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The420Guy
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SAINT JOHN, N.B. - A special parliamentary committee will recommend that
growing pot for personal use should not be a crime, the New Brunswick
Telegraph-Journal reports.
The newspaper reported yesterday that sources familiar with the work of
the committee on the non-medical use of drugs say the move to
decriminalize marijuana would still leave the possession of pot illegal,
but the punishment would be a fine rather than a criminal record.
"If you're going to decriminalize marijuana, where is a person supposed to
get it?" said one well-placed source who confirmed that the committee is
in favour of letting Canadians grow their own pot.
Dominic LeBlanc, a rookie Liberal MP from New Brunswick, refused to
discuss any of the more than two dozen committee recommendations to be
released next month. But he admitted the closed-door debates "have not
been easy".
"I have found it interesting and very difficult to balance the many
contradictory and compelling points of view," LeBlanc said yesterday.
"What we're trying to do is come up with a report that reaches the maximum
amount of consensus."
LeBlanc has said previously that he supports decriminalizing marijuana,
but said yesterday it would be "inappropriate" to discuss his opinions now
that the committee is in the throes of finalizing its report.
But last year, he said: "My instincts are that the possession of cannabis
can be removed as a criminal offence while remaining a controlled
substance - with exemptions for medical use."
Decriminalizing marijuana isn't the only recommendation likely to raise
eyebrows, the newspaper reported.
The committee is apparently also in favour of safe-injection sites and
controversial heroin treatment that would involve prescribing the drug to
addicts rather than having them buy it on the street.
Canadian Alliance MP Randy White (Langley-Abbotsford), who initiated the
committee and served as its vice-chair, also refused to discuss the
report's contents. But he said LeBlanc, as the federal government's only
Atlantic representative on the committee, will have a tough time selling a
more liberalized view of drugs to the region.
"The committee's going to be coming out with things in [the
harm-reduction] area that we're going to have major concerns about," White
said. "Harm reduction is a dangerous way to go."
Pubdate: Thursday, November 28, 2002
Author: Canadian Press
Source: The Province
Contact: provedpg@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: The Province
growing pot for personal use should not be a crime, the New Brunswick
Telegraph-Journal reports.
The newspaper reported yesterday that sources familiar with the work of
the committee on the non-medical use of drugs say the move to
decriminalize marijuana would still leave the possession of pot illegal,
but the punishment would be a fine rather than a criminal record.
"If you're going to decriminalize marijuana, where is a person supposed to
get it?" said one well-placed source who confirmed that the committee is
in favour of letting Canadians grow their own pot.
Dominic LeBlanc, a rookie Liberal MP from New Brunswick, refused to
discuss any of the more than two dozen committee recommendations to be
released next month. But he admitted the closed-door debates "have not
been easy".
"I have found it interesting and very difficult to balance the many
contradictory and compelling points of view," LeBlanc said yesterday.
"What we're trying to do is come up with a report that reaches the maximum
amount of consensus."
LeBlanc has said previously that he supports decriminalizing marijuana,
but said yesterday it would be "inappropriate" to discuss his opinions now
that the committee is in the throes of finalizing its report.
But last year, he said: "My instincts are that the possession of cannabis
can be removed as a criminal offence while remaining a controlled
substance - with exemptions for medical use."
Decriminalizing marijuana isn't the only recommendation likely to raise
eyebrows, the newspaper reported.
The committee is apparently also in favour of safe-injection sites and
controversial heroin treatment that would involve prescribing the drug to
addicts rather than having them buy it on the street.
Canadian Alliance MP Randy White (Langley-Abbotsford), who initiated the
committee and served as its vice-chair, also refused to discuss the
report's contents. But he said LeBlanc, as the federal government's only
Atlantic representative on the committee, will have a tough time selling a
more liberalized view of drugs to the region.
"The committee's going to be coming out with things in [the
harm-reduction] area that we're going to have major concerns about," White
said. "Harm reduction is a dangerous way to go."
Pubdate: Thursday, November 28, 2002
Author: Canadian Press
Source: The Province
Contact: provedpg@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: The Province