June 6, 2010 – Police raids that shut down five compassion clubs in Quebec on Thursday underline some key problems with the federal government’s medical marijuana distribution program, says the former leader of the Marijuana Party, Marc-Boris St-Maurice.

St-Maurice was among 35 people arrested in the raids in Montreal and Quebec City, which targeted clubs that sell marijuana to people who need the drug for medicinal purposes.

Police also seized just over 86 kilograms of marijuana and almost four kilos of hashish, which would put the street value of the seizure at just around $900,000.

They also confiscated about $39,000 in cash.

‘Health Canada should not be in the business of selling marijuana ….They don’t sell other drugs.’—Marc-Boris St-Maurice, former Marijuana Party leader

Some clients of the clubs were receiving marijuana without the proper federal authorization, which constitutes illegal drug trafficking, police said.

St-Maurice runs a compassion club on St-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, which was among those raided. He was released on a promise to appear in court at a later date and faces charges of drug trafficking, possession with intent to traffic and conspiracy.

He attributed the raids to the opening of a new compassion club in Montreal’s borough of Lachine earlier this year.

“We’ve had excellent relations with our neighbours,” said St-Maurice. “We’ve never received any complaints.

“We’ve been around for 10 years. We verify doctor’s letters. We have very, very strict controls, and we’ve been tolerated for all this time. It is definitely not a coincidence that these new places open up which have a little looser criteria, and all of a sudden people are getting arrested.”

Health Canada program criticized

Last month, the City of Montreal said it had asked its legal department to investigate compassion clubs after officials said they had received complaints about the Culture 420 club in Lachine.

An investigation by the French-language service of the CBC revealed the ease with which it was possible to obtain marijuana at the club.

An undercover reporter told workers at Culture 420 he was suffering from migraines.

Staff told him he would be able to obtain the drug after making a declaration that he needed it for medical reasons before a commissioner of oaths. They then directed him to a commissioner of oaths who worked in a nearby building.

Canada offers only one strain of medical marijuana, and the only legal way to purchase it is through Health Canada.

St-Maurice said that is a complex process that can take months.

The only legal medical marijuana is sold by Health Canada. (CBC)

“Health Canada should not be in the business of selling marijuana,” he said. “They don’t sell other drugs, so they shouldn’t be doing that. They should be selling licences to people like us.

“We have the experience, and if Health Canada is selling medical marijuana, it is because of activists like ourselves. So, I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to sit down and legitimize what we are doing and … [give] us legal licences so we can do it and do it properly.”

Dr. Mark Ware, an assistant professor in family medicine and anesthesia at McGill University who has been researching the effects of cannabis, agreed there is a need to review regulations surrounding access to medical marijuana.

He said many medical marijuana users prefer to get the drug from compassion clubs rather than ordering it from Health Canada because it is easier.

‘The sad part is that it takes a few centres who abuse the medical marijuana privilege that we have in Canada to make a mockery of the whole program.’—Dr. Mark Ware, McGill University

He compared the service provided by the clubs to “going to the corner store to pick up your medication from the pharmacy” rather than “having to access your product from a single agency a long way from home.”

“Along with cannabis, they get some information about how to use it and alternative methods of delivery,” said Ware.

Many physicians simply don’t understand the federal government’s medical marijuana program or how it works, said Ware.

He called Thursday’s raids unfortunate.

“I think the sad part is that it takes a few centres who abuse the medical marijuana privilege that we have in Canada to make a mockery of the whole program,” he said. “I really worry that real patients with real pain and real needs are suffering as a result of that.”

Users could turn to black market

The raids on the compassion clubs were also criticized by Conservative Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin.

Nolin says users of medicinal marijuana will now be forced to find it elsewhere, and the vast majority will wind up getting it from criminal gangs.

“It’s the most disastrous consequence of the whole operation,” said Nolin, a longtime advocate for the relaxing of drug laws.

“The vast majority will have to look at the black market … and the substance on the black market is not exactly the quality substance that … [is sold] in the clubs.

“In the clubs, they are trying to have access to organic cannabis, which is not the case with the black market.”

Nolin said research suggests there are roughly one million Canadians who say they smoke cannabis for medical purposes but less than 5,000 permits for medicinal marijuana have been issued by Health Canada.

Former Marijuana Party leader Marc-Boris St-Maurice says Health Canada should be selling licences for the distribution of medical marijuana. (CBC)

That means the vast majority will have to find their supply elsewhere, he said.

The federal Justice Department said it would not be commenting on the cases. All questions were referred to Health Canada.

In a statement, Health Canada said it is working on a review of its Marijuana Medical Access Program.

“The department will focus on three key objectives: public safety and security; reasonable access to marijuana for medical purposes; and examining overall costs to the government,” the statement read.

“Health Canada will ensure that any changes to the program will balance the need to provide reasonable access to a legal supply of marijuana for medical purposes and the department’s responsibility to regulate it.”

The Health Canada website says that, as of June 2009, 4,029 people had authorization to possess dried marijuana for medical purposes and 2,360 were allowed to cultivate or produce it.

The largest number of permits issued — 1,631 — was in Ontario, followed by 1,008 in British Columbia, 491 in Nova Scotia, 305 in Quebec and 282 in Alberta.

Source.

Here is the link to the original: Source

June 4, 2010 – The answer is simple and can be summed up in three words. RACISM, GREED and LIES.

You see? It was the perfect crime under the auspices of law. ♦ Anslinger  could  justify his new high profile position within the United States Government. ♦ Hearst had the ability to widely disperse scandalous racial propaganda via his own newspaper network. ♦ Dupont wanted to eliminate it’s competition for textiles and automotive fuel. ♦ The pharmaceutical companies couldn’t identify or standardize cannabis dosages. Why would they anyway? If folks could grow their own medicine they wouldn’t have to buy it!

Throughout American history and as far back as the 1600s, hemp farming has been popular and sometimes mandatory. In 1619, the first American Hemp Law was passed at Jamestown colony in Virginia. This law made it mandatory for all farmers to grow hemp seed. In fact, if you lived in Virginia between 1763 and 1767 you could be hauled off to jail for NOT growing hemp during times of shortage. Back in those days it was entirely possible for a man to use hemp as currency and even pay his taxes using the crop. In the 200 years to come hemp remained a popular and profitable crop and wouldn”t even be recognized as a recreational drug until the 1900s.

By the early 1900s, trouble was brewing and times were tense in the American west as the Mexican Revolution was heating up just the other side of the border. This triggered a huge influx of Mexican-Americans which really pissed off a lot of small farmers as the larger farmers consistently employed cheap Mexican labor. Less than a decade later in 1910, the violence from Mexico spilled over onto American soil and created even more racial tension. In 1929, The Great Depression made matters worse. Jobs were hard to come by and there were rumors the Mexicans smoked marijuana and brought it into America via Mexico. The state of California freaked out and passed the first state law banning all preparations of marijuana and what they termed “loco weed”. It’s important to note that there is no distinction between marijuana and hemp,  guilty by association I presume.

About this time the eastern part of the country had it’s own rebellious uprisings to deal with. Authorities conveniently blamed these issues on black jazz musicians since they were known to smoke marijuana. One newspaper editorial written in 1934 states:

“Marijuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.”

In 1930 Harry J. Anslinger was named the director of the newly formed Federal Bureau of Narcotics who soon collaborated with wealthy American newspaper baron William Randolf Hearst who had plenty reason of his own to support the war on marijuana.

First off,  Hearst had sunk tons of dough into the timber industry up to this point and he needed this industry to support his ever-growing newspaper empire. Secondly, there was new machinery designed to process hemp paper cheaply. This was a huge threat and no doubt would be a formidable competitor to Hearst’s  business interests. Finally, Hearst most definitely hated Mexicans since losing almost 1200 square miles of potentially profitable timberline to Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution.

DuPont chemical company soon came on-board in support of the marijuana eradication effort. Pierre DuPont happened to be the President of General Motors in 1920 and he knew that the Hemp Breaker had  been patented. This invention would make hemp processing easier and more efficient by cutting, baling, and separating the hemp fiber from the hurd  so like Hearst, DuPont wanted to eliminate marijuana  as a competitor right from the start.

Several powerful pharmaceutical companies quickly followed suit in support of this war on marijuana. So begins the propaganda smear campaign of the century…

The following is an excerpt from the house committee that passed the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937:

Member from upstate New York: “Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?”

Speaker Rayburn: “I don’t know. It has something to do with a thing called marijuana. I think it’s a narcotic of some kind.”

Member from upstate New York: “Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?”

Member on the committee jumps up and says: “Their Doctor Wentworth came down here. They support this bill 100 percent.”

…and there you have it! A ridiculous law based on nothing but a lie!  Source

Please enjoy this propaganda film from 1966. I know I did!