The Tories on Pot: Cheech and Chong Were Never This Silly

[Jim Finnel]

The media have had very little to say about Bill C-15, a federal Conservative bill currently working its way through Parliament. This legislation will require that everyone convicted of growing a single marijuana plant or more must spend a minimum of six months in jail. The last decade of cannabis cultivation convictions in our province clearly shows that if this mandatory minimum is implemented, there will be close to a 50-per-cent increase in the provincial jail population, just to house those who cultivate cannabis.

The projected annual bill for the province for housing these cultivators will be $114 million, and that's not even counting the capital costs required for the construction of the additional prison cells that will be needed. I trust that Premier Gordon Campbell and the Liberals are, at least behind closed doors, lobbying against this rather significant drain on the provincial purse.

If Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives want to lock up everyone who grows a marijuana plant, why don't they make the minimum penalty two years imprisonment in a federal prison? At least that would make the federal government financially accountable for its folly.

Let's acknowledge that there are features of some large-scale marijuana grow operations that deserve a strong rebuke: The theft of electricity, the exposure of children to toxic moulds, and the presence of guns or other weapons at the site of a grow. Penalize these activities, not the growing of cannabis itself -- this activity can be engaged in safely, without risk to children, or the surrounding community.

At the end of the day, however, using the criminal law against cannabis is wholly counter-productive. It's criminalization that causes theft of electricity, violence in the cannabis trade, exposure to toxic moulds, and provides folks who are sometimes mindless thugs with millions of dollars in untaxed income.

There's no evidence that cannabis use results in anything close to the death toll produced by alcohol and tobacco, even when current -- and projected future -- rates of use are taken into account. Marijuana use by consenting adults is a public health issue, not a moral problem.

In a more sane world, the financially reckless proposals of Harper and the Conservatives would be regarded as considerably more silly than the antics of Cheech and Chong.


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: Vancouver Sun
Website: Vancouver Sun - Canadian breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, B.C.
Author: Neil Boyd

 

[Weed420]

Screw Canada.lol Come on down to your neighbors and grow in relative peace.

 

[Caber1]

I'd love to, except you guys are in such financial trouble that I don't see much hope on the horizon for the good folks of the US.
As far as I can see yours and our politicians will have closed down every school, hospital and highway before they stop giving cops money for this idiocy.

Stephen Harper the other day in Mexico pledged 500,000 dollars to help train cops in Mexico. In a similar story out of Mexico one of the drug cartels pledged 500,000,000,000 to help train their guys.
I wonder if these moron politicians feel anything from the neck up.

I can't remember exactly where, but I read a story where the Dutch jails were so empty that they were going to open up their jails to other countries. The US can't build enough to keep up to their insatiable need.
You tell me whose society you'd rather live in. If I could find work there I'd be gone in a second.

 

[michaelkaer]

I so agree. Harper has screwed over this country and he knows for sure he will not last the next election. I think that law will get challenged the second it is first invoked. Just like the MMAR, this whole debacle could easily just go away. Tax and regulate-legalize it.

 

[flank]

.I can't remember exactly where, but I read a story where the Dutch jails were so empty that they were going to open up their jails to other countries.

There was an article on here about how there are simply not enough dutch criminals and had to close down a couple and start importing criminals from neighboring countries.

The harper gov't is conservative, which means that for face value, they have to pretend they like stuff all "back in the good ol' days" and such. Keeping it slow. So basically, for face fucking value (and because harper has a stiffy for bush... you can't deny this, he liked the bush admin) the harper gov't decides that drugs are becoming a problem, and because they are fucking politicians, new and inventive ideas were the first to be thrown out the window.

Then harper was like "hey guys, i just finished jerking off to a picture of the state of texas with bush's face in the middle, what i miss",
his people were all like "Hey, we gotz drug problems n shit".
Harper was like "fuck you! do it the bush way, that works right?"
his people "no, that lead America into a strain of debts so long that they will probably become a 3rd world nation in the next century, and over populated their prisons with non violent offenders while murderers and rapists are let out to make room, its an abysmal failure"
Harper "what, i was to busy raping this cow i got imported from texas, i didn't hear anyting you said about america's drug policy being a failure, lets implement it in canada cuz its PROVEN!!!! to work so well......... now put this spiky hot metal pole up my ass so i can be closer to my god and mighty savior BUSH!"

So basically, harper is a fucking idiot and doesn't understand how drug prohibition and penalties are ruining america (one of many things anyways). That and he admires bush for no apparent reason.

Sorry for harsh, um, typing/language/attitude, I'm a little bitter about harper... and to think i voted for that fucker.


Also, i have nothing against the united states, even though it seems (from what i have written) that i do. Like i said, I just think harper is an idiot, and a robot (thats a joke for anyone here who is from the Canada, not a good joke but im making fun of harper, its obligatory to use a robot joke).

 

[Weed420]

Its funny that after all these years it seems the US is headed in the right direction but most of our allies are heading the other direction. Tell them idiots its just a plant. Its not going to destroy the planet.

 

[Jim Finnel]

its not about the plant, with the exception of sin or propaganda its about money.

 

[Lando]

yea they are going to profit from all the people in the system. I was reading this thinking dick cheney took over canada. Whats going to happen to canada's seed banks etc... move to US?