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April 16, Toronto, Ontario
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The Deputy Chief of the Frankfurt Police and the Chief Prosecutor of the German state of Hessia attended a professional round table discussion sponsored by the
Addiction Reserach Foundation and the Law Union of Ontario.
They presented detailed information to local lawyers and judges on recent changes and effects of European drug policy reforms. The City of Frankfurt has led Europe in changing from a repressive system to one of the most progressive harm reduction systems in Europe.
For more information contact Benedikt Fischer of the
Addiction Research Foundation at 416-595-6029.
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April 24, Ottawa, Ontario
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A Canadian Federal Court ordered a human rights tribunal to re-examine the
Toronto Dominion Bank's practice of screening new employees for cannabis and other banned drugs through a mandatory urine test.
The case was brought forward by the Canadian Human Rights
Commission, which went to court after the original tribunal found that urine testing was not in violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
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May, Kaanesatake, Quebec
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The RCMP announced that they were closing their files and that no charges would be laid in connection with marijuana grown last summer on the Mohawk reserve of Kaanesatake, near Oka.
The initial discovery of up to a hundred thousand plants led to a political crisis. The federal government refused to intervene, even though the plants were on Crown land. Many of the plants were ultimately destroyed by the SžretŽ du Quebec, as well as by Mohawk Peacekeepers.
For the full story, see
The Grass Cage in the Fall 95 issue of
Cannabis Canada.
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May 7, Canada
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The Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper, reported that a program of random drug testing in Canadian penitentiaries appeared to be causing inmates to switch from marijuana to heroin, which is more difficult to detect in a urine test.
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May 24, Charlottetown, PEI
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Prime Minister Jean
Chretien explained to a crowd of high school students that marijuana decriminalization was "not a debate with the House of Commons at this time. It would be very difficult to pass."
However, Chretien went on to hint that he wasn't personally opposed to decriminalization. "I'm not in a position to be judgemental," he said, "I've had a beer or two in my time."
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May 28, Toronto, Ontario
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Grant Kreiger of Regina returned from Amsterdam after an unsuccesful but well-publicized attempt to openly import a small quantity of medical marijuana for personal use. Kreiger purchased the marijuana in Holland as medicine for his multiple sclerosis, with a valid prescription from a Dutch doctor.
Kreiger was arrested by Dutch authorities and spent two days in jail before being deported for trying to export marijuana without a
permit; see our full story, Life on
Earth, in this issue. Contact Grant Kreiger at
Highwear Hemp at 1-800-994-4367.
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June 4, Singapore
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The Associated Press reported that Ronald Wilson McCulloch, a 43 year old Canadian, was ordered to stand trial with a Singaporean co-defendant on marijuana trafficking charges that carry a mandatory death penalty.
If convicted, McCulloch would have become the second westerner executed for violating Singapore's strict drug laws. The first was Dutch businessman Johannes Van Damme, who was hanged in September, 1994, despite a personal plea for mercy from the Queen of Holland.
McCulloch apparently plea-bargained, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. For more information, see our
story,
Swinging in
Singapore, in this issue.
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June 20, Ottawa, Ontario
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Bill C-8, the Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act, was passed by Parliament and given Royal Assent to become law in Canada.
The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs made no substantial amendments to the Bill, even though many of the Committee members spoke openly of their support for the decriminalization of marijuana and a focus on harm reduction.
See our article in this issue, Welcome to the Drug
War, for our whole story on how the Senate failed Canadians and what we can expect of the new
law.
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June 22, London, Ontario
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A Canadian Cannabis Conference was held in London's Centennial Hall. The event featured a hemp clothing fashion show, as well as speakers who included Robert Solomon of the LeDain Commission,
Marc Emery of Hemp BC, Gordon Schiefele of Agriculture Canada, and medical marijuana user Grant Kreiger.
For more information on this event contact organizer Brad Dundas at 519-858-9872, or email
BDundas@L2.lonet.ca.
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July 1, Canada
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Cannabis Canada
Day was celebrated by Canadians across the nation, with rallies and marches taking place from coast to coast. Participating cities included Victoria, Nanaimo, Vancouver, Edmonton, Thunder Bay, Moncton, Dartmouth and Halifax.
The Vancouver rally attracted about 3,000 people, with most other cities having a few hundred participants. Two arrests were made for simple possession at the Dartmouth rally, and one of those charged intends on joining in with
Randy Caine's constitutional
challenge.
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April 22, Honolulu, Hawaii:
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The Hawaii State
Legislature passed a resolution to conduct a study on the economic potential of growing industrial hemp. The resolution describes the study as a "fact-finding and information-gathering forum" that would examine many different aspects of industrial hemp.
The Hawaii Agribusiness Development Corporation will be undertaking the research project at the University of Hawaii, College of Tropical Agriculture. For more information, please contact Rep. David Tarnas at 808-586-8510, or email
dtarnas@aloha.net.
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May 14, Montpelier, Vermont
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The Vermont State Legislature passed a
bill which allows for research to be conducted into the feasibility of industrial hemp production. The approved measure falls short of the bill's initial expectations, as it removed language that would have authorized the state university to grow test plots in order to assess optimum soils and other growing conditions.
For more information, please phone the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project at (303) 784-5632.
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May 31, Beverly Hills, California
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Timothy Leary passed away peacefully into the night, surrounded by friends. Leary is best known for popularizing the use of LSD and expanding the boundaries of psychology with innovative and controversial ideas. He faced his impending death with the same shameless sense of excitement and exploration that characterized his life.
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June 1, Lexington, Kentucky
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Actor Woody Harrelson was arrested and charged with cultivation of fewer than five marijuana plants after he brazenly planted four seeds of industrial hemp in full view of the Sheriff of Lee County. The planting and subsequent arrest were part of a protest by Harrelson to challenge the continued prohibition of industrial hemp.
Harrelson is part owner of The Hempstead
Company, and has stated his intention to plant hemp in additional states to further challenge the laws.
For more information, contact the Colorado Hemp Initiative
Project at (303) 784-5632, or email cohip@darkstar.cygnus.com.
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June 6, Sacramento, California
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The Secretary of State's office in Sacramento certified that the California initiative measure to legalize marijuana for medical use had qualified for the November general election.
The California Medical Use Initiative gathered 775,000 signatures to qualify for ballot access, and provides that "patients or defined caregivers, who possess or cultivate marijuana for medical treatment recommended by a physician, are exempt from general provisions of law which otherwise prohibit possession or cultivation of marijuana."
For more information on the Medical Marijuana
Initiative see our story in
this issue. You can also contact Dave Fratello of Californians for Medical Rights at (310) 451-2522, or the Californians for Compassionate Use at (415) 621-3986, email
cbc@marijuana.org.
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March 1, Germany,
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The German Bundesrat (representing the states) followed the Bundestag (federal parliament) and passed a law re-legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp by a large majority. This step concluded two years of heated public debate about the economic merits of industrial hemp against the potential for drug abuse.
The law only allows the use of EU-certified varieties with less than 0.3% THC. The area likely to be cultivated this year is only about 1400 hectares, primarily because of tight supplies of French certified seeds. The certification of Hungarian and German varieties, expected for 1997, will likely remove this obstacle.
For more information contact Gero Leson of the nova Institute by fax at 310-392-4105, or email
75522.1722@CompuServe.com
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May 7, Copenhagen, Denmark
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The Chief Medical officer of Copenhagen, Dr Peter Ege, welcomed proposals by the Socialist Folk Party and Social Democrat Party for Denmark to follow the example of the Netherlands and allow the sale of cannabis in coffeeshops.
Writing in the newspaper 'Det Fri Aktuelt', Dr Ege said the Dutch model should be improved upon by Denmark, and that the state should take over the growing, distribution and sale of cannabis in order to eliminate the illegal market and prevent profits from falling into the hands of criminals.
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May 17, Paris, France
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Final arguments were heard in a highly publicized lawsuit for libel, brought forward by notorious prohibitionist Gabriel Nahas against author Michka. Nahas is suing Michka because she wrote an article entitled "The Crusade of Gabriel Nahas - or the Art of Disinformation" which discredits Nahas' anti-marijuana research and claims that he "manipulated science" to further his goals.
The case has involved testimony from a wide array of expert witnesses, including two ex-Ministers of Health, John Morgan and Lynn Zimmer of
California NORML, and Bernard Kouchner, founder of Medecins du Monde.
For more information, contact Michka by phone at 33-1-4370-2215, or 33-1-4522-6353.
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June 5, Rome, Italy
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A Rome judge decided that Marco Pannella of the Italian Radical Party should stand trial for giving away over three hundred grams of marijuana and hashish at a demonstration last December.
Pannella, who was responsible for introducing divorce and abortion laws to Italy via referendum, is promoting a referendum to legitimize the use of soft drugs. He lost his seat in the April general elections and so is no longer protected by parliamentary immunity.
For more information contact the Italian Radical Party by phone at 39-6-6897-9300, or email
18.referendum@agora.stm.it.
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June 12, Sweden
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The prohibitionist International Conference on Drugs Research, Prevention, Treatment, and Organized Crime made a special appeal to Canada, against liberalization of laws regarding cannabis. Their resolution reads in part "We request that the Government of Canada cease its 'harm reduction' approach to drug problems. It not only affects Canadian citizens, but also affects other nations and discredits Canada to the world."
For more information contact John Yates by email at john.yates@bobo.pp.fi.
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May 1996, South Australia
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South Australia's Director of Public Prosecutions recommended that the State government grow and regulate the sale of cannabis.
Director Paul Rofe suggested implementing a regulatory system similar to those already in place for the sale of alcohol and tobacco, whereby individuals could purchase marijuana over the counter.
For more information, please contact James Danenberg of Hemp SA at 61-8-297-9442 or email
hempSA@va.com.au.
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April 10, Victoria
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The Premier's Advisory Council on Drug Reform in the state of Victoria recommended that citizens of that state be permitted to possess up to 25 grams of marijuana, and grow up to five plants at home.
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May 4, Canberra
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Australian Health Minister Michael Wooldridge stated that he would back any state which moved to decriminalize marijuana.
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June 12, Victoria
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Victorian politicians failed to endorse the decriminalization of marijuana for cultivation and personal use, as recommended by the Premier's Advisory Council on Drug Reform on April 10.
The government did approve a majority of the report's policies, including shifting the state anti-drug focus to education rather than enforcement, but rejected taking any steps toward decriminalizing marijuana.
