Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 09:11:15 -0700
Subject:Canada: Spotlight on Vancouver Up TOC

Pubdate: Sun, 04 Aug 2002
Source: Narco News (Web)
Contact: narconews@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.narconews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2063
Author: Alejandro Bustos, Narco News Canadian Correspondent
Cited: Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
http://www.vandu.org/  Vancouver Police Board
http://www.oddsquad.bc.ca/vancouverpolicedrugpolicy.htm  Compassion Club
Society http://www.thecompassionclub.org/  Pivot Legal Society
http://www.pivotlegal.org/
Related: For more on the Malmo-Levine and Chris Clay cases see
http://cannabislink.ca/legal/index.htm#legalcases
Bookmarks: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
http://www.mapinc.org/area/British+Columbia
http://www.mapinc.org/people/Malmo-Levine
http://www.mapinc.org/people/Randy+Caine
http://www.mapinc.org/people/Chris+Clay
http://www.mapinc.org/people/Hilary+Black

SPOTLIGHT ON VANCOUVER

A CRASH COURSE ON FIGHTING THE NARCO-WARRIORS

Vancouver, on Canada's west coast, is proving to be a nightmare for
those who insist on fighting the war on drugs.

  From constitutional court challenges to the creation of the largest
medicinal marijuana club in the country, this Pacific Coast city is
full of activists who are organizing against the drug warriors.

As a case in point, consider David Malmo-Levine, a Vancouver pot
activist who is fighting to have Canada's marijuana laws declared
unconstitutional. The laws, he tells me, could be struck down by the
end of this year.

"It could be as soon as early-December," the 31-year-old predicts. "At
the latest by mid-July (2003)."

This coming Fall, the Supreme Court of Canada is scheduled to hear a
constitutional challenge against sections of the Narcotic Control Act
that prohibit possession and trafficking of marijuana. A final ruling
will likely come several months later.

The historic legal challenge is being led by Malmo-Levine, who was
charged in December 1996 for both possession and trafficking of
marijuana, and two other men: Victor Eugene Caine, aka Randy Caine,
and Ontario-resident Christopher Clay.

Rather than launch separate court actions, the three men, who were all
charged with marijuana offences in separate incidents, will present a
united constitutional challenge in the Supreme Court. If they win, it
could start a revolution in Canada's approach to the war on drugs.

In the meantime, as he prepares for his historic Supreme Court battle,
Malmo-Levine is busy working on another project, namely, informing his
fellow citizens about the presence of U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration agents on Canadian soil.

As we sit in a restaurant called Havana's -- an appropriate place to
give the bird to Washington's drug policy -- Malmo-Levine begins his
verbal assault on the U.S.

"They (the DEA) are in our country giving us bad advice," he says.
"Canada has always been morally ahead of the U.S. We did it with
slavery, the women's vote, alcohol prohibition, Cuba, Vietnam and the
death penalty." If things turn in his favour, we may soon add "drug
prohibition" to this list.

For those in the U.S., who are accustomed to an insane anti-drug
jihad, the upcoming Supreme Court of Canada case and anti-DEA work is
pretty remarkable. If you travel north of the 49th parallel, however,
you will quickly notice that there are many other initiatives being
launched by Canadian activists to fight the war on drugs.

One such initiative is the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, a
lobby group for intravenous drug users and former users that was
founded in January 1998. The group, one of the largest of its kind in
the world, has had a big impact since it came on the scene more than
four years ago.

"The reduction in overdose deaths can be attributable to our work,"
says Dean Wilson, president of VANDU.

The statistics support Wilson's statement. Between January and May of
this year, there were 21 fatal drug overdose deaths in Vancouver,
according to the coroner's office. During the same period last year
the figure was 48.

The 2002 and 2001 figures, meanwhile, are significantly lower than the
horrific overdose numbers of even a few years ago. In a story dated
Aug. 11, 1998, the Associated Press reported that: "So far this year,
224 people in British Columbia -- mostly from Vancouver's skid-row
areas -- have died of overdoses, up 40 percent from last year."

In response to the horrific level of death that plagued the city in
the mid-to late-90's, VANDU began to educate drug users about how to
prevent overdoses. That is why if you walk by their needle exchange
program today, you can hear VANDU volunteers tell drug users not to
shoot up alone, as well as offering techniques on how to prevent the
spreading of disease.

Through projects like the needle exchange, VANDU has lobbied local
politicians and the police to adopt harm reduction models when dealing
with drugs. They also give a voice to drug users, a segment of society
that is normally left out when drug policies are debated.

As a side note, it's interesting to note that harm reduction is now
the official policy of the Vancouver Police Board. How much of a role
VANDU played in the police board's decision to adopt harm reduction is
not clear. But as one member of VANDU put it: "It's like asking
whether the NAACP helped advance the cause of civil rights."

Another person who has dedicated their life to helping people is
Hilary Black, founder and co-director of the BC Compassion Club
Society, Canada's largest medicinal marijuana organization.

Five years ago, armed solely with a dream and backpack full of pot,
Black began selling marijuana to Vancouver residents who were sick.
After getting 100 clients, along with the backing of their doctors,
Black went public with her idea to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Today, the Compassion Club has over 2,000 members and 35 employees. It
is also meticulously clean -- the reception area could pass for a
dentist's office filled with plants, if it weren't for the board on
the wall that listed the day's selection of marijuana.

What is really interesting, however, is all the other options that the
club offers to its members. Along with marijuana, patients can access
a herbal pharmacy, certified counselors, a yoga program, traditional
Chinese medicine, acupuncture and many other medical treatments.

The story of Black, 26, is a wonderful example of what citizens can
accomplish when they follow their conscience.

"We have a duty to protest laws that are unethical," Black tells me in
her office. "We have truth and justice on our side, and in this case
the law does not have it."

John Richardson, a local lawyer and founding member of Pivot Legal
Society, would definitely agree with Black. It was a sense of justice
that drove him to create Pivot, a non-profit organization in
Vancouver's downtown Eastside that is also challenging the narco warriors.

For the record, I am a University of British Columbia law student that
volunteers for Pivot. That is why I'm talking shop with Richardson,
31, on a Saturday afternoon over lunch.

"(In the fall of 2000) I was working in the downtown Eastside in
strategic litigation for the Sierra Legal Defense Fund," Richardson
tells me after I ask him how he created Pivot. "The model that Sierra
Legal uses -- which is essentially aggressive legal advocacy for
public interest -- fit in perfectly with the downtown Eastside."

While at Sierra Legal, an environmental law group, Richardson learned
how to use the law to fight polluters and government bureaucrats.
Through this experience he came across this idea: Why not use the same
legal model as Sierra to defend drug users, sex trade workers and
other marginalized persons?

Today, lawyers, law students and community activists all volunteer in
various Pivot projects.

One such project is the affidavit program, which is based on a simple
idea: Record in a legal format the story of any person that has
suffered an illegal search and seizure, unconstitutional arrest or
other form of police abuse. After the story has been written down,
have the person swear before Richardson that the events described
therein are true. Once this is done the story becomes evidence that
can be used in a court of law.

Through this program, Pivot has been able to document police abuses
against drug users. For instance, one person I talked to -- le us call
him Delphi Nguyen -- was busted with $15 of heroin. The police never
pressed charges, but they did take $740. Nguyen told me that this was
his rent money, and that after losing it to the police was not able to
pay his rent. As a result, he lost his apartment and was forced to
sleep in his car as he scrambled for housing.

A team of lawyers is currently deciding what legal action to take with
the increasing number of affidavits.

Pivot, meanwhile, is also distributing a "rights" card that outlines a
person's constitutional rights when detained by police. The
business-size card is meant to fit in a pocket or wallet. Whenever a
person is arrested, they can present the card to the officer. The card
informs the police that they do not have to co-operate and that a
person being detained has the right to remain silent and to speak to a
lawyer.

The card is meant to protect people from such things as illegal drug
searches and unconstitutional arrests, two police tactics that are
very popular with the narco warriors.

Pivot's projects, along with the work of VANDU and activists like
Black and Malmo-Levine, show that Vancouver residents are busy
fighting the war on drugs on several fronts.

For Malmo-Levine, the struggle is about challenging a failed policy
that is costing Canadian taxpayers $500 million a year and is
resulting in more than 30,000 charges for simple possession of marijuana.

For Wilson, the objective is to save lives, prevent disease and give a
voice to drug users, a group that is normally marginalized from the
drug debate but who suffer the full brunt of the law.

For Black, the goal is to educate people about how marijuana and other
forms of alternative medicine can provide assistance to ill people.

And for Richardson, his mission is to use the law to defend the
constitutional rights of some of the most marginalized people in society.

Together, all of these activists are putting up a strong challenge
against those who insist on fighting a drug war that has repeatedly
been shown to fail.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake

------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 09:16:50 -0700
Suject:NV: Poll on legalizing 3 ounces of pot per person Up TOC

Reno Gazette-Journal
Opinion Section

http://www.rgj.com/opinion/

Halfway down, on right

Would you approve or disapprove of allowing people to keep three ounces of 
marijuana at home?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 10:40:22 -0700
Suject:CA: It's Not Cannabis, It's the Constitution Up TOC

August 5,2002
Los Angeles Times Commentary

It's Not the Cannabis, It's the Constitution
Medical marijuana controversy turns the feud over federalism on its head.

By JONATHAN TURLEY,
[Jonathan Turley is a constitutional law professor at George
Washington University.]

       Even in a city where cross-dressing is a protected right--if not
a cherished tradition--San Francisco leaders have turned heads
recently by appearing publicly in a new type of trans-political
apparel. Members of the ultra-liberal San Francisco City Council have
suddenly taken on states' rights--normally a conservative stance--as
their cause celebre.

       Their opponent is none other than ultraconservative Attorney.
Gen. John Ashcroft--normally a states' rights advocate--who is
asserting the supremacy of the federal government.

       At issue is the desire of California citizens to allow seriously
ill patients to use medical marijuana to relieve their pain and
discomfort. Advocates in San Francisco have proposed a program in
which the city government itself would grow and distribute medical
marijuana; a November ballot measure is planned. If San Francisco
voters approve the measure, a major confrontation over states' rights
will be triggered and may prove to be one of the most significant
federalism cases in decades.

       Federalism protects the states from the encroachment of the
federal government, leaving the primary decisions of government to
the individual states. It is a principle based on the idea that power
is safest when held closest to the people. Under our system, each
state is allowed to try what U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis
Brandeis once described as "novel social and economic experiments" in
solving contemporary problems.

       Federalism is often wrongly seen as a Republican or conservative
position. Liberals have long considered the federal government to be
more enlightened than the states. For example, during desegregation,
federal courts and Congress proved far more protective and active in
the area of equal rights. As a result, liberals have often rallied in
opposition to federalism to the same degree that conservatives have
rallied around it.

       Both conservatives and liberals now face a quandary. While
liberals were once happy to see the federal government shape state
policies in its own image, they are less enthusiastic now that the
image is that of Ashcroft.

       In California, advocates found themselves arguing for the use of
medical marijuana to a man who does not smoke, drink or dance and who
probably viewed the 1936 movie "Reefer Madness" as a medical
documentary.

       Liberals have suddenly discovered federalism and the right of
state self-determination. While conservatives have long defended
states' rights, they now face states that want to experiment with gay
marriages, medical marijuana and assisted suicide. Accordingly,
conservatives have suddenly discovered the need for uniform federal
laws in traditional state areas.

       The controversy over medical marijuana has less to do with pot
than it does principle.

       Regardless of the merits of medical marijuana, Californians are
rightfully aggrieved by the federal government telling them it alone
can approve certain drugs for the use of the terminally ill. While
growing pot in San Francisco may seem less inspiring than dumping tea
in Boston, it is a defiant act that speaks of the right of citizens
to self-determination.

       If San Francisco draws this line in the constitutional sand, it
will force conservatives on the Supreme Court to make a choice
between their principles and their personal inclinations.

       In 2001, the court considered a case involving a federal
crackdown on a cooperative in Oakland that distributed medical
marijuana, consistent with state but not federal law. In a decision
written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court rejected the
cooperative's claim of medical necessity.

       However, in a virtual invitation for challenge, the court expressly
reserved the question of whether the federal government was violating
federalism guarantees in its enforcement of drug laws over state
medical marijuana measures.

       The San Francisco program may finally answer that question.
Frankly, I am more concerned with the Constitution than the cannabis
in this controversy.

       Whatever societal risks are presented by terminally ill patients
getting stoned, they pale in comparison with the political risks of
yielding to federal authority in this area. Of course, it may be too
much to hope that there is more than mere opportunism in the recent
embrace of federalism.

       Yet perhaps this controversy will show that liberals have much
to gain from federalism, particularly in states like California with
a history of bold social programs and experimentation.

       In the end, California may not be right about medical marijuana,
but it has a right to be wrong.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 09:20:36 -0700
Suject: Canada:  $1 Billion, The Easy Way

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Sun, 21 Jul 2002
Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Surrey Leader
Contact: newsroom@surreyleader.com
Website: http://www.surreyleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1236
Author: David Marsh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

$1 BILLION, THE EASY WAY

You could call it a bold leap into the 1960s. Except it's only a trial balloon.

Canadian Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has mused publicly about relaxing
the country's marijuana prohibition. The drug must remain illegal, but
simple possession might be considered a non-criminal offence punishable by
fines rather than jail, he said.

Cauchon even admitted smoking a joint or two in his younger days, without
even a Clintonesque 'I didn't inhale' disclaimer thrown in.

Brave words perhaps, but it's only because Britain decided a week earlier
that it would relax its possession laws that the Canadian government
suddenly gets bold on the issue. That, and the fact that parliamentary
committees in Ottawa are soon to release reports expected to recommend
decriminalization.

So, up goes the trial balloon. Media, interest groups and the public are
gauged for reaction. And if the winds aren't too gusty, the bid could take
off as soon as this fall.

Well, hallelujah. But then there's that report by the B.C. Business Council
released just a day or two after Cauchon's remarks.

This study estimates that at least $20 billion is conducted in underground
business, legal and illegal, every year in this province.

Let's assume, very conservatively, that $2 billion of that is the trade of
marijuana. And suppose that governments slapped a 50 per cent sin-tax on it
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 11:54:07 -0700
Subject:Lebanon: Sobh Says 50,000 Dunums Of Hashish Fields Destroyed Up TOC

Pubdate: Mon, 05 Aug 2002
Source: The Daily Star (Lebanon)
Contact: opinion@dailystar.com.lb
Website: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/547

SOBH SAYS 50,000 DUNUMS OF HASHISH FIELDS DESTROYED

The commander of the Judicial Police, Brigadier Samir Sobh, said Saturday
that over 50,000 dunums of hashish fields had been destroyed, as the second
phase of cannabis eradication reached its eleventh day.

Members of the Anti-Drug Bureau, the Internal Security Forces and the
Lebanese Army joined forces with Syrian security forces in Lebanon to carry
out the eradication operation in Baalbek-Hermel fields for the eleventh
consecutive day.

Sobh told reporters in a field located in the Shleefa-Iaat area of Baalbek
that no security incidents had been reported yet.

He said that about 2,000 dunums of cannabis had been destroyed in the North
as well as some 53,000 dunums in the Bekaa, and that about 5,000 dunums
were being uprooted daily.

Sobh added that the bureau added 300 tractors and 200 workers to speed up
work, indicating that the cost of the campaign has exceeded LL200 million.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom



 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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End of Restore-Digest V2002 #157
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