There is a possibility all drugs will be legal in Canada soon...

I was doing a little bit of research on the net 'cause i had nothing better to do today..

I came across some news that the Honorable Keith Martin (Liberal Member of Parliament for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, Canada) was going to introduce a private member's bill today to decriminalize possession of small amounts (less than 30g) of cannabis or cultivation of a maximum of two (2) plants.

While looking at some other info, i came across a ruling from the B.C. Supreme Court stemming from the decision from the federal goverment to close the safe injection site in Vancouver B.C.

The operators filed a complaint based on the unconstitutionality of the right to live with addiction and use the drugs in a regulated place like InSite where the users are provided clean needles and correct dosage to prevent overdose, and the fact that the users may die from disease or overdose if the clinic was closed.

Here is the ruling from the B.C. Supreme Court:
http://www.cfdp.ca/sif_bcsc.pdf

Now, the ruling is 60 pages long and hard to understand if you're not a lawyer.
But it clearly stated at the end that the judge finds section 4 and 5 of the CDSA to be uncontitutionnal and of no force and effet and I quote :

''[158] In sum, I declare that ss. 4(1) and 5(1) of the CDSA are inconsistent with s. 7 of the Charter, and of no force and effect. (...)I suspend the effect of the declaration of constitutional invalidity until June 30, 2009. In the interim, and in accordance with the direction of the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Ferguson, 2008 SCC 6, 228 C.C.C. (3d) 385 at para. 46, I grant users and staff at Insite, acting in conformity with the operating protocol now in effect, a constitutional exemption from the application of ss. 4(1) and 5(1) of the CDSA.
“I. Pitfield J.”''

Now....If i understand correctly, unless the federal goverment changes the laws to accomadate InSite and their work, or gets an additional extension from the courts or wins their appeal (http://sobernclean.blogspot.com/2008/08/bc-court-of-appeal-to-hear-insite-case.html) change the laws, on June 30th 2009, the laws on illegal drugs will be nullified.

Now correct me if i'm wrong, but that means total legalisation in Canada for all illegal drugs.

Anyone care to comment on my findings??
Feel free to tell me if i'm wrong, i'm not a lawyer or anything so....

Peace and Pot!!!!

Ha thats funny. Less then 1% of all private members bills get passed. In all honesty, its as close as legal already, why not just put it in writting.

Now the safe injection site, this ruling just means that by closing the site the government is violating a charter right. Doesn't make existing durg laws void lol.

The reason for not putting it in writing is purely political...Conservative government..
The charter violation does make the law void (ie. no force and effect) but the judge left the conservatives until june 30th 2009
This is to give the conservatives time either to change the laws, apeal the verdict (which they did) or come up with a stupid regulation type thing like they did with medical maijuana.

Um you clearly do not know what your talking about. This ruling will not make drugs legal. The government forced the closure of the centre, doing so violated the charter....this has nothing to do with possession charges.

sorry, i'm baked so maybe I didn't say it right.

What i meant to say is that it would make ''possession'' legal

The point is the fact that the users of the facility and the staff there aren't in any legal framework since the drugs are illegal.
In that view the staff can be charged for trafficking (ss5(1) of the CDSA if they hold a syringue that has heroin for the patient. (and the patient for possession ss4(1) of the controlled drugs and substances act)
Therefore section 7 of the charter of rights and freedoms of Canada (7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.) is violated because of the ''security of the person'' ie the heroin addict went to clinic to get ''safe & sterile needles'' and ''correct dosage''

I read the whole judgement in detail... above sums up what is says
You know, these past few years have been murky in the courts....

The thing is that if the government doesn't get the appeal judgement in time, doesn't get an extension, doesn't change the law or enact regulations the laws would be voided to respect the section 7 of the charter.

This is my interpretation, i might be wrong

Thats pretty correctas I see it too batlam.. It really seems like the proposal is trying to mirror the MM challenge from a few years back.. And murkey isn't the word.. Black with dismissiveness of federal rulings would be a better description..
Our laws are in shambles on the subject, so they're pretty much just following Steve's 'policies', or tossing things out of court on the basis that good judges rule on matter of law.. Its a craps shoot as to how you'll be treated in court, as random as how strict a kid's parents happen to be on pot smoking..
Pretty BS.. I don't know why Harper doesn't just declare War Measures so any whim of policy is acceptable at a moment's notice.. I know he wants to.. The slogan for the conservative party should be "Constitutions are for Pussies"..

LOL nice slogan!

BTW the judge doesn't rule on any specific schedule (ie. drug category), so that's why all illegal drugs would be included.

Are you sure 'addictive' wouldn't be a criterion given the wording??
I use 'sure' loosely obviously.. Any opinion??

As long as we have a conservative government in place (I am true-blue) we will not see marijuana legalization. It's as simple as that, it was a campaign promise.

The Drug Control Act is essentially the Young Offenders or Criminal Code of the drug world.. Purely federal legislation is enforced on a provincial level.. We will see more of what is happening in BC, LE turning a blind eye. The closest we ever came to decriminalization (not legalization as you are confused) was in 2003-4.. With Paul martin proposing his bill C-17.. Which was later dismissed due to Mr. Harper coming to power.

Unless Harper fucks up royally, I doubt the educated populous will vote back in a liberal. If the NDP and Liberals merge we will see legalization, otherwise.. I wouldn't count on it.

Funny thing is, the only province not crumbling economically (AssScratchaton) is under NDP at the moment.. Conservatives don't do well in polls when their policies aren't keeping businesses happy.. Can't disagree with your assessment, but I'm really hopeful that ppl are going to start admitting that Harper has infact fucked up royally.. I'm also hoping pictures show up of him with his cock in a tranny's mouth..

I think that with everything that's going on in the states with decrim and even a legalization bill in CA, the canadian citizen will start to wonder...''Why not here Harper???''
And soon enough (i hope....) the conservatives government will fall.

Its just not that important to alot of citizens.. Sure most don't see a point in it being illegal, but at the same time, it doesn't really matter to them personally..
The government will fall because of economic issues as it should IMO, and until a government is willing to try to capitalize on decriminalization/legalization (whether it be an attempt to tax, or merely saving legal dollars) it will be a moot point to the masses..

batlam1 said:

I think that with everything that's going on in the states with decrim and even a legalization bill in CA, the canadian citizen will start to wonder...''Why not here Harper???''
And soon enough (i hope....) the conservatives government will fall.

Click to expand...

the problem is that many people in canada (especially eastern) don't want it legalized. as long as they vote conservative we can be fairly sure of that.

Really?? The conservatives will stay strong because too many maritimers wanna keep pot down??

i think he meant ''western'' Canada LOL Harper's playing ground

Its not gonna happen with harper. Leafs have a better chance of winning the cup. (yes leafs fans ZING)

BC, Quebec, and Ontario have most of the population.. Honestly, BQ owns Quebec, that's not changing anytime soon.. As for Ontario and BC they swing liberal to PC pretty easily. I find it humerus the population with the highest unemployment and alcoholism rates disapprove of decriminalization. What has harper done to "fuck up".. I imagine you have nothing, as he's done a really good job. I would vote liberal on values but after Paul Martin's stint it will take awhile..

Seriously, what the hell has harper done wrong?

Everyone knows decriminalizing marijuana will NOT solve or even slightly help the economic crisis. The government could make a .5% GST hike and it would bring it more money then the state tax on Alcohol alone, let alone a possible marijuana tax.

Deep breath; afghanistan, he opposed the Charolettetown accord, in 1993 he was given large party donations by the NCC (national citizens coalition) which happened to be his future employer, in 1995 he voted against a bill that would give same sex couples spousal benefits, voted against firearms registry in 95, in 1997 in a speech given to an American think tank he said "Canada is a Northern European welfare state" among other things in the same speech he compaired the NDP to an antichrist political group, he endorsed a NCC proposal to give a tax credit back to people whos children attended private school and yet ignored the crumbling public school structure in Ontario caused by Mike Harris, wanted corporal punishment for parents to use on their children, described his supporters as the "same as Bush tapped into".

I could go on forever; If you think Harper is "cleaner" then any of the liberals governments of the past your wrong. Harper and the PC are even worse. Harper hasn't added to Canadian culture, or history. He has failed at what he attempted to do. My favourite however; the man is a doctor of economics yet when the recession was about to start (during the debates) he said nothing needed to be done, and totally ignored questions relating to the economy. Plus he totally was owned in the debates, and that is NOT up for debate.

Wait, we were in Afghanistan before Harper. Have you been to Afghanistan? I have quite a few acquaintances that have gone overseas and the change they are making is magnificent. WE ARE SAVING LIVES.

- When the Prime Minister opposes the accord, saying some random out west opposes is random, as it would not have been passed anyways; the Charlottetown Accord was a failure to begin with.

- Donations are donations.. You are saying he "fucked up" because he ended up working for a supporter? Come on.

- Same Sex couples deserve spousal benefits? You seriously believe that? Hell, i'd "marry" my best friend tomorrow if that was possible in a decent degree.

- The FIREARMS registry is A COMPLETE FAILURE, HOW can you disagree with that? I thought that is not to be debated. Wow, I seriously can't believe you.

- In 1997 Canada was a Northern European Welfare state, we started disassociation and it was the PC's who HELPED eliminate the brain-drain par se.. Again, the only way to fix problems is to recognize them.. He didn't make up anything in that speech, he spoke the truth. The NDP statement was uncalled for and unfair, I completely agree. Politics and religion do not mix.

- Mike Harris was a complete failure of sorts. I personally fully believe in a 2 tiered education and healthcare system.. However he did ignore the still failing public educational systems.

- Although Bush is a lieng murderer.. He "did" keep American's (and consequently Canadians) safe since 2001. Although I believe 911 was a consipiracy that is irrelivant. National security is important to me.

- Harper is by no means cleaner then some of the highly successful liberal leaders in the past, hell if I had my choice Trudeau would still be PM. I LOVE what the liberals stand for, it's great. Although in practise they fail, time and time again. Harper has a tract record of keeping promises, and being straight up. Seriously, for a politition that's rare.

- Wait, you support bailouts? Let the companies fail naturally. Seriously the thought behind bailouts does not make sense. Stimulus plans DO NOT WORK, it worked in the USA in the 30's.. However that had nothing to do with pushing up the private sector, but rather creating public jobs. Nothing needs to be done about a ression.. It's a natural event that occurs and is naturally fixed, it realigns the economy.

- Harper failed at the debates, I completely agree.

Ignatieff has promise, He seems like a educated HONEST man.. If I had to vote tomorrow? It would be Liberal.

-- I commend you on your intelligence, most people speal "HARPER BLOWZ" etc, with nothing to back it up.

Again, Good job. I stand corrected.

How can you say the liberals failed time and time again? Liberals are mostly responsible for most of the freedoms you have today, political anyways.
-same sex couples do deserve fair and equal treatment as any other couple. No one said anything about having to get married, if they were common law wouldn't that be enough proof that this was a legit couple? I believe that marriage is between man and woman, but just because johnny loves the rod doesn't make him any less of a person or Canadian citizen and therefore entitled to the same rights and privilages as a common law straight couple. If you don't agree then maybe we should look into taking the vote away from women, no?

- If donations are fair game, why did harper cry foul when the liberals had 3 times more donations dollars then the PC.

-registry is not failing. It is the current Canadian government that is not doing enough to prevent blackmarket arms from entering the country.

-the brain drain is still in effect. Wait times at hospitals that are understaffed/underfunded are a direct result

-Afghanistan is causing too much of a tax burden currently. These funds would be much better spent on our own country/economy. Looking at boosting social programs during economic downturn is a perfect way of creating more jobs and rebuilding an economy. When there is poverty in Canada don't you think you should fix that before spending money on a country another world away?

I do NOT support bailouts to private sectors. I mean the Canadian/american auto sector has got to be the dumbest buch of people in a while. They complain no one is buying our big gas guzzling cars!!!! But we will ignore this and continue pumping them out at record losses. HELLO this is the consumers way of saying we don't want that anymore. The money is in small cars, in fact small cars that are efficent have not seen a decrease in sales in over 2 years. I cannot believe that big car manufractures that spend millions on consumer studies have not figured this out....Its mind blowing.

One way of assisting these idiots would be some kind of government rebate when buying new small cars that are made in Canada. This could do wonders for economy/environment

Even though I don't support the green party, I find their beliefs on taxation fantastic. They believe that if you shift the taxation from joe blow to the corporate polluters, not only do you make more revenue but the average middle class keeps more money. Lets face it Canada is a middle class country.


Love picking your brain, its been fun.