international
Marc Emery applies to serve his time in Canada
By: Andrea Macpherson, News 1130The "Prince of Pot" has applied to serve his time in Canada. Fifty-two-year-old Marc Emery was sentenced to five years in prison for selling marijuana seeds to American customers.
Marc Emery's wife Jodie says the Canadian consulate confirms the request has now been sent to Ottawa. "In the next four to six or eight weeks, he will be moved at some point to a correctional institution instead of a detention centre. But we don't know where he will go and when he will go. But once he gets there, then we can actually file that US paper work."
'They held Marc in solitary for three weeks': An interview with Jodie Emery
By Cathryn Atkinson, Rabble.caThe marijuana legalization activist describes what life in a U.S. prison has been like for her husband, Marc Emery, sentenced to five years on Sept. 10, 2010.
Cathryn Atkinson: You're going down to visit Marc tomorrow [The interview took place on Sept. 16], yes?
Jodie Emery: My visits are on Saturday and Monday, but I fly down a day early.
C.A.: How often are you allowed to see him at the moment?
Latin American drug wars are our fault
By Dan Gardner, The Ottawa CitizenPlease allow me to put in print what an awful lot of Latin American politicians would like to say to their Canadian colleagues:
You know how the illicit drug trade has plagued the countries of Latin America for decades? You know how it spreads corruption, undermines governance, and distorts economies? You know how it stacks corpses like cordwood?
You know the carnage happening in Mexico right now? More than 26,000 people dead?
You know all that? Good. Because you are responsible.
The United Nations on Drugs: Alice in Wonderland Revisited
By Neil Boyd, Vancouver SunThe most recent edition of The Guardian Weekly, a typically “progressive" news outlet, devoted a full page to the wildly speculative musings of Antonio Maria Costa, the outgoing director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Mr. Costa made three key claims, none of which have any compelling empirical support. First, he argued that making illegal drugs more freely available will lead to more “public health damage”.
Turn on, tune in … heal your head? LSD as therapy
By: Catherine McLean, Globe and MailIn a psychiatrist’s office in the sleepy Swiss town of Solothurn, patients are taking part in extraordinary individual therapy sessions that can last up to eight hours.
The patient can sit on a stool or lie on a mat while listening to music or exchanging a few words with the psychiatrist. But for most of the session silence rules as a long-time feared and banned drug pushes them deep into a meditative state.
Oregon's got nerve -- where's Canada's?
By Daniel Mol, For The Calgary HeraldToday, an Alberta judge will have a rare opportunity to send the message that Canadian citizenship really means something: The court can dismiss Oregon's lawsuit against Calgary mother Lisa Kirkman.
Lisa's now 12-year-old son Noah was apprehended by Oregon child welfare authorities during a cross-border visit in 2008 and held for two years -- this despite the willingness of his mother and Alberta child welfare authorities to look after him in Canada. Now, and with plenty of gall, Oregon is suing Lisa Kirkman in Alberta for the cost of Noah's foster care.
Mom in U.S. foster care case to countersue state
CBC NewsThe government of Oregon has "colossal nerve" to sue a Calgary woman whose son was kept in foster care in the U.S. state for nearly two years, her lawyer says.
"I want to say to the State of Oregon, 'Shame on you. We know you've got budget problems, everybody knows that, but do you really think you're going to fix them by going after a single mother of modest means?'" Daniel Mol said at a news conference in Calgary on Monday.
Oregon is seeking to recover from the mother the costs of the boy's foster care in the U.S. The matter is set to be heard in Alberta provincial court in Calgary on Tuesday.
Calgary mom girds for court fight over foster costs
A Calgary mother is poised to face off on Tuesday against the Oregon government, which she says has sued her for two years of foster care and medical expenses incurred after the state's child welfare authorities apprehended her 10-year-old son while he was on a summer vacation.
Lisa Kirkman, who finally had her son, now 12, returned to her on June 11, says she has had no help from the Canadian government and anticipates Alberta government lawyers will fight her in provincial court on behalf of the state of Oregon.
Honesty may cost man life in Canada
By: Lana Haight, National PostA British computer programmer says his moment of candour about a youthful dalliance with marijuana is putting his dream of living in Canada in jeopardy.
Chris Tarttelin, 37, said he has been ordered by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to make sure he's not suffering any lingering effects from having tried cannabis when he was 18.
If he fails to get a psychiatric assessment by tomorrow, he said, it could block his application to immigrate.
"Prince of Pot" Mark Emery faces sentencing today in Seattle
By: Linda Solomon, Vancouver ObserverAfter a long extradition fight that ended earlier this year, Mark Emery is finally going to prison, news reports say.
Observers expect Emery to receive a five year prison term.
Emery's legal team essentially agreed to this in a plea bargain earlier in the year and Emery is expected to pull out of the agreement if the judge tries to impose a longer term.
"It has always been my sincere belief that the prohibitions on cannabis are hurtful to U.S. and Canadian citizens and are contrary to the constitutions of both countries," the 52-year-old wrote in the Sept. 1 letter.
