canada deserves every bit of the scorn heaped on it by Mr. Emery. Its medical cannabis program is a nightmare of bureaucratic inefficiency and callousness, marked by hysterical and unfounded fears and an intentional refusal to make the program workable. I work for many medical cannabis users and the nightmare stories I hear on an almost daily basis cause me to agree, mostly, with Mr. Emery description of that particular government institution.
I have read the study, scientific jargon and all, and I must say that the conclusions actually reached do not fully match the headlines and descriptions used in the press. Of course, that is a common failing of journalism - call it the flip side of ad hominem - making sensational copy at the expense of actual facts.
Nicholson slammed in Vancouver Sun
Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Mon, 07/27/2009 - 8:36amI was startled to read that federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson had slammed the Senate for not pushing through legislation implementing mandatory jail terms for drug producers. Kim Bolan's article quoted him as saying he had been calling on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to "do something this summer about the holdup we have in the Canadian Senate." The implication, of course, is that the Liberals in the Senate have somehow delayed passage of this bill.
It would be useful for the minister to know the facts. Bill C-15 was introduced in the House of Commons Feb. 27. It passed the House on third reading June 8. Incidentally, the Liberals supported it.
Clearly, the minister was in no great hurry to have it passed and, indeed, a previous iteration of this bill, C-26, died on the order paper with the calling of the last election.
Second chance to tell Parliament to Vote No on Bill C-15
Submitted by Jacob Hunter on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 2:08pmClick here to email Members of Parliament! WhyProhibition.ca now has a form emailer for Members of Parliament! Check out the link above to send an email to members of parliament opposing C-15, which is now headed back to the House of Commons having been amended, very slightly, by the Senate. Simply scroll down to the bottom of the letter, fill in the fields and click send! It's that simple! If your account info is up to date, the form is automatically filled in for you! We need everyone to send emails to our Members of Parliament if we are going to defeat C-15! Email your members of Parliament today!
Free Marc Emery
