#sensiblebc

[jeffrojames-blog]

Dana Larsen Sensible BC Interview (The Weed Journals)

[mostlymuscles]

anyone in BC come to this.

[hypersonicyouth-blog]

I was walking to the bus stop at uni and I heard the word 'petition' and was like omg petition where, and just sort of gravitated towards the booth, and whataya know--it was something I 100% agree with.

[hekapider]

There is a petition going around British Columbia right now. If you sign it, you are lending your support to their being a referendum in our next election to decide whether marijuana should be decriminalized.

Things are starting to get heated on local facebook page. Opinions ranging from factual and based in legitimate research and studies all the way to emotional personal experiences detailing the horrors.

My friend posted a response (her only involvement in the entire 100+ post thread) that I agree with whole-heartedly. Check it out under the cut!

"In February 2012, four former BC Attorneys Generals came out in favour of BC taxing and regulating marijuana.

Former Liberal AG Geoff Plant joined former NDP AG’s Ujjal Dosanjh, Graeme Bowbrick and Colin Gabelmann to say that marijuana prohibition causes “massive profits for organized crime, widespread gang violence, easy access to illegal cannabis for our youth, reduced community safety and significant-and escalating-costs to taxpayers.”A growing number of police officers, judges and correctional workers have been speaking out against marijuana prohibition and the war on drugs. Their international organization, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, has a number of BC law-enforcement officers.

Their advisory board includes Former BC Chief Coroner and retired RCMP Chief Superintendent Vince Cain; former Mayor of Vancouver and retired RCMP Officer Larry Campbell; Victoria police constable David Bratzer is on the LEAP Board of Directors.

Former BC Provincial Court Judge Jerry Paradis was a LEAP Board Member from 2003 until his death in 2010.

A variety of BC’s public health officials and organizations have come out in favour of marijuana law reform.

Dr Perry Kendall, Chief Medical Officer of BC, has called for a marijuana and drug policy based not on drug war and prohibition, but “alternative approaches that have proved more effective in protecting public heath while not enriching organized crime and driving gang violence.”

Alcohol is a drug, caffeine is a drug, nicotine is a drug, sugar is a drug, sleeping pills are drugs, Tylenol is a drug, advil is a drug and the list goes on of "legal drugs" that people seem to think are ok...the question is not whether marijuana is a drug and if people can get addicted to it...the question is if the system we have in place is the best one to handle the REALITY that people smoke pot. You don`t see underground alcohol rings or gang shoot outs over a 40 of whiskey...why? Because the average Joe who wants to have a drink, can head down to the bar legally and relax, or he can go into the liquor store..not all people who have a drink of alcohol are alcoholics and not all people who smoke marijuana are lazy pot heads....if given the choice...many Canadians who chose to smoke marijuana (and if you don't and don't support it, no one really cares) should have the opportunity to access their relaxant of choice in a safe and legal way. The saying goes, he without sin cast the first stone...I think in this instance it is more like, he who puts no drugs in their system (i.e. the legal drugs above and more) can cast the first stone and have an opinion on whether people should smoke marijuana or not. There are always going to be people who get addicted to substances, hence the term addictive personalities. Much like when it comes to guns...it is not the gun that kills, it is the person. People become alcoholics, people get addicted to narcotics..and you know what? that isn't going to change if drugs are legal or not. The question here, is if you as a tax payer want to continue to support a war on drugs that will not be won...ever. Me personally, I don't care if people choose to smoke weed or not, but I do care that in BC we have how many unsolved murders, how many real crimes going on unsolved, how many people getting raped and robbed every day. How would you feel if a family member was robbed at gun point because the police on duty were too busy busting some 20 year olds who were minding their own business smoking a joint in some park and giggling? So in my humble opinion, if you really care about the safety of those you love, you will choose to have the police keeping them safe from people looking to harm them, not wasting their time and tax dollars busting some young folks smoking weed, putting them through the court system that costs millions of dollars a year, for something they are probably just going to do again anyways...why? Because that's the reality we live in."

[prosperousindigence]

bc if there were ever a time to prove that you were the best place on earth it would be now GET ON THAT BALLOT

[n1bi]

Referendum to Decriminalize Marijuana

(Please like and reblog! Do your part to spread this around! Even if you don't live in British Columbia, help get it out there!) Sensible B.C. has started a campaign to decriminalize marijuana possession in 2014, they have from September 9 to December 5 to get 400,000 signatures. Keep an eye on their "upcoming events calendar" for any events in the area you live. And even if you don't smoke, like I don't, consider signing anyways! :) http://sensiblebc.ca/ https://www.facebook.com/SensibleBC https://twitter.com/sensiblebc

Kelowna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWts5UePeSM#

Vancouver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymk0iQZxHb8#

Prince George: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyQezQ4K3wc# Kamloops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m84e067VZVU#

[everydayjunglist]

Canada getting out of medical marijuana business

Canada's Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq made the announcement on Sunday, claiming current regulations "have left the system open to abuse."

December 17, 2012 in Health Canada's Conservative government will soon stop producing and distributing medical marijuana, leaving it up to the private sector in a policy change that angered critics on Monday.

"We have heard real concerns from law enforcement, fire officials, and municipalities about how people are hiding behind these rules to conduct illegal activity, and putting health and safety of Canadians at risk," the minister said. "These changes will make it far more difficult for people to game the system." Aglukkaq said Ottawa would no longer produce and distribute marijuana for medical purposes.

Instead, companies will be licenced to grow and sell the product at market rates. Patients with a prescription from a doctor starting in March 2013 will be allowed to purchase a variety of strains of marijuana from licensed producers, who will set prices. Also individuals will no longer be permitted to grow marijuana in their homes for their own personal use, said Aglukkaq. Police and fire officials claimed that home grow operations are at "risk of abuse and exploitation by criminal elements" and one in 22 catch fire, and so they applauded the move. Doctors however complained that they are being asked to write prescriptions for a substance that has not been clinically tested. Some risks such as lung disease from smoking it or pyschosis are known, while the benefits are only anecdotal, including relief from nausea and pain. And they said they are now being asked to be the sole gatekeepers of the program, accusing the government of abdicating its responsibility. "It's the equivalent of asking doctors to prescribe while blindfolded," Canadian Medical Association president Anna Reid told the daily Globe and Mail.

Marijuana activists and opposition MPs meanwhile stepped up calls for both medical and recreational use of marijuana to be decriminalized, after two US states last month voted to legalize pot. The Medical Cannabis Access Society, a Montreal-based medical marijuana dispensary, commented that "creating a commercial marketplace is ostensibly progressive." "We are witnessing the convergence of a flowering social justice movement with an emergent commercial sector. It's going to be a bumpy ride," it said in a statement. However the group added, "For many patients who grow their own, this is one step forward and two steps back."

Some 26,000 Canadians are authorized to use marijuana for medical purposes, up from 500 a decade ago, according to government figures. As many as one million Canadians are believed to smoke it regularly for recreation, say polls. Canada's health department currently sells marijuana for Can$5 per gram, which it says is heavily subsidized by taxpayers. The street value can be as many as three times more. Some patients have said the government stash is weak and so turned to growing it themselves.

SOURCE 

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-canada-medical-marijuana-business.html