Free Republic

High Court Marijuana Case in Limbo The Supreme Court of Canada judges have written a letter questioning whether they should proceed with a federal government case against marijuana smoking today, given that Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he is going to decriminalize the drug. As soon as the judges read about Mr. Cauchon's announcement earlier this week, the court wrote lawyers for the federal government and three marijuana enthusiasts, asking whether the case should be put on hold in light of the developments. At the same time that Mr. Cauchon is planning decriminalization, his own Justice Department lawyers are scheduled...

Premier Roger Grimes not only favours decriminalizing marijuana use, he thinks it should be legalized, produced in factories and taxed like tobacco to pay for services like health care. Grimes, who admitted to experimenting with pot in his youth, said it’s a federal matter to decide. “I’m saying if I ever were to run federally, I’d probably put in my plank that we should not only decriminalize it, we should legalize it — have it produced in factories and plants, raise some revenues from it and treat it the same as alcohol. Put an age limit on it and recognize...

OTTAWA - The federal government will introduce legislation decriminalizing marijuana within the first four months of the new year, Martin Cauchon, the Justice Minister, suggested yesterday. Mr. Cauchon said that should the House of Commons committee on illegal drugs recommend decriminalization in its report this Thursday, the government will respond quickly. The committee is expected to recommend that growing pot for personal use should not be a crime. A member of the committee said the report will probably suggest a 30-gram limit for personal use. "I mean, we'll see what will be the recommendations of the report," Mr. Cauchon told...

Heroin will kill Winona Drugs claims ... Winona with her lawyer yesterdayFrom EVA SIMPSONin Los Angeles MOVIE star Winona Ryder is a heroin user who could overdose and die, a shock police report claimed last night. A detective warned the judge at Winona’s shoplifting hearing that if the actress didn’t get help she could be found dead “with a needle in her arm”. The file was released as Winona, 31, appeared for sentence. She was let off jail, but was given probation and community service. She was also ordered to undergo drug and psychological counselling. The 28-page probation report...

Physicians can discuss the pros and cons of medicinal marijuana with their patients without worry of the Drug Enforcement Administration cracking down on them, a federal appeals court ruled in October. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco unanimously ruled that a 1996 federal policy that said physicians could lose their DEA numbers if they discussed the issue tramples on First Amendment rights that allow a doctor and patient to discuss medical issues. The policy had some physicians fearful of discussing the issue with patients who have cancer, AIDS or other debilitating diseases...

The drug czar is ready for pro wrestling. He already has the name, and now he's got the prefight talk down cold. In every speech he makes in Nevada, where Bush appointee John Walters has traveled to fight an initiative that would legalize marijuana, he calls out his three sworn enemies as if he were Tupac Shakur. The czar has a problem with billionaire philanthropists George Soros, Peter Lewis and John Sperling, who have bankrolled the pro-pot movement, and he wants everyone to know he's ready for battle. At an Elks lodge meeting in Las Vegas, he ticks off their...