Canada

Calgary Herald, 20 Feb 2012 - Re: "Where does bizarre crime fixation of Conservatives come from?" Michael Den Tandt, Opinion, Feb. 15. Tories seeking to emulate the tough-on-some-drugs policies of Canada's southern neighbour can expect similar results. Despite zero tolerance, more U.S. teenagers use marijuana than tobacco.

Globe and Mail, 19 Feb 2012 - Geoff Plant has felt for years that the prohibition of marijuana is wrong. Now that the former B.C. attorney-general is out of government, he has joined the chorus of officials and former politicians pushing for the legalization of the drug. "I have always had a problem with the idea that the state should criminalize an act which is essentially no more complex than putting a couple of seeds in your back yard, waiting a while and then, when something grows, you put it in your pocket, you chew it or you smoke it," Mr. Plant said.

Nanaimo News Bulletin, 18 Feb 2012 - To the Editor, Re: Prohibition of pot simply bad policy, Letters, Feb. 13. Stan White is essentially correct.

Nanaimo News Bulletin, 18 Feb 2012 - Addiction experts from across Canada will come to Nanaimo in March to highlight the therapeutic community model of substance abuse treatment. Canada's first National Therapeutic Community Symposium, organized by the Nanaimo Addiction Foundation, takes place March 5-8 at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.

Nanaimo News Bulletin, 18 Feb 2012 - The federal government's proposed crime bill was the topic of a protest in downtown Nanaimo Thursday. About 30 people gathered in the rain to participate in a rally that started in Maffeo Sutton Park and ended in front of the courthouse on Front Street.

St. Albert Gazette, 18 Feb 2012 - Four former Attorneys-General of British Columbia - spanning two political parties (NDP and Liberal) and fourteen years in office - have called for the legalization of marijuana. The federal government (Conservative) continues to move towards harsher drug penalties including for the marijuana trade. This political split mirrors opinion in the country, where periodic polls do not show a solid, sustaining majority one way or the other on the issue. Marijuana and harder drugs were not much of a concern in Canada more than half a century ago when I went through my school years here in Alberta, then moved on to military colleges in Victoria and Kingston, without encountering any drugs or users. But the recreational narcotics climate began shifting in the latter part of the 1960s. Whether this was part of a world trend, a North American loosening up in reaction to the Vietnam War, or whatever, the winds of change had a distinct burning leaf odour. My first close awareness came in the summer of 1971, soon after U.S. President Nixon famously proclaimed the "War on Drugs." Having a health issue requiring surgery, I shared a room in an Ottawa military hospital with a chatty airman from the local military aviation base. He explained that the junior ranks quarters there commonly reeked of marijuana fumes. Some years later as a lawyer I had to review the transcript of a court martial from our army in Germany - the barracks scene ! depicted sounded pretty much what the airman had described earlier.

Victoria Times-Colonist, 18 Feb 2012 - Some former attorneys general have argued we should legalize marijuana, citing the usual arguments for doing so. Perhaps before we do this, would it not be useful to see if there are any other jurisdictions in the world that have legalized its general use, and if so, to determine whether their experiences have been positive or not?

Cowichan News Leader, 17 Feb 2012 - Opposition forces seem poised to make a push for reform in Canada's marijuana laws. But no one's expecting the federal government to respond any time soon. The federal Liberals recently adopted cannabis legalization as an official party policy, while that, or decriminalization, has the support of most federal NDP leadership candidates.

Campbell River Mirror, 17 Feb 2012 - With former attorneys general, ex-municipal mayors and a host of medical health officers all advocating for the legalization of marijuana, the public should start to wonder what politicians are smoking to make inaction seem like the right decision. Former B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant and his colleagues are the latest to lobby the province for reforms to its marijuana laws by ending prohibition on B.C.'s unofficial cash crop. Like prohibition of alcohol during the Great Depression made millionaires out of bootleggers and gangsters, marijuana laws financially benefit both organized crime and petty criminals, while punishing taxpaying, law-abiding citizens for inhaling in the privacy of their homes. The framework for restriction, regulation and taxation of marijuana exists, through our extensive alcohol and tobacco legislation. Impairment laws currently apply to marijuana.

The Record, 17 Feb 2012 - Four of the province's former attorneys general want marijuana legalized to curb gang activity associated with the illegal drug trade. New Westminster's Graeme Bowbrick, along with Colin Gabelmann, Ujjal Dosanjh, and Geoff Plant, signed an open letter on the issue, addressed to Premier Christy Clark and B.C. New Democrat leader Adrian Dix.

Richmond News, 17 Feb 2012 - Four former attorneys general of British Columbia have co-authored a letter asking Premier Christy Clark and Opposition leader Adrian Dix to endorse an end to marijuana prohibition. Colin Gabelmann, Ujjal Dosanjh, Graeme Bowbrick and Geoff Plant represent an unusual alignment of former senior cabinet ministers: three NDP politicians, one a premier and one a B.C. Liberal.

Globe and Mail, 17 Feb 2012 - Gary Mason suggests that legalizing marijuana will produce policy complexities (Legalize Weed, Yes, But The Demon's In The Details - Feb. 16). Here are just a few: 1) Marijuana makes people with some mental illnesses more prone to psychosis. How will we protect vulnerable people from this harm?; 2) Marijuana smoke is as damaging to physical health as tobacco smoke; 3) Because raw marijuana has been accepted as a "medication," anti-smoking regulations must be strengthened so they can be applied even to those who claim they are taking medication; 4) Legal marijuana will become a gift worth billions to Big Tobacco. The industry will devote its vast resources to obfuscating research on health effects, resisting regulation, targeting youth and maximizing marijuana's addictive qualities; 5) Roadside tests must be developed to detect and prosecute drivers impaired by marijuana. We need careful preparation before we jump on this bandwagon.

Winnipeg Free Press, 17 Feb 2012 - VANCOUVER -- Oh, band of brothers! Four former B.C. attorneys general - -- Colin Gabelmann, Ujjal Dosanjh, Graeme Bowbrick and Geoff Plant -- have platooned together to fight the war against the war on drugs. They want to see the legalization and state control of marijuana.

The Burnaby Now, 17 Feb 2012 - Granted, I come to the pot party conversation late. I've never smoked the stuff - despite my mother's undying belief that I must have been partaking during my high school days. What else, she must have thought, could have explained my love of Janis Joplin and giving her the stink-eye every time she asked me to clean my room? Although Joplin's favourite substance appeared to be Southern Comfort. While my high school friends developed close relationships with their very own "dealers," I blithely thought the whole fad would just go away. Apparently not.

The Burnaby Now, 17 Feb 2012 - Four of the province's former attorneys general want marijuana legalized to curb gang activity associated with the illegal drug trade. New Westminster's Graeme Bowbrick, along with Colin Gabelmann, Ujjal Dosanjh, and Geoff Plant, signed an open letter on the issue, addressed to Premier Christy Clark and B.C. New Democrat leader Adrian Dix.

Nelson Star, 17 Feb 2012 - Caging humans, sick or otherwise, for using or growing what God says is good is a criminal vulgar sin. It's an inhumane shame that Valerie McKone and other sick citizens must jump through hoops ("Fighting for medicinal Pot" January 20) to get permission to use the plant cannabis (marijuana) to cope with excruciating pain.

Surrey Leader, 16 Feb 2012 - A coordinated push to legalize marijuana has gained the backing of four former B.C. attorneys-general, including B.C. Liberal Geoff Plant. The four - who include former NDP A-Gs Colin Gabelmann, Ujjal Dosanjh and Graeme Bowbrick - signed a letter to Premier Christy Clark and Opposition leader Adrian Dix calling for the regulation and taxation of cannabis to combat organized crime.

Nanaimo News Bulletin, 16 Feb 2012 - With former attorneys general, ex-municipal mayors and a host of medical health officers all advocating for the legalization of marijuana, the public should start to wonder what politicians are smoking to make inaction seem like the right decision. Former B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant and his colleagues are the latest to lobby the province for reforms to its marijuana laws by ending prohibition on B.C.'s unofficial cash crop.

Kamloops This Week, 16 Feb 2012 - A recent letter signed by four former B.C. attorneys general calling for the legalization of cannabis appears to have support from both sides of the political spectrum in Kamloops. Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Kevin Krueger said he respects and supports the decision by Premier Christy Clark to leave the issue up to the federal government, but personally agrees with the letter.

Almaguin News, 16 Feb 2012 - I was overwhelmed when I read the letter from Dan Mulligan in the Feb. 1 edition of the Forester. I am astounded that a currently serving police officer would agree that we should decriminalize marijuana. Does he not know the crimes associated with this illicit drug are rampant and widespread? I spent three years in an undercover capacity at a drug squad unit while employed by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force. Maybe he should come down to the "big smoke" to see how we deal with it: executing a search warrant on a house where the occupant tried to kill me and my partner to protect his stash of 54 kilos of marijuana; the shootings that occur in the Jane/Finch corridor and eastern Scarborough over drugs and drug debts. This drug, as all illicit drugs or narcotics, in my respectful opinion, is the scourge of the earth. Youths committing break and enters into homes and stealing from our shopkeepers, all to get money to purchase this "benign, God-given plant." I think not. The growers, smugglers, dealers and users are criminals and should be treated as such.