A former New Democrat MP claims that the Conservative government's proposed amendments to the Food and Drugs Act are the result of lobbying from big pharmaceutical companies. Lyle MacWilliam, who represented Okanagan-Shuswap from 1988 to 1993, told the Georgia Straight he formed part of former Liberal health minister Allan Rock's 17-member transition team that helped set up the Office of Natural Health Products, now the Natural Health Products Directorate, where "the landscape for a new regulatory structure for NHPs arose". Bill C-51 would amend the Food and Drugs Act and multiple other statutes, and this has MacWilliam worried for the fate of the natural-health-product industry, which he said will be placed under "stringent" and onerous conditions. full story

London, Ontario - Marc Emery is standing behind the counter at his former business, the City Lights bookstore on Richmond Street, talking about his quixotic quest to end society's prohibition on marijuana. "My argument for marijuana is not that it's good for you and not that it's safe," he says. "It's that any law that punishes peaceful and honest behaviour is an unjust law and must be struck down." Canada's self-proclaimed "prince of pot" -- the man whose ongoing legal battle with the U.S. government has prompted profiles by the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone magazine, 60 Minutes, CNN and CBC -- is in London to visit his ailing mother. But Emery rarely passes up a chance to proselytize. And so, he talks. full story

OTTAWA - The Harper government is embracing tough-on-crime policies even as the United States backs away from similar approaches that have produced record levels of incarceration, huge taxpayer costs and racialized prisons, says an American expert on sentencing policy. "We've had this get-tough movement for three decades now," says Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which promotes reforms in sentencing law and alternatives to incarceration. "If that's the best way to produce safety, we should be the safest country in the world, and clearly that's not the case." full story

Vancouver's newest marijuana seed outlet is celebrating their two-year anniversary with a big party on Saturday, May 31st. "I can't believe that it's been two years," says Dana Larsen, former editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine and co-founder of the Vancouver Seed Bank (VSB). "We are going to have a great party at the end of May." Larsen founded the VSB with his partner Rebecca Ambrose in May 2006, less than a year after their friend Marc Emery was charged with exporting marijuana seeds to the USA. Emery is still facing extradition and could get a 30 year sentence in an American prison. full story

Four Nelson men accused of selling marijuana say they were practising harm reduction techniques intended to reduce street-level drug dealing, while also making a political statement about the illegal status of the drug they consider a holy sacrament. The men's lawyer, Don Skogstad, said on Monday at the start of the trial that his clients admit they sold drugs to undercover police officers two years ago, but said he will argue the sales were part of a harm reduction program. full story

Ten years ago this spring, Karen Garrison watched as her twin sons were locked up in prison, for longer than she ever thought possible. Lamont and Lawrence, then 25, had just graduated from university in Washington D.C. They had no prior record. They wanted to become lawyers. Instead, they were sent to jail for 15 and 19 years apiece, for conspiring to sell crack cocaine. The judge had no say in their punishment. Tough, mandatory minimum sentences, crafted in 1986 at the height of the U.S. war on drugs, meant the Garrisons would go to prison, without parole, for many years. After a decade of heartache, and with her sons still serving time, Karen Garrison has a warning for Canada: "Be careful with these mandatory minimums - the punishment doesn't often fit the crime," she says. "It can destroy families." full story

The use of drug-sniffing police dogs in the random search of a southwestern Ontario school and a Calgary bus terminal was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday, April 25th. In a 6-3 decision, the top court ruled that the actions breached Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which covers what constitutes reasonable search and seizure. The ruling, which could have an impact on police powers across the country, centred on two cases. full story

A Hamilton judge has hammered Church of the Universe founders Reverend Brother Walter Tucker and Reverend Brother Michael Baldasaro, sentencing them to hefty jail terms and ordering the seizure of their east-Hamilton headquarters. In a strongly worded decision, Superior Court Justice John Cavarzan said, "544 Barton Street East is a marijuana convenience store that operates for profit like a prohibition-era speakeasy, but disguised as a church." Cavarzan sentenced Baldasaro, 58, to two years in a federal penitentiary on two counts of marijuana trafficking, involving about 2.5 grams worth $30. He handed Tucker, 75, a 12-month jail sentence for three counts of trafficking, involving $40 worth of pot. full story

Canadians Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams are fighting extradition to the USA. The Canadian Government decided to not go along with the plea deal even though the USA and Marc Emery were in agreement, so the extradition hearing has been rescheduled. Emery, Rainey and Williams (collectively known as the BC3) appeared in the BC Supreme Court on April 9th and set dates for the extradition hearing. The extradition hearing is now scheduled for February 9th through 17th, 2009. See the No Extradition forum in the CC Forums for more information and discussion. full story