Police officials lied to toughen laws...

DdC · 03-06-2005, 08:37 PM

Police officials lied in cop killer case by Reverend Damuzi (06 Mar, 2005)
False pretext to toughen laws
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4213.html

With the bodies of four RCMP still being packed away in body bags, police spin-meisters were working on a way to make their coworkers' unfortunate deaths a false pretext for tougher laws on pot growing, reveals the police warrant in the case which was unsealed on Friday night (March 3).

It wasn't long after James Roszko, well known among locals as a psychotic gun-nut, shot four officers on an Alberta farm that the spin took hold. Early news reports, police statements and interjections by government ministers claimed that the officers were killed during a marijuana raid. But CBC News reported on Sunday, March 5 that in fact police were investigating allegations regarding a stolen pick up truck. CBC learned the truth after gaining access to the warrant.

The truth was that Roszko hadn't even stolen the truck. Rather, he'd stopped making car payments on the vehicle after a dispute with the dealership over repair work. During the repossession, a sheriff called for back-up, and the RCMP who responded stumbled upon a measly 20 marijuana plants, less than many legal medical marijuana patients grow for personal use. The officers also found piles of stolen car parts, and when they called for backup, they did not call the narcotics squad, they called the auto theft unit. The investigation was never a marijuana investigation, but government and police spokespeople have shamefully and opportunistically seized upon these deaths to lobby for tougher grow op laws, fraudulently claiming that it was a narcotics operation from the start.

The result: media throughout Canada have reported that the killing of these officers occurred during a grow op raid, sporting such headlines as "Drug officers cite dangers of grow-op raids" and "grow op maniac kills 4 mounties." Had police been more honest, the headlines instead may have read, "Botched raid, police supervisors to blame": for surely they should have known better than to send unprepared rookies from the auto-theft division into a situation so dangerous that most in the community recognized it as a powderkeg ready to explode - a serious lack of judgement on the part of police supervisors.

Tough new laws against growing

Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan is hoping anti-pot hysteria will give her the support she needs for even tougher pot laws, and now supports provisions that would force judges to explain lenient sentences for "major producers". McLellan would also like to see more money for narcotics enforcement and bigger penalties for growing cannabis.

The new provisions may be introduced as part of an attempt to split the proposed fake decriminalization bill, a push led by anti-pot Liberal MP Paul Szabo, who is infamous for his zealous support of tough anti-drug provisions in the 1995 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Activists call the decrim bill "fake" partly because it would double the possible jail time for growing cannabis, while sections devoted to supposedly lightening up on possession wouldn't apply in most provinces.

Szabo's idea is to split off the sections of the fake decrim bill that refer to growing, further toughen laws against the practice, and then push it through parliament as quickly as possible. According to the media, Szabo already has the support of 13 of 14 ministers, especially McLellan.

"All of us, whatever role we play in society, need to understand the seriousness of illegal grow ops," McLellan opined, "that they are not, in any way, a victimless crime, that, in fact, most grow-ops are controlled by and run for the benefit of organized crime."

Ironically, McLellan seems to have missed the fact that with only 20 plants, cop-killer Roszko could hardly be termed either a "major producer" or a member of "organized drug crime."

Attack on pot growers shameful

Many Liberals disagree with McLellan, including Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, who said he would vote in favour of legalization.

"If we actually wanted to break the back of organized crime, we would be better off to control it," he told the press. "When you have these things underground, what you end up fuelling is organized crime."

Even Conservative Chief Stephen Harper had some wisdom to offer.

"I am reluctant to draw too many links between these events and public policy,” he said. “Legislation cannot avoid all tragedies. Whenever there is a tragedy like this, there are calls for immediate and drastic action. The left will call for more gun control, and the right will call for tougher penalties. But the truth of the matter: If someone dangerous or disturbed decides to engage in this kind of action, there's no world in which we can ensure that all of these things can be prevented."

The showdown came on March 4, at the Liberal Party Convention, when Marc Boris St Maurice, former leader of the Canadian Marijuana Party who recently joined the Liberals, figuratively duked it out against the likes of drug-war supporter MP Dan McTeague.

"I find it a shame that on the heels of this tragedy we have people calling for tougher sentences," St-Maurice argued. "It is, sadly, a lack of respect, I think, towards those fallen officers to boil it all down to marijuana. By doing that, we're not serving their interests. We're missing the boat altogether."

The convention considered both a resolution to legalize marijuana and another to make the laws tougher. Both resolutins were adopted but failed to make it to a vote on the floor. With any luck, attempts to toughen the laws by Liberal cabinet members will also fail.

Dan Gardner: For Years, Everyone Saw This Coming
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20325.shtml

"I believe the least controversial approach is decriminalization [of marijuana], because it's unjust to see someone, because of one decision one night in their youth, carry the stigma -- to be barred from studying medicine, law, architecture or other fields where a criminal record could present an obstacle." - Joe Clark, former Canadian Prime Minister, quoted in Globe and Mail, May 23, 2001

CN BC: PUB LTE: 'If Pot Were Legal,These Officers Wouldn't Be Dead
http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v05/n381/a06.html?397

Canada: Stricter Drug Laws Called More Risky
Author: Betsy Powell and Joseph Hall, Staff Reporters
Prohibition causes grow ops, many say - Warnings against knee-jerk response
http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n369/a07.html

Pot Not The Problem Here By Greg Weston
Source: Ottawa Sun March 04, 2005

Within hours of the horrific killing of four young
RCMP officers by a rifle-toting lunatic on an Alberta pot farm, everyone from politicians to police and pundits was pointing fingers at the scourge of marijuana grow operations. "The issue of grow ops is not a Ma and Pa industry," RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli told a news conference Thursday night. Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20324.shtml

Casualties of the War on Drugs by marc schanz
You can murder, maim and molest and still get federal financial aid for college. But get caught smoking a joint, and you have to pay your own way; if you can afford it, that is.
http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2001-08-23/news.html

Casualties of the Marijuana War
It isn't just cancer and AIDS patients who are suffering because of America's anti-pot hysteria. Hundreds of small-time users are in jail -- for life.
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5199.shtml

The Casualties of the War on Drugs Have Faces
http://www.ibiblio.org/warstop/warfaces.html

30's prohibition

Will Foster 93 Years For Cannabis
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O35755DD6

James Geddes 90 years for possession of 5 medicinal cannabis plants.
http://hr95.org/Geddes,J.html

Ganjawarnews: 5-11-4
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U5CE22548
Ganjawarnews: CIAScapegoatingTortu re, RummyCheney MKULTRA DeJaVu, MPPDay, ReeferMadness, CannabisSpray. DRCnet, Pieman, DrugsWarFailing, LynndieEnglandFollow ingOrders

The Toxic Alternative to Natural Fiber
http://fornits.com/curiosity/hemp/fibre.htm

Copter Stoppers
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9096.shtml
Sikorsky Sells 30 Copters for War on Drugs
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8051.shtml

Massacres are blamed on so-called "paramilitaries" rather than the regular army, this is a distinction without a difference. paramilitaries are just an "extension of the state. The paramilitaries act as a glove so the military leaves no fingerprints on the crime." "To say that our sending military aid to Colombia is not promoting these massacres is fantasy," "It is like a go-ahead to the death squads of Colombia."

United States' Answer To Drug War Proves Harmful
http://makeashorterlink.com/?N261231B6

War Against Marijuana is Crackpot
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12508.shtml

Spoils of Drug War Forfeitures Prove Too Lucrative
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12369.shtml

Government Property Seizures out of Control
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2A723A36

DdC · 03-06-2005, 08:42 PM

"John P. Walters is the United States Drug Czar, also known as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He is the governments minister of drug policy disinformation, insuring that historical experience and scientific data do not interfere with the propagation of government poliicies on select drugs."
Pete Guither

Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/aint/toc.htm

The Killing of Peter McWilliams
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19955.shtml

Editorial: Drug Activist Should Be Alive
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n870/a03.html

Web: Another Drug War Victim
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n861/a03.html

Fatal Condition
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n856/a04.html

Column: Peter McWilliams, R.I.P.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n849/a10.html

Web: Murder In California
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n846/a09.html

Analysis: The Murder of Peter McWilliams
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n833/a06.html

Rainbow Farm Massacre
http://www.mapinc.org/find?200

Tom & Rollie Memorial Page
http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/rb.htm

The Playboy article on Rainbow Farms
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread17185.shtml

No Martyrs
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10859.shtml

Fond Memories of Rainbow
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10858.shtml

Rainbow Farm Outcry
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10851.shtml

Police Criticized for Standoffs Deadly End
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10830.shtml

FBI Agent Kills Rainbow Farm Owner
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10809.shtml

Friend Remembers Crosslin: He Had a Heart of Gold
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10810.shtml

Police Kill Second Man at Rainbow Farms
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10813.shtml

In Memory of Civilian Casualties of the Drug War
http://www.hr95.org/Memorial.html

Massacre at Rainbow Farm, September 2001
Tom Crosslin (left) and Rollie Rohm at Rainbow Farm, home of an annual hemp and music festival and a First Amendment political gathering.

Anti-Ganja Laws Archaic, Says Doctor
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10815.shtml

US PRAISES THAI DRUG WAR! 3000 casualties so far...
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H440131B6

Cannabis 'Dramatically Improves Pain Relief'
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10803.shtml

New Trial Shows Cannabis Works
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10802.shtml

Gil Puder, R. I. P. by Richard Cowan
http://makeashorterlink.com/?S4BB23358

Captain Cannabis · 03-06-2005, 09:28 PM

The showdown came on March 4, at the Liberal Party Convention, when Marc Boris St Maurice, former leader of the Canadian Marijuana Party who recently joined the Liberals, figuratively duked it out against the likes of drug-war supporter MP Dan McTeague.

"I find it a shame that on the heels of this tragedy we have people calling for tougher sentences," St-Maurice argued. "It is, sadly, a lack of respect, I think, towards those fallen officers to boil it all down to marijuana. By doing that, we're not serving their interests. We're missing the boat altogether."

i saw that on tv, St-Maurice ripped apart every single argument that McTeague gave

i rolled my eyes when he St-Maurice was interrupted by the interviewer who said "I am going to stop you there, because we have to give the last word to McTeague." After which the program ended

this is insanity in its highest form

another very informative post, thanks dcd

Toker00 · 03-07-2005, 04:18 PM

Thanks, Ddc, for never letting us forget about the attrocities of THE BOGUS WAR ON DRUGS.

The war on some drugs is a war on FREEDOM. The war on terror is a war on FREEDOM. The patriot act is an attack on FREEDOM. Our children our growing up not being taught about FREEDOM, LIBERTY, or JUSTICE.

I have just one thing to say to the Fascists who read this post. THE CONSTITUTION DOESN'T HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE. There is a powerful drive among REAL AMERICANS, the PEOPLE, not the CORPORATITIONS, to re-establish the founding stones of this country. LIBERTY, FREEDOM, AND JUSTICE. NOT religion. LIBERTY. NOT fascism, DEMOCRACY. NOT the elite white racist fascist rule, but rule BY, OF, AND FOR THE PEOPLE.

It's time to eat the rich, folks.

Peace. Realize, then Legalize.

North_of_Sanity · 03-07-2005, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kosh

What I wonder now is, did this guy have any prior convictions for cannabis possesion/cultivation which may have contributed or even created some of the hostility.

He had minor possession charges, but no trafficking charges that I know of. BUT he had numerous charges for aggrevated assault, sexual assault & possession of illegal firearms.

Blaming marijuana is just a ploy to make the court system look innocent.

This whole massacre was because of the court system fucking up....once again. What's new?

There are rapists with 20+ charges still walking the streets...while marijuana farmers rot in the grey-bar hotel.

Rapists and violent-tempered people are the biggest threat to public safety...yet marijuana farmers are dangerous because their electrical guidewires could ignite fires

Fuck this stupid world! Seriously!

BC Budman · 03-07-2005, 11:40 PM

Are there any other news websites with the "true" story besides pro pot ones? I'd like to show this to mu law teacher but I don't want to show him a link such as www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4213.html

03-08-2005, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BC Budman

Are there any other news websites with the "true" story besides pro pot ones? I'd like to show this to mu law teacher but I don't want to show him a link such as www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4213.html

does he have an email? do you have a printer?

what's wrong with the link anyway? its a sound arguement against the cynical advantage that this pol uses on the back of 4 dead RCMP's...its downright despicable that this tragedy be used to criminalize, and brutalize thousands of peaceful growers and farmers...and its nothing to be ashamed of, a link from cannibas culture, thats what we are, thats what some of us struggle to get out

its shameful, these 4 men and thier families should be left to grieve, and in grief comes anger, so let's be paitent, let the storm pass, but it is not right that thier pain be turned into leverage for a vile fascist agenda, attacking, criminalizing those who grow what we, and no mistake,THEY know, to be a valuble crop, food fuel and medicine...that is what disgusts me more then anything, its only natural, the conflict between the law, those who enforce it, those who've been victimized by it, and those who write it

not in the interest of saftey, or those who dedicate thier lives to noble public service,

but to further thier own in the bloody investments of prohibition...

no honost cop believes we would be better off he track down plants and farmers, then safeguarding our lives and property

North_of_Sanity · 03-08-2005, 03:47 AM

Budman's right though. Cannabis Culture sensationalized it quite a bit.

I heard most of the media say "marijuana grow operation" but that's it. Nowhere did I hear them say it was a planned sting. I heard them allude to the stolen pick-up truck as the reason for the sting, not the plants.

I agree they're not blaming the courts enough for not jailing the guy due to his past violent/sexual/weapons offenses. But it's kind of illegal to publicly bash the courts, especially for cops and politicians. They could get fired for that.

**~~PsyOpKing~~** · 03-08-2005, 07:07 AM

motherfuckers.....th e star wont print any editorials/letters to do with the media being wrong... and the whole story still ebing pushed by some networks mainly CHUMLIMITED, CTV(BELL GLOBEMEDIA), AND CANWEST GLOBAL...they still are calling a grow op, still saying the cops were shot over that, still airing video from 2 days ago of their reporters on the scene repeating outdated MISinformation

Toker00 · 03-08-2005, 10:56 AM

I have no appetite for the plain rich. Just the rich spicy elite white racist fascists. An acquired taste, I believe.

03-08-2005, 12:17 PM

i'm sorry, i'm sure you mean that in the most literal sense...

but i'm picking up strong, what i would describe as

just "dismissive" vibes, now i m not sure why that is, and its not fair to judge that last post as a whole, but it was in the useless banter tripe department,(and who hasnt been guilty of that, besides the thread starter.
, it comes across as type, as in click click click

but you could be straight out of prison, j

i 've been wrong before so much appologies in advance, and apollogies for the assuptions that were just way off base

i dont think this is enough of a US issue for me to whore the thread, so if you're some kind of balance to NOS, well...its deserved

DdC · 03-10-2005, 01:10 AM

Five days after the deaths of four RCMP officers during an auto-part theft investigation, officials are admitting that they made a mistake when they blamed the deaths on pot.
F U L L S T O R Y http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4217.html

We're not all lunatics, pot growers protest 08 Mar, 2005
Marijuana activists say they feel maligned by Alberta man's killing of police officers
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4219.html

Medpot Activist Challenges Marijuana Prohibition 07 Mar, 2005
Michelle Kubby argues against the Hitzig decision
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4214.html

CN BC: PUB LTE: No Link Between Grow-Ops And Officers' Slayings
http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v05/n407/a01.html?397

CN BC: PUB LTE: Don't Follow U.S. Example
http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v05/n407/a04.html?397

Marijuana Prohibition Caught Hold for Neither Rhyme nor Reason
http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n400/a02.html

War On Grow-Ops Gets A Powerful New Tool
http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n399/a07.html

And the Pigs went MAD! 01 May, 1996
The Grasstown Police Riots of 1971
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1102.html

Blame it on 'Prohibition'
For some readers of Cannabis Culture magazine, the Vancouver-based international journal for pot users and growers, the deaths of four RCMP officers was a trauma of another sort. "For anyone that grows their own, this is a total tragedy," said one contributor to the magazine's online forum. "Shit they'll start sending the army in now!" Another went so far as to call James Roszko, the dead gunman, a martyr. "I will pray for him for every day of the rest of my life."
F U L L S T O R Y http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4218.html

DdC · 03-13-2005, 12:41 AM

By Ben Rayner
CN Source: Toronto Star March 12, 2005

As Canada nears the end of its media-imposed mourning for the four unfortunate RCMP officers killed in Alberta last week, it might finally be time to call the nation's police officials out for their duplicitous appropriation of the shootings as ammunition in the war on drugs.

In no way should this be taken as disrespectful to the young men who lost their lives in the line of duty on March 3. No one should have to die for their job, particularly when that job involves something as mundane as repossessing a pickup truck — which, now that some of the smoke surrounding the sad events on that Mayerthorpe farm has cleared, appears to be what those officers were called in to do.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20351.shtml

Police officials lied to toughen laws...

Official Response to RCMP shooting
Norml Canada extends its condolences to the families of the four RCMP officers killed while carrying out their duties in Alberta

NORML wishes to express its disappointment at the manner in which particular politicians, law enforcement officials, and journalists hastily drew a connection between marijuana and the tragic killing of four RCMP officials in rural Alberta. In light of the emerging evidence, it has become apparent that such statements were ill-founded and regrettable examples of political opportunism.
http://www.normlcanada.org

Police officials lied to toughen laws...
http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/msg1x79321.shtml

Americans Funding Fascist'
http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/msg1x79188.shtml

Psychosis, Hype And Baloney
http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/msg1x79370.shtml

http://www.openthecan.org/

U.S. Attacks Canadian Pot Laws By Tim Harper
CN Source: Toronto Star March 11, 2005

Washington -- A surge of high-potency marijuana illegally smuggled into the United States from Canada is fuelling a rise in drug dependency among young Americans, the Bush administration's drug czar says.

A frustrated John Walters, the director of the U.S. National Drug Control office, yesterday signalled Washington's ongoing irritation with what it sees as a lax attitude toward drug crimes north of the border, something that has forced it to redeploy drug patrols from the Mexican border to its northern flank.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20350.shtml

Canada's Supremes Cower Under DEAth Threats
http://makeashorterlink.com/?R2FB112E6

North_of_Sanity · 03-13-2005, 01:21 AM

^ I like that cartoon.

Anyway, the douche that killed the RCMP officers had numerous aggrevated assault, sexual assault, and possession of illegal firearms charges...but the courts just let him go again and again and again.

It's the court's fault that it happened. Everyone in that town knew the guy was a psycho that was going to evantually kill someone.

But...blaming marijuana (a plant) is so much easier, isn't it?

03-13-2005, 01:30 AM

Marijuana industry booming in Canada

Ontario police have seen a 250 percent increase in indoor pot operations.

By Susan Bourette | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

TORONTO – On the street it's called Northern Lights, Ontario Hydro, and B.C. bud. It's one of Canada's biggest agricultural exports - a potent form of marijuana cultivated in sprawling "grow houses," worth an estimated US$4 billion to $7 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled into the US.

Once hidden in farming communities and well-heeled suburbs, grow operations - indoor nurseries with high-tech lighting and temperature controls - have been thrust into the national spotlight. Thursday Canada buried four young Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were killed during a bust in rural Alberta March 3.

In the Monitor
write a letter to the Editor

The Alberta grow house was just one of thousands across Canada. Here in Ontario, police say indoor pot operations have risen 250 percent in the past four years. And Vancouver is home to some 7,000 "grow ops" at any time, police say.

The tragedy - the deadliest incident for Canada's national police force in 120 years - has ignited debate as Canadians begin to question whether liberal attitudes toward marijuana and lenient laws enacted over the past two decades have contributed to the drug boom.

"It's really got people talking about the problem," says Marc Pinault, staff sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service's drug unit. "It's pretty clear that we produce a pile of pot, and it's really good stuff. I don't know that that's something we should be really proud of."

Drugs moving east

British Columbia has long been the hub of sophisticated, high-tech nurseries capable of producing pot with nearly 30 times the kick of what was found on the street a decade ago, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Sergeant Pinault says the increasing numbers of massive growing operations - once largely the preserve of Asian gangs and bikers on the West Coast - indicate the problem is moving East into provinces like Ontario and Quebec.

Tom Stamatakis, a Vancouver police officer and a member of the Canadian Professional Police Association, says criminals across the country are modeling their operations after those found in and around Vancouver.

For example, he says, grow houses are increasingly found in upscale areas of the city as criminals ply their trade behind picket fences and a facade of respectability. Inside, they're a hotbed of danger - rigged with booby traps to ward off intruders and noxious chemical compounds that pose serious health threats.

But those aren't the only perils. DEA special agent Rodney Benson of Seattle says recent busts have also netted a pile of automatic weapons and explosive devices.

"We're definitely seeing more violence," explains Mr. Benson, who recently oversaw a year long, cross- border sting called Operation Hockey Bag, in which investigators charged 22 people and seized more than 400 lbs. of marijuana, along with $3.4 million and a dozen firearms. "It's not just weapons - it's what we're seeing from the organization. They rule and intimidate from within."

RCMP investigators are still sifting through the evidence, trying to find out what led to the killing of the four officers last week. The incident began as an attempt to repossess a pickup truck but ballooned into a larger investigation after the marijuana growing operation was discovered. The gunman, Jim Roszko, killed the officers and later turned a high-powered, semiautomatic weapon on himself.

Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme violence - and they hope to keep it that way. Many, like Mr. Stamatakis of Vancouver, say that Canadian lawmakers are too lenient in meting out penalties for those involved in growing operations contributing to the drug explosion.

"When even the outgoing prime minister [Jean Chrétien] makes a flippant comment like, 'What's the big deal about marijuana? I've probably had a few puffs myself.' That sends the wrong message to the community and the courts," Stamatakis says.

Softer laws for using, harder for selling

There has been a major push to decriminalize marijuana across the country in recent years. Canada was the first country to regulate its medicinal use, in 1999. However, while the government has recently moved to introduce softer penalties for possession, penalties for growers could get stiffer. A marijuana bill, reintroduced in November, advocates that possession of up to 15 grams would be punishable by fines of C$100 to C$150 ($85 to $125), but would no longer lead to a criminal record.

For growers, those caught with more than three plants, face up to five years in jail, or 18 months plus a C$25,000 ($20,700) fine. Those caught with more than 25 plants could face 10 years in jail, while the bill provides a maximum sentence of up to 14 years for operations with more than 50 plants.

Last week, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan issued a warning in the wake of the shootings, telling judges that they will be forced to explain their decisions in writing if jail terms are not imposed on those who grow plants. Under Canadian laws, criminals face a maximum seven-year jail term. In practice, however, many people convicted of growing marijuana receive sentences of little more than a few months, police say.

Criminologist Patrick Parnaby says the events of last week are likely to lead to stiffer penalties. When something like narcotics is intimately tied to violence, there is going to be a powerful public backlash, says the associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario. "Stricter laws will make the public feel a whole lot better," he says.

But many users pushing for decriminalization couldn't disagree more. Blair Longley, leader of the federal Marijuana Party, says legalization would wipe out criminal enterprises across the country.

"They've just used this [the Alberta shootings] as an excuse to crack down and enforce outdated laws," says Mr. Longley. "In reality, liberalizing the laws would mean you would get rid of almost all the profits and, therefore, all the crime."

North_of_Sanity · 03-13-2005, 01:38 AM

Yup! Horseshit with chocolate sprinkles on it, is still horseshit!

Marijuana is all "evil" now, but once they regulate and tax it, magically it won't be so evil anymore

At least Canada isn't still using the "Jesus says it's evil" excuse, like in the U.S.

03-13-2005, 01:45 AM

there are a host of assumptions and manipulations in tha article

care to find any?

nationally syndicated...two days ago

crime is the problem

and the criminloigists are all over it

get your head out of your ass,

it is not enough to just be "for legalization"

you and me

are serioulsy underestimating

what's happening here

North_of_Sanity · 03-13-2005, 01:52 AM

Some media is having a field-day with it. But the RCMP and government haven't been blaming marijuana. They knew the guy's previous record of assault, sexual assault, and possession of illegal firearms charges.

They know it was an isolated incident. You even quoted that in your article clip.

"Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme violence - and they hope to keep it that way."

Don't worry about the media. They don't have much influence over the government. In fact, our government doesn't really like our media.

03-13-2005, 01:56 AM

just keep driving the truck

North_of_Sanity · 03-13-2005, 02:01 AM

Fuck you! Why do you have to be a bitch?

When did I insult you?

Making $4000/month makes me a loser, does it?

03-06-2005, 08:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
DdC Decade Yahookan Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: Santa Cruz,CA,USA Posts: 2,088 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 47 Thanked 570 Times in 378 Posts	Police officials lied to toughen laws... Police officials lied in cop killer case by Reverend Damuzi (06 Mar, 2005) False pretext to toughen laws http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4213.html With the bodies of four RCMP still being packed away in body bags, police spin-meisters were working on a way to make their coworkers' unfortunate deaths a false pretext for tougher laws on pot growing, reveals the police warrant in the case which was unsealed on Friday night (March 3). It wasn't long after James Roszko, well known among locals as a psychotic gun-nut, shot four officers on an Alberta farm that the spin took hold. Early news reports, police statements and interjections by government ministers claimed that the officers were killed during a marijuana raid. But CBC News reported on Sunday, March 5 that in fact police were investigating allegations regarding a stolen pick up truck. CBC learned the truth after gaining access to the warrant. The truth was that Roszko hadn't even stolen the truck. Rather, he'd stopped making car payments on the vehicle after a dispute with the dealership over repair work. During the repossession, a sheriff called for back-up, and the RCMP who responded stumbled upon a measly 20 marijuana plants, less than many legal medical marijuana patients grow for personal use. The officers also found piles of stolen car parts, and when they called for backup, they did not call the narcotics squad, they called the auto theft unit. The investigation was never a marijuana investigation, but government and police spokespeople have shamefully and opportunistically seized upon these deaths to lobby for tougher grow op laws, fraudulently claiming that it was a narcotics operation from the start. The result: media throughout Canada have reported that the killing of these officers occurred during a grow op raid, sporting such headlines as "Drug officers cite dangers of grow-op raids" and "grow op maniac kills 4 mounties." Had police been more honest, the headlines instead may have read, "Botched raid, police supervisors to blame": for surely they should have known better than to send unprepared rookies from the auto-theft division into a situation so dangerous that most in the community recognized it as a powderkeg ready to explode - a serious lack of judgement on the part of police supervisors. Tough new laws against growing Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan is hoping anti-pot hysteria will give her the support she needs for even tougher pot laws, and now supports provisions that would force judges to explain lenient sentences for "major producers". McLellan would also like to see more money for narcotics enforcement and bigger penalties for growing cannabis. The new provisions may be introduced as part of an attempt to split the proposed fake decriminalization bill, a push led by anti-pot Liberal MP Paul Szabo, who is infamous for his zealous support of tough anti-drug provisions in the 1995 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Activists call the decrim bill "fake" partly because it would double the possible jail time for growing cannabis, while sections devoted to supposedly lightening up on possession wouldn't apply in most provinces. Szabo's idea is to split off the sections of the fake decrim bill that refer to growing, further toughen laws against the practice, and then push it through parliament as quickly as possible. According to the media, Szabo already has the support of 13 of 14 ministers, especially McLellan. "All of us, whatever role we play in society, need to understand the seriousness of illegal grow ops," McLellan opined, "that they are not, in any way, a victimless crime, that, in fact, most grow-ops are controlled by and run for the benefit of organized crime." Ironically, McLellan seems to have missed the fact that with only 20 plants, cop-killer Roszko could hardly be termed either a "major producer" or a member of "organized drug crime." Attack on pot growers shameful Many Liberals disagree with McLellan, including Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, who said he would vote in favour of legalization. "If we actually wanted to break the back of organized crime, we would be better off to control it," he told the press. "When you have these things underground, what you end up fuelling is organized crime." Even Conservative Chief Stephen Harper had some wisdom to offer. "I am reluctant to draw too many links between these events and public policy,” he said. “Legislation cannot avoid all tragedies. Whenever there is a tragedy like this, there are calls for immediate and drastic action. The left will call for more gun control, and the right will call for tougher penalties. But the truth of the matter: If someone dangerous or disturbed decides to engage in this kind of action, there's no world in which we can ensure that all of these things can be prevented." The showdown came on March 4, at the Liberal Party Convention, when Marc Boris St Maurice, former leader of the Canadian Marijuana Party who recently joined the Liberals, figuratively duked it out against the likes of drug-war supporter MP Dan McTeague. "I find it a shame that on the heels of this tragedy we have people calling for tougher sentences," St-Maurice argued. "It is, sadly, a lack of respect, I think, towards those fallen officers to boil it all down to marijuana. By doing that, we're not serving their interests. We're missing the boat altogether." The convention considered both a resolution to legalize marijuana and another to make the laws tougher. Both resolutins were adopted but failed to make it to a vote on the floor. With any luck, attempts to toughen the laws by Liberal cabinet members will also fail. Dan Gardner: For Years, Everyone Saw This Coming http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20325.shtml "I believe the least controversial approach is decriminalization [of marijuana], because it's unjust to see someone, because of one decision one night in their youth, carry the stigma -- to be barred from studying medicine, law, architecture or other fields where a criminal record could present an obstacle." - Joe Clark, former Canadian Prime Minister, quoted in Globe and Mail, May 23, 2001 CN BC: PUB LTE: 'If Pot Were Legal,These Officers Wouldn't Be Dead http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v05/n381/a06.html?397 Canada: Stricter Drug Laws Called More Risky Author: Betsy Powell and Joseph Hall, Staff Reporters Prohibition causes grow ops, many say - Warnings against knee-jerk response http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n369/a07.html Pot Not The Problem Here By Greg Weston Source: Ottawa Sun March 04, 2005 Within hours of the horrific killing of four young RCMP officers by a rifle-toting lunatic on an Alberta pot farm, everyone from politicians to police and pundits was pointing fingers at the scourge of marijuana grow operations. "The issue of grow ops is not a Ma and Pa industry," RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli told a news conference Thursday night. Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20324.shtml Casualties of the War on Drugs by marc schanz You can murder, maim and molest and still get federal financial aid for college. But get caught smoking a joint, and you have to pay your own way; if you can afford it, that is. http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2001-08-23/news.html Casualties of the Marijuana War It isn't just cancer and AIDS patients who are suffering because of America's anti-pot hysteria. Hundreds of small-time users are in jail -- for life. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5199.shtml The Casualties of the War on Drugs Have Faces http://www.ibiblio.org/warstop/warfaces.html 30's prohibition Will Foster 93 Years For Cannabis http://makeashorterlink.com/?O35755DD6 James Geddes 90 years for possession of 5 medicinal cannabis plants. http://hr95.org/Geddes,J.html Ganjawarnews: 5-11-4 http://makeashorterlink.com/?U5CE22548 Ganjawarnews: CIAScapegoatingTortu re, RummyCheney MKULTRA DeJaVu, MPPDay, ReeferMadness, CannabisSpray. DRCnet, Pieman, DrugsWarFailing, LynndieEnglandFollow ingOrders The Toxic Alternative to Natural Fiber http://fornits.com/curiosity/hemp/fibre.htm Copter Stoppers http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9096.shtml Sikorsky Sells 30 Copters for War on Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8051.shtml Massacres are blamed on so-called "paramilitaries" rather than the regular army, this is a distinction without a difference. paramilitaries are just an "extension of the state. The paramilitaries act as a glove so the military leaves no fingerprints on the crime." "To say that our sending military aid to Colombia is not promoting these massacres is fantasy," "It is like a go-ahead to the death squads of Colombia." United States' Answer To Drug War Proves Harmful http://makeashorterlink.com/?N261231B6 War Against Marijuana is Crackpot http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12508.shtml Spoils of Drug War Forfeitures Prove Too Lucrative http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12369.shtml Government Property Seizures out of Control http://makeashorterlink.com/?V2A723A36

03-06-2005, 08:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
DdC Decade Yahookan Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: Santa Cruz,CA,USA Posts: 2,088 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 47 Thanked 570 Times in 378 Posts	D.E.A.th! "John P. Walters is the United States Drug Czar, also known as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He is the governments minister of drug policy disinformation, insuring that historical experience and scientific data do not interfere with the propagation of government poliicies on select drugs." Pete Guither Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/aint/toc.htm The Killing of Peter McWilliams http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19955.shtml Editorial: Drug Activist Should Be Alive http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n870/a03.html Web: Another Drug War Victim http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n861/a03.html Fatal Condition http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n856/a04.html Column: Peter McWilliams, R.I.P. http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n849/a10.html Web: Murder In California http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n846/a09.html Analysis: The Murder of Peter McWilliams http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n833/a06.html Rainbow Farm Massacre http://www.mapinc.org/find?200 Tom & Rollie Memorial Page http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/rb.htm The Playboy article on Rainbow Farms http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread17185.shtml No Martyrs http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10859.shtml Fond Memories of Rainbow http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10858.shtml Rainbow Farm Outcry http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10851.shtml Police Criticized for Standoffs Deadly End http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10830.shtml FBI Agent Kills Rainbow Farm Owner http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10809.shtml Friend Remembers Crosslin: He Had a Heart of Gold http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10810.shtml Police Kill Second Man at Rainbow Farms http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10813.shtml In Memory of Civilian Casualties of the Drug War http://www.hr95.org/Memorial.html Massacre at Rainbow Farm, September 2001 Tom Crosslin (left) and Rollie Rohm at Rainbow Farm, home of an annual hemp and music festival and a First Amendment political gathering. Anti-Ganja Laws Archaic, Says Doctor http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10815.shtml US PRAISES THAI DRUG WAR! 3000 casualties so far... http://makeashorterlink.com/?H440131B6 Cannabis 'Dramatically Improves Pain Relief' http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10803.shtml New Trial Shows Cannabis Works http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10802.shtml Gil Puder, R. I. P. by Richard Cowan http://makeashorterlink.com/?S4BB23358 The Joseph McNamara Collection http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/...mcn/mcntoc.htm Time article http://www.time.com/time/world/artic...186579,00.html Joseph McNamara is a former police chief in Kansas City, Mo. and San Jose, Ca.. He holds a doctorate in public administration and is presently a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Stop the War - A Former Police Chiefs Plea to the New Drug Czar http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn1.htm America's Plague of Bad Cops http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn8.htm Anguish in Blue Needn't Become Deadly http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn2.htm Bombs and the Bill of Rights http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/.../mcn/mcn10.htm Cops on the Dole http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn7.htm Cop's View of the Drug War http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn9.htm End the War by Anthony Lewis http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn3.htm Has the Drug War Created an Officer Liar's Club? http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn6.htm Reinventing the LAPD http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/.../mcn/mcn12.htm The National Guard is Not a Police Force http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn4.htm Code of Silence Must Come to an End http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/.../mcn/mcn11.htm Holding the Line Between Pursuit and Punishment http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/.../mcn/mcn5a.htm Drug Peace http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/...mcn/mcn18.html Shootings by Police - Broken Trust http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/..._by_police.htm NY Times Letter to the Editor - April 18, 1999 http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/.../mcn/mcn19.htm Just do Nothing! http://makeashorterlink.com/?O29C52395 RAC...KET...EERING http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/message.shtml?1x36121 cops against the drug war http://www.drcnet.org/cops/question.html police chiefs question merit of drug policy http://www.drcnet.org/guide1-96/police.html Bonus Payment To Informant Draws Criticism http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9855.shtml Slave Labor Means Big Bucks For U.S. Corporations http://makeashorterlink.com/?I2A023806 UNICORE http://www.unicor.gov Florida's Journey for Justice http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1592.html November Coalition http://www.november.org F.A.M.M. Foundation) http://www.famm.org F.E.A.R. http://www.fear.org Spraying Program Hurts Colombia's Small Farmers By Scott Wilson http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread8228.shtml Spraying Misery http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9468.shtml Monsanto and the drug war http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=669 Have We Lost The War on Drugs? http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9881.shtml Like Vietnam, Drug War is Futile http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9865.shtml The Delusional Drug War http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9589.shtml Editorial: Time To End War on Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9371.shtml I LOST MY FREEDOM and can't find it anywhere linx http://makeashorterlink.com/?H12524F65 Blindness of the Prohibitionists Paradigm http://makeashorterlink.com/?H581251B6 Jonathan Magbie http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/msg7x4940.shtml Canada's Supremes Cower Under DEAth Threats http://makeashorterlink.com/?R2FB112E6 PM Says 'No' To Looser Drug Laws http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9895.shtml Marijuana Use Will Remain a Crime: Chretien http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9894.shtml Ganjawar:The product sold to fund Fascist' Piggies __________________ Al Capone and Watergate were red herrings to divert the countries attention from the Fascist acts of eliminating competition. Booze/Ethanol then Ganja//Hemp.

03-06-2005, 09:28 PM	#3 (permalink)
Captain Cannabis safety word: more Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: m.i.a. Posts: 13,849 Thanks: 2,580 Thanked 2,915 Times in 1,679 Posts	The showdown came on March 4, at the Liberal Party Convention, when Marc Boris St Maurice, former leader of the Canadian Marijuana Party who recently joined the Liberals, figuratively duked it out against the likes of drug-war supporter MP Dan McTeague. "I find it a shame that on the heels of this tragedy we have people calling for tougher sentences," St-Maurice argued. "It is, sadly, a lack of respect, I think, towards those fallen officers to boil it all down to marijuana. By doing that, we're not serving their interests. We're missing the boat altogether." i saw that on tv, St-Maurice ripped apart every single argument that McTeague gave i rolled my eyes when he St-Maurice was interrupted by the interviewer who said "I am going to stop you there, because we have to give the last word to McTeague." After which the program ended this is insanity in its highest form another very informative post, thanks dcd __________________ fuck the monkeys

03-07-2005, 04:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
Toker00 Old School Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 197 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I was wonderin... Thanks, Ddc, for never letting us forget about the attrocities of THE BOGUS WAR ON DRUGS. The war on some drugs is a war on FREEDOM. The war on terror is a war on FREEDOM. The patriot act is an attack on FREEDOM. Our children our growing up not being taught about FREEDOM, LIBERTY, or JUSTICE. I have just one thing to say to the Fascists who read this post. THE CONSTITUTION DOESN'T HAVE AN EXPIRATION DATE. There is a powerful drive among REAL AMERICANS, the PEOPLE, not the CORPORATITIONS, to re-establish the founding stones of this country. LIBERTY, FREEDOM, AND JUSTICE. NOT religion. LIBERTY. NOT fascism, DEMOCRACY. NOT the elite white racist fascist rule, but rule BY, OF, AND FOR THE PEOPLE. It's time to eat the rich, folks. Peace. Realize, then Legalize.

03-08-2005, 03:47 AM	#8 (permalink)
North_of_Sanity Infidelous Borealis Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,861 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Budman's right though. Cannabis Culture sensationalized it quite a bit. I heard most of the media say "marijuana grow operation" but that's it. Nowhere did I hear them say it was a planned sting. I heard them allude to the stolen pick-up truck as the reason for the sting, not the plants. I agree they're not blaming the courts enough for not jailing the guy due to his past violent/sexual/weapons offenses. But it's kind of illegal to publicly bash the courts, especially for cops and politicians. They could get fired for that. __________________ "His professional diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder. My unprofessional diagnosis: Nut-Job!" - Jim Rome "I don't have a girlfriend. But I know a woman who would be upset if she heard me say that." - Mitch Hedberg "Condoms are stupid" - some dirty ho

03-08-2005, 07:07 AM	#9 (permalink)
~~PsyOpKing~~ Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 7,021 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	motherfuckers.....th e star wont print any editorials/letters to do with the media being wrong... and the whole story still ebing pushed by some networks mainly CHUMLIMITED, CTV(BELL GLOBEMEDIA), AND CANWEST GLOBAL...they still are calling a grow op, still saying the cops were shot over that, still airing video from 2 days ago of their reporters on the scene repeating outdated MISinformation

03-08-2005, 10:56 AM	#10 (permalink)
Toker00 Old School Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 197 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	LOL Kosh I have no appetite for the plain rich. Just the rich spicy elite white racist fascists. An acquired taste, I believe.

03-08-2005, 12:17 PM	#11 (permalink)
kamikazi89 Guest Posts: n/a	i'm sorry, i'm sure you mean that in the most literal sense... but i'm picking up strong, what i would describe as just "dismissive" vibes, now i m not sure why that is, and its not fair to judge that last post as a whole, but it was in the useless banter tripe department,(and who hasnt been guilty of that, besides the thread starter. , it comes across as type, as in click click click but you could be straight out of prison, j i 've been wrong before so much appologies in advance, and apollogies for the assuptions that were just way off base i dont think this is enough of a US issue for me to whore the thread, so if you're some kind of balance to NOS, well...its deserved

03-10-2005, 01:10 AM	#12 (permalink)
DdC Decade Yahookan Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: Santa Cruz,CA,USA Posts: 2,088 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 47 Thanked 570 Times in 378 Posts	Top cop apologizes for misleading claims in cop killer case Five days after the deaths of four RCMP officers during an auto-part theft investigation, officials are admitting that they made a mistake when they blamed the deaths on pot. F U L L S T O R Y http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4217.html We're not all lunatics, pot growers protest 08 Mar, 2005 Marijuana activists say they feel maligned by Alberta man's killing of police officers http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4219.html Medpot Activist Challenges Marijuana Prohibition 07 Mar, 2005 Michelle Kubby argues against the Hitzig decision http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4214.html CN BC: PUB LTE: No Link Between Grow-Ops And Officers' Slayings http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v05/n407/a01.html?397 CN BC: PUB LTE: Don't Follow U.S. Example http://www.mapinc.org/newscc/v05/n407/a04.html?397 Marijuana Prohibition Caught Hold for Neither Rhyme nor Reason http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n400/a02.html War On Grow-Ops Gets A Powerful New Tool http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n399/a07.html And the Pigs went MAD! 01 May, 1996 The Grasstown Police Riots of 1971 http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/1102.html Blame it on 'Prohibition' For some readers of Cannabis Culture magazine, the Vancouver-based international journal for pot users and growers, the deaths of four RCMP officers was a trauma of another sort. "For anyone that grows their own, this is a total tragedy," said one contributor to the magazine's online forum. "Shit they'll start sending the army in now!" Another went so far as to call James Roszko, the dead gunman, a martyr. "I will pray for him for every day of the rest of my life." F U L L S T O R Y http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4218.html

03-13-2005, 12:41 AM	#13 (permalink)
DdC Decade Yahookan Join Date: Feb 1999 Location: Santa Cruz,CA,USA Posts: 2,088 Blog Entries: 5 Thanks: 47 Thanked 570 Times in 378 Posts	Media Duped on Dope Story By Ben Rayner CN Source: Toronto Star March 12, 2005 As Canada nears the end of its media-imposed mourning for the four unfortunate RCMP officers killed in Alberta last week, it might finally be time to call the nation's police officials out for their duplicitous appropriation of the shootings as ammunition in the war on drugs. In no way should this be taken as disrespectful to the young men who lost their lives in the line of duty on March 3. No one should have to die for their job, particularly when that job involves something as mundane as repossessing a pickup truck — which, now that some of the smoke surrounding the sad events on that Mayerthorpe farm has cleared, appears to be what those officers were called in to do. Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20351.shtml Police officials lied to toughen laws... Official Response to RCMP shooting Norml Canada extends its condolences to the families of the four RCMP officers killed while carrying out their duties in Alberta NORML wishes to express its disappointment at the manner in which particular politicians, law enforcement officials, and journalists hastily drew a connection between marijuana and the tragic killing of four RCMP officials in rural Alberta. In light of the emerging evidence, it has become apparent that such statements were ill-founded and regrettable examples of political opportunism. http://www.normlcanada.org Police officials lied to toughen laws... http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/msg1x79321.shtml Americans Funding Fascist' http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/msg1x79188.shtml Psychosis, Hype And Baloney http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/msg1x79370.shtml http://www.openthecan.org/ U.S. Attacks Canadian Pot Laws By Tim Harper CN Source: Toronto Star March 11, 2005 Washington -- A surge of high-potency marijuana illegally smuggled into the United States from Canada is fuelling a rise in drug dependency among young Americans, the Bush administration's drug czar says. A frustrated John Walters, the director of the U.S. National Drug Control office, yesterday signalled Washington's ongoing irritation with what it sees as a lax attitude toward drug crimes north of the border, something that has forced it to redeploy drug patrols from the Mexican border to its northern flank. Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20350.shtml Canada's Supremes Cower Under DEAth Threats http://makeashorterlink.com/?R2FB112E6

03-13-2005, 01:21 AM	#14 (permalink)
North_of_Sanity Infidelous Borealis Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,861 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	^ I like that cartoon. Anyway, the douche that killed the RCMP officers had numerous aggrevated assault, sexual assault, and possession of illegal firearms charges...but the courts just let him go again and again and again. It's the court's fault that it happened. Everyone in that town knew the guy was a psycho that was going to evantually kill someone. But...blaming marijuana (a plant) is so much easier, isn't it? __________________ "His professional diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder. My unprofessional diagnosis: Nut-Job!" - Jim Rome "I don't have a girlfriend. But I know a woman who would be upset if she heard me say that." - Mitch Hedberg "Condoms are stupid" - some dirty ho

03-13-2005, 01:30 AM	#15 (permalink)
kamikazi89 Guest Posts: n/a	media and manipulation Marijuana industry booming in Canada Ontario police have seen a 250 percent increase in indoor pot operations. By Susan Bourette \| Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor TORONTO – On the street it's called Northern Lights, Ontario Hydro, and B.C. bud. It's one of Canada's biggest agricultural exports - a potent form of marijuana cultivated in sprawling "grow houses," worth an estimated US$4 billion to $7 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled into the US. Once hidden in farming communities and well-heeled suburbs, grow operations - indoor nurseries with high-tech lighting and temperature controls - have been thrust into the national spotlight. Thursday Canada buried four young Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who were killed during a bust in rural Alberta March 3. In the Monitor write a letter to the Editor The Alberta grow house was just one of thousands across Canada. Here in Ontario, police say indoor pot operations have risen 250 percent in the past four years. And Vancouver is home to some 7,000 "grow ops" at any time, police say. The tragedy - the deadliest incident for Canada's national police force in 120 years - has ignited debate as Canadians begin to question whether liberal attitudes toward marijuana and lenient laws enacted over the past two decades have contributed to the drug boom. "It's really got people talking about the problem," says Marc Pinault, staff sergeant with the Ottawa Police Service's drug unit. "It's pretty clear that we produce a pile of pot, and it's really good stuff. I don't know that that's something we should be really proud of." Drugs moving east British Columbia has long been the hub of sophisticated, high-tech nurseries capable of producing pot with nearly 30 times the kick of what was found on the street a decade ago, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. Sergeant Pinault says the increasing numbers of massive growing operations - once largely the preserve of Asian gangs and bikers on the West Coast - indicate the problem is moving East into provinces like Ontario and Quebec. Tom Stamatakis, a Vancouver police officer and a member of the Canadian Professional Police Association, says criminals across the country are modeling their operations after those found in and around Vancouver. For example, he says, grow houses are increasingly found in upscale areas of the city as criminals ply their trade behind picket fences and a facade of respectability. Inside, they're a hotbed of danger - rigged with booby traps to ward off intruders and noxious chemical compounds that pose serious health threats. But those aren't the only perils. DEA special agent Rodney Benson of Seattle says recent busts have also netted a pile of automatic weapons and explosive devices. "We're definitely seeing more violence," explains Mr. Benson, who recently oversaw a year long, cross- border sting called Operation Hockey Bag, in which investigators charged 22 people and seized more than 400 lbs. of marijuana, along with $3.4 million and a dozen firearms. "It's not just weapons - it's what we're seeing from the organization. They rule and intimidate from within." RCMP investigators are still sifting through the evidence, trying to find out what led to the killing of the four officers last week. The incident began as an attempt to repossess a pickup truck but ballooned into a larger investigation after the marijuana growing operation was discovered. The gunman, Jim Roszko, killed the officers and later turned a high-powered, semiautomatic weapon on himself. Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme violence - and they hope to keep it that way. Many, like Mr. Stamatakis of Vancouver, say that Canadian lawmakers are too lenient in meting out penalties for those involved in growing operations contributing to the drug explosion. "When even the outgoing prime minister [Jean Chrétien] makes a flippant comment like, 'What's the big deal about marijuana? I've probably had a few puffs myself.' That sends the wrong message to the community and the courts," Stamatakis says. Softer laws for using, harder for selling There has been a major push to decriminalize marijuana across the country in recent years. Canada was the first country to regulate its medicinal use, in 1999. However, while the government has recently moved to introduce softer penalties for possession, penalties for growers could get stiffer. A marijuana bill, reintroduced in November, advocates that possession of up to 15 grams would be punishable by fines of C$100 to C$150 ($85 to $125), but would no longer lead to a criminal record. For growers, those caught with more than three plants, face up to five years in jail, or 18 months plus a C$25,000 ($20,700) fine. Those caught with more than 25 plants could face 10 years in jail, while the bill provides a maximum sentence of up to 14 years for operations with more than 50 plants. Last week, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan issued a warning in the wake of the shootings, telling judges that they will be forced to explain their decisions in writing if jail terms are not imposed on those who grow plants. Under Canadian laws, criminals face a maximum seven-year jail term. In practice, however, many people convicted of growing marijuana receive sentences of little more than a few months, police say. Criminologist Patrick Parnaby says the events of last week are likely to lead to stiffer penalties. When something like narcotics is intimately tied to violence, there is going to be a powerful public backlash, says the associate professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario. "Stricter laws will make the public feel a whole lot better," he says. But many users pushing for decriminalization couldn't disagree more. Blair Longley, leader of the federal Marijuana Party, says legalization would wipe out criminal enterprises across the country. "They've just used this [the Alberta shootings] as an excuse to crack down and enforce outdated laws," says Mr. Longley. "In reality, liberalizing the laws would mean you would get rid of almost all the profits and, therefore, all the crime."

03-13-2005, 01:38 AM	#16 (permalink)
North_of_Sanity Infidelous Borealis Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,861 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Yup! Horseshit with chocolate sprinkles on it, is still horseshit! Marijuana is all "evil" now, but once they regulate and tax it, magically it won't be so evil anymore At least Canada isn't still using the "Jesus says it's evil" excuse, like in the U.S. __________________ "His professional diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder. My unprofessional diagnosis: Nut-Job!" - Jim Rome "I don't have a girlfriend. But I know a woman who would be upset if she heard me say that." - Mitch Hedberg "Condoms are stupid" - some dirty ho

03-13-2005, 01:45 AM	#17 (permalink)
kamikazi89 Guest Posts: n/a	there are a host of assumptions and manipulations in tha article care to find any? nationally syndicated...two days ago crime is the problem and the criminloigists are all over it get your head out of your ass, it is not enough to just be "for legalization" you and me are serioulsy underestimating what's happening here

03-13-2005, 01:52 AM	#18 (permalink)
North_of_Sanity Infidelous Borealis Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,861 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Some media is having a field-day with it. But the RCMP and government haven't been blaming marijuana. They knew the guy's previous record of assault, sexual assault, and possession of illegal firearms charges. They know it was an isolated incident. You even quoted that in your article clip. "Canadian officials stress that it was an isolated act of extreme violence - and they hope to keep it that way." Don't worry about the media. They don't have much influence over the government. In fact, our government doesn't really like our media. __________________ "His professional diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder. My unprofessional diagnosis: Nut-Job!" - Jim Rome "I don't have a girlfriend. But I know a woman who would be upset if she heard me say that." - Mitch Hedberg "Condoms are stupid" - some dirty ho

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03-13-2005, 01:56 AM	#19 (permalink)
kamikazi89 Guest Posts: n/a	just keep driving the truck

03-13-2005, 02:01 AM	#20 (permalink)
North_of_Sanity Infidelous Borealis Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,861 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Fuck you! Why do you have to be a bitch? When did I insult you? Making $4000/month makes me a loser, does it? __________________ "His professional diagnosis: Narcissistic Personality Disorder. My unprofessional diagnosis: Nut-Job!" - Jim Rome "I don't have a girlfriend. But I know a woman who would be upset if she heard me say that." - Mitch Hedberg "Condoms are stupid" - some dirty ho

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