New War On Marijuana Target: The Niagara Region

[Johnny]

Yes, it is true. The Niagara Regional Police department have launched a new attack on marijuana. The NRP are asking citizens to phone them in the case of any marijuana activity or suspicion of marijuana activity. All of the other cities and towns in the Niagara Region have been swept through, with thousands of growhouses, dealers, and everyday potheads like you and I being apprehended and charged, and in some cases even locked up. Now the NRP are targeting the town I've grown up and lived in my whole life. I have had incidents prior to this attack on marijuana in which neighbours have called the police on me for numerous minor offenses, and I know some of my neighbours would be delighted to see me being taken away in the back of a police car, and wouldn't think twice about calling them on me. For this reason, just to be safe, I'm deleting all pictures of myself in incriminating situations (smoking up) from my computer and will no longer be posting any pictures of my face on the internet. Also, I'm forced to be constantly smoking in the premises of my room or garage, so as not to let my neighbours smell it, and I love smoking outside. This is a big disappointment for me, as I've always been proud of my city's fair treatment of marijuana.

Also, I think if anything the police should be targeting any crack activity, which is our cities main drug problem. I watch several people, even my two backdoor neighbours ruin their lives and fry their brains with that bullshit, and they instead target marijuana users, who for the most part are otherwise law-abiding citizens working hard to contribute to society? I'm sorry, but it seems like complete shit to me. Thanks for hearing me out.

Keep smokin!

- JPS.

 

[rockfordindica]

I though marijuana was decriminalized in Canada.

 

[Pinch]

Close but no..

NORML Canada for latest details.

 

[Pinch]

More arrests likely as Tories snub calls for loosened pot laws

Sue Bailey, Canadian Press
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Canada.com

OTTAWA -- Potheads beware: the Conservative government has no plans to relax marijuana laws as arrests in some regions are expected to rise.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Vic Toews was unmistakenly blunt when asked if the Tories would resurrect Liberal efforts to decriminalize simple possession of marijuana.

"It is a very short answer and the answer is No,'' said Mike Storeshaw.

"We have no plans to bring any bill forward.''

Public toking became more common in parts of Canada as the former government moved to loosen laws. Three young men walking along Ottawa's Wellington Street passed a joint openly among themselves Monday as they strolled through the shadow of Parliament's Peace Tower.

But police in some areas are once again cracking down.

"I think we're in a dark period right now,'' said Alan Young, a marijuana activist and professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

"They're going after growers and seed dealers, and more people are being charged with simple possession.''

Liberals moved to treat possession of less than 15 grams of pot -- roughly 20 joints -- as a minor offence punishable by fines of $100 to $400, much like traffic tickets.

But the most recent related bill died when the last federal election was called in November.

Before that, the Liberals were harshly rebuked by legislators in the United States. Former American ambassador Paul Cellucci hinted of border tie-ups if Canadian pot laws were eased.

U.S. protests continued despite the fact that several U.S. states have already decriminalized marijuana in much the same way.

Young says pot activists fighting to keep the cause alive are out of luck, but not forever.

"It's dead -- for the time being,'' he said. "This issue goes in cycles.''

Young predicts that Ottawa won't be able to indefinitely ignore a growing number of pot users.

"We're a drug-consuming culture and we've got to start regulating it.''

Pot is the most popular illicit drug in the country, says the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

A comprehensive national survey of drug use, released in 2004, found that about 15 per cent of the adult population had used cannibis in the past year, up from seven per cent in 1994.

The centre warns of side-effects ranging from impaired concentration to respiratory damage, depression, paranoia and the possible aggravation of pre-existing psychiatric symptoms.

While in opposition, Toews assailed the Liberals for moving to increase pot demand while at the same time cracking down on suppliers with tougher trafficking measures.

Critics also stressed the fact that police still have no reliable roadside test to snag stoned drivers. Also missing is a national drug strategy to discourage use.

Still, pot advocates say marijuana on the whole is a lesser social hazard than alcohol.

"It's much less harmful to our society than other legal activities and substances,'' says Kirk Tousaw, general counsel to the B.C. Marijuana Party.

"Unfortunately, (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper ran on a get-tough-on-crime, lock-'em-up platform that isn't going to do anyone in Canada any good -- except for perhaps those in the prison-building industry.''

Tousaw, a criminal defence lawyer, says marijuana prohibition flies in the face of bedrock conservative principles.

"It's the antithesis of individual liberty. It is an economic program that's just dumping good money after bad: the courts, the jails, the police time.''

Moreover, pot laws are inconsistently applied across Canada, Tousaw says.

"I'm a white, middle-class father of two. If I'm using marijuana in my own home, I run virtually no risk of being arrested.''

The homeless who smoke up in parks, for example, are much more likely to be charged, he says.

"It's just another way that the law discriminates against both visible minorities and those with lower socio-economic standing.''

Toews barely stopped Tuesday when asked about such inconsistencies.

"We have a law on the books don't we?'' he said before brushing past reporters.

 

[GreenState]

Make Sense that this Year's DEA meeting is in Montreal? there stopping the pipe line from vermont they've busted all the big dealer's and are setting up small dealer's and putting survelliance on them ... everyone's rolling on someone personally i'd take jail but to many people out there with no heart, there also putting immense pressure on canada.. like everyother day there's been a bust in the paper like 3month's ago it was twice a year you'd see a cocaine/weed ring break up now there's one everyday....

 

[lost201a]

Make Sense that this Year's DEA meeting is in Montreal? there stopping the pipe line from vermont they've busted all the big dealer's

I'm NOT surprise in York region there is grow ops bust like every month and grow ops in York region and Toronto are so out of control the cops cannot keep up and weed is on the increase!!

It is so bad the grow ops the city hall pass a law they will destroy your house. And every year they are putting more cops on the street .All the names of the suspects first and last name are in the paper it really is like being in big war zone. We also had some big fires in homes and apartments do to grow ops there have some cases of fires on more than one floor of apartments in Toronto to do many floors of the apartment turn into grow ops.

I kinda think this will put much pressure on the government to understand they lost this war.