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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE September
4, 2002
Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics
Phone & Fax 530-750-7912
Canadian
Senate Committee Calls For Legalizing Marijuana
The
prohibition of marijuana use must end, proclaims a report to be released
today by the Canadian Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs.
The
unanimous report hopes to bring Canadian policy into the new millennium
and out of the politically motivated and costly US-led War on (Some)
Drugs. "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is
substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a
criminal issue but as a social and public health issue,” explained
Senator Pierre Nolin, the committee’s chairperson.
The
report courageously refutes the outdated ideological positions propounded
in the U.S. by such influential people as the Drug Czar John Walters and
the DEA director, Asa Hutchenson: both have pressured the Canadian
government to impose stronger anti-drug laws. Not only does the report
call for legalization, but it also argues for a modification to the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that would provide amnesty for
Canadians previously convicted of marijuana possession.
Recognizing
that the current prohibition laws have failed, the report recommends that
the government focus instead on illegal drug trafficking, prevention
programs, and respecting the rights and freedoms of Canadians. Revising
the law is necessary said Senator Nolin, because “In many ways,
prohibition is a cop-out.”
“In
Canada where the majority of the population opposes the criminalization of
marijuana use,” said Mark Bryan, Summer Fellow for the U.S.-based Center
for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, “the Senate’s report has the
potential to convince the federal government to assert its sovereignty,
and stop allowing the Americans to bully them into maintaining policies
which clearly are not in the best interest of the Canadian people.” Mr.
Bryan, a Canadian citizen, is looking forward to returning home “to a
less oppressive country than the one I am currently in.”
The
Canadian Senate’s report coincides with debates currently underway in
Nevada and Arizona concerning marijuana decriminalization. Nevadans will
vote on November 9th on an initiative that will make the
possession of up to three ounces of marijuana legal. Many states have
already voted in favor of permitting the use of medical marijuana, but
have been facing difficulties because of the US federal government’s
refusal to recognize the democratic will of American citizens.
“For
a country that champions the ideal of freedom, America is far behind both
Europe and Canada, where the ‘reefer madness’ days are coming to a
much-lauded end. It is about time the American populace stood up and
demanded its Constitutional rights. Without the freedom to manage one’s
own brain chemistry, the basis of one’s thinking processes, the First
Amendment right to freedom of speech and religion are meaningless,”
noted Mr. Bryan.
More
information is
available from the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy which links
directly to the Senate Committee’s website: http://www.cfdp.ca/
The release of the report will be available via web cast at: http://senate-senat.ca/webcast.asp.
Additional materials can be found at the American Common Sense for Drug
Policy site http://www.csdp.org/news/news/canada.htm
and the Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics at http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/issues/drug_policy_index.htm
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