 Canadian Majority Would Legalize Marijuana
May 13, 2008 -
Angus Reid Global Monitor
Full Report (PDF)
"53% of Canadians support the legalization of marijuana"
Polling Data:
Do you support or oppose the legalization of each of the following drugs? ("Support" listed)
Source: Angus Reid Strategies.
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,004 Canadian adults, conducted on May 8 and May 9, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.
Editorial: The wrong course on marijuana
Treating users as criminals has been costly, damaged lives and accomplished nothing.
July 20, 2007 - Times Colonist (BC)
The former Liberal government sensibly introduced legislation in 2003 to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. But it was never passed and the Harper government is committed to treating possession of the drug as a crime.
The approach fails any common-sense test. Consider the results of four decades of enforcement: Hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding Canadians with criminal records; an uncounted fortune spent on the costs of policing and prosecution; and a huge criminal network that thrives because of the government's approach. More...
Harper urges police pressure on crime bills
April 27, 2007 - CBC News
Harper, speaking at an annual appreciation dinner for York Regional Police, said the Conservatives have introduced 11 crime bills last year but nine have yet to be passed by the House of Commons.
...
"I would suggest that you not hesitate to pressure … all parties to get on with passing this legislation," Harper said
OpEd Response: Harper Wrong To Ask Police To Lobby
April 29, 2007 - Edmonton Journal
Police officers across Canada should politely decline Prime Minister Stephen Harper's invitation to become active political allies in his quest to toughen an array of criminal laws. In a speech Thursday, Harper urged police officers to use their considerable numbers and position in society to lobby opposition parties. But such a call to arms, metaphorically speaking, is both inappropriate and dangerous. It could fuel speculation that the prime minister has far too cozy a relationship with the top brass of the RCMP and other police forces.
The Canadian public deserves to feel confident that their police forces keep to their assigned role as objective, apolitical peace officers who respect the rule and the spirit of the law.
Crown agents bill record tab for drug prosecutions
The Lawyers Weekly -
Vol. 27, No. 18
September 2007
Excerpts:
Drug prosecution costs soared to their highest level in history during the Conservative government’s first year in office – comprising more than half the $50-million tab billed by private-sector law firms who represented the federal Crown in criminal and civil litigation in 2006-2007.
---
In all, the total prosecutions tab for the war on drugs rose to a record $60 million in 2006-2007, including the billings of some 800 prosecutors in 250 law firms across the country, plus about $34 million for prosecutions handled in-house by staff prosecutors at the new Public Prosecutions Service of Canada.
---
The top Crown agent amongst federal prosecutors, Murchison, Thomson & Clarke of Surrey and White Rock, B.C. (#4 overall), billed $1.2 million, the same as the year before, for its team of seven full-time federal Crowns who prosecute marijuana grow operations and drug trafficking in and around the second largest city in B.C.
Read the full article
|
FrankD on Facebook
top of page
Report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, 2002...
