MAPS: Canadian Senate Calls for Legalizing Marijuana

["Meme [Mark B.]" <meme@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics

September 4, 2002

CANADIAN SENATE COMMITTEE CALLS FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA


The prohibition of marijuana use must end, proclaims a report to be released
today by the Canadian Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs.

The unanimous report hopes to bring Canadian policy into the new millennium
and out of the politically motivated and costly US-led War on (Some) Drugs.
"Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially
less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but
as a social and public health issue," explained Senator Pierre Nolin, the
committee's chairperson.

The report courageously refutes the outdated ideological positions
propounded in the US by such influential people as the Drug Czar John
Walters and the DEA director, Asa Hutchenson: both have striven to convince
the Canadian government to impose stronger anti-drug laws. Not only does the
report call for legalization, but it also argues for a modification to the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that would provide amnesty for Canadians
previously convicted of marijuana possession.

Recognizing that the current prohibition laws have failed, the report
recommends that the government focus instead on illegal drug trafficking,
prevention programs, and respecting the rights and freedoms of Canadians.
Revising the law is necessary said Senator Nolin, because "In many ways,
prohibition is a cop-out."

"In Canada where the majority of the population opposes the criminalization
of marijuana use," said Mark Bryan, Summer Fellow for the American-based
Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, "the Senate's report has the
potential to convince the federal government to assert its sovereignty, and
stop allowing the Americans to bully them into maintaining policies which
clearly are not in the best interest of the Canadian people." Mr. Bryan, a
Canadian citizen, is looking forward to returning home "to a less oppressive
country than the one I am currently in."

The Canadian Senate's report coincides with debates currently underway in
Nevada and Arizona concerning pot decriminalization. Nevadans will vote on
November 9th in an initiative that will make the possession of up to three
ounces of marijuana legal. Many states have already voted in favor of
permitting the use of medical marijuana, but have been facing difficulties
because of the US federal government's refusal to recognize the democratic
will of American citizens.

"For a country that champions the ideal of freedom, America is far behind
both Europe and Canada, where the 'reefer madness' days are coming to a
much-lauded end. It is about time the American populace stood up and
demanded its Constitutional rights. Without the freedom to manage one's own
brain chemistry, the basis of one's thinking processes, the First Amendment
right to freedom of speech and religion are meaningless," noted Mr. Bryan.

More information is available from the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy
which links directly to the Senate Committee's website: http://www.cfdp.ca/
The release of the report will be available via web cast at:
http://senate-senat.ca/webcast.asp. Additional materials can be found at the
American Common Sense for Drug Policy site
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/canada.htm and the Center for Cognitive
Liberty and Ethics at http://www.alchemind.org/issues/drug_policy_index.htm




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