EndProhibition
NDP Leadership Candidates' Responses to End Prohibition Survey
End Prohibition is a national group of New Democrats working to end the prohibition on marijuana and stop Canada's failed war on drugs.
Founded in 2004, our group now has over 1200 members nationwide and we’ve had a presence at over two dozen provincial and federal NDP conventions across Canada.
Over the past decade, resolutions supporting drug policy reform have been passed by the NDP provincially in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Yukon.
As NDP Leader, Jack Layton said he was in favour of reforming our country’s cannabis laws, and creating a legal environment where adults can enjoy cannabis without having to worry about being criminalized. Read more »
Stop the violence: the case against pot prohibition in B.C.
BY EVAN WOOD AND DAVID BRATZER, SPECIAL TO THE SUN
The front lines of the War on Drugs in British Columbia are not for the faint of heart. As an internal medicine specialist and a police officer who has spent much of his career at the forefront of anti-drug enforcement efforts, we’ve witnessed the bloody aftermath of shootings, stabbings and other violent confrontations that are common in B.C.’s drug trade. Read more »
Omnibus crime bill hearings underway in Senate
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told a Senate committee Wednesday that their government's omnibus crime bill will not create new criminals, as some critics have suggested, but will keep dangerous ones behind bars and therefore should be passed quickly.
The ministers kicked off the first day of hearings on the Safe Streets and Communities Act at the Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee and called on senators to approve it "expeditiously."
The ministers promoted the bill, which is the combination of nine previous bills that were never passed in previous sessions of Parliament, while taking questions from senators for about an hour. Read more »
Federal politicians must look at big picture on new laws
BY IAN ROBERTSON, THE DELTA OPTIMIST
Our MP, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, recently spoke to the Delta Chamber of Commerce about pending federal legislation. While she spoke about a number of matters, I want to focus on one subject - the crime and punishment bills coming before parliament.
In her letter to the Optimist last month, she referred to statements made by the Surrey fire chief about the number of fires in homes with marijuana grow-ops. They are 24 times more likely to catch fire than a home without one.
Thanks to research this fire chief has done, he says 85 per cent of marijuana in B.C. is connected with organized crime. Interesting data for a fire chief to be gathering. What do you suppose would be the statistic if we legalized and regulated marijuana? Read more »
Stephen Harper accused of ‘caviar tastes’ for jets and jails, ‘baloney budget’ for seniors
By: Les Whittington, Toronto Star
OTTAWA—Pension issues flared again in the Commons Tuesday as opposition MPs contended Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government should cut spending on prisons and military jets rather than retirees.
“A single F-35 costs $450 million,” said NDP finance critic Peter Julian. “That would pay Old Age Security benefits for 70,000 Canadian seniors. Its prison plan costs $19 billion. That would pay annual benefits for 2.9 million Canadians seniors. The Conservatives say costly prisons and fighter jets are their priority. We say seniors are more important.”
Toronto Liberal MP Judy Sgro said, “The government has caviar tastes when it comes to jets and jails, but a baloney budget when it comes to seniors.” Read more »
Leadership hopeful Nash against current tough-on-crime bills
By: Mary Agnes Welch, Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba’s NDP might support them, but federal leadership candidate Peggy Nash says she’d reconsider a batch of get-tough-on-crime bills now working its way through Parliament.
Nash, seen by many as a possible consensus candidate in the crowded race to lead the federal NDP, was in Winnipeg Tuesday drumming up votes.
Asked about her approach to Winnipeg’s crime problem, Nash said she favours prevention programs and reducing poverty and inequality as a root cause of crime. Read more »
National crime bill adds $2M to N.B. budget
CBC News
The Harper government’s omnibus crime legislation will cost the New Brunswick government an additional $2 million a year, according to the provincial Department of Public Safety.
The federal government’s so-called "tough on crime legislation," which would keep more criminals in jail longer, is expected to add new policing and court costs to provincial governments.
That has led many provinces to oppose the Prime Minister Stephen Harper government’s plans unless the federal government antes up more funding to pay for the extra costs.
The Ontario government estimates that the federal crime law will cost it more than $1 billion and Quebec argues the changes could cost it as much as $600 million. Read more »
CBA opposes C-10
By: Greg Sacks, The Manitoban
Since their election in 2006, the Harper government has held steady on several themes. One of the most prominent, “tough on crime,” is on the verge of being translated from rhetoric to law with the upcoming reading of Bill C-10 in the Senate.
It’s a major political victory for the Tories and their constituents — rarely has it been viable for them to actually bring their more socially conservative leanings to bear without seriously risking a chunk of moderate support. As ever, it’s difficult to compose an argument against a move towards stricter sentences on violent crimes without coming across as being soft, and Harper, the consummate tactician, has played this truism to perfection. Read more »
Pot legalization efforts forge ahead in key U.S. states
ALEX DOBUZINSKIS, Reuters Published: Toronto Sun
Efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use are gaining momentum in Washington state and Colorado, despite fierce opposition from the federal government and a decades-long cultural battle over America’s most commonly used illicit drug.
Officials in Washington state on Friday said an initiative to legalize pot has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November. In Colorado, officials are likely this week to make a similar determination about an initiative there.
Supporters are prepared to possibly spend millions of dollars ahead of the November ballot, when they hope a strong voter turnout, particularly among youth, for the U.S. presidential election will aid their cause. Read more »
Harm reduction is useful and necessary
Editorial, The Daily News
Harm reduction isn't only about protecting the health of a drug user. These types of programs reduce the impact narcotics have on many aspects of society, from health-care costs to crime.
We're glad that the Vancouver Island Health Authority is expanding its harm-reduction kits around Vancouver Island, including Nanaimo, as long as they do so with proper consultation and transparency.
Last year, VIHA started distributing kits with crack-pipe mouthpieces, syringes and other items in Nanaimo as part of its secondary harm-reduction program, geared to discreetly reducing the spread of disease among addicts. Read more »
