Canada’s Cannabis Journal since 2010
By Kirk Tousaw In Nov. 2012, the Harper Conservative government ushered in new mandatory sentencing legislation for certain Controlled Drugs and Substances Act offences. Despite criticism from outside and inside government, and clear evidence that such sentences are harmful to the criminal justice system and society, the ideologically-driven rules are now law and are binding […]
A Timeline of Marijuana Prohibition in the UK [i] The Years 1928-1945 In 1928, the UK’s Dangerous Drugs Act comes into force, making marijuana illegal in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This date places the UK at the midpoint of the dark era. Dates of prohibition for other areas in the English-Speaking […]
Last week’s blog described medical marijuana in Washington State as a program in peril, due mainly to the peculiar implementation of I-502. This week I analyze the recreational side of things. As we know, the Initiative accorded the power to plan and regulate the new system to the State LCB. In what follows, I argue […]
Figure 1. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Schedule 2, Cannabis What exactly is ‘dried marihuana’? In April of 2012, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Johnston struck the term “dried marihuana” from the Medical Marihuana Access Regulations, refining the language to refer to all products listed as Cannabis in schedule 2 of the CDSA (figure […]
Every jurisdiction that legalizes marijuana encounters its own special set of post prohibition gremlins. Gremlins are mythical creatures that specialize in sabotage. In fairy tales they appear as inhabitants of other worlds. In reality they inhabit our own. That this is so is evident from a glance at Washington State where, despite legalization, masters in […]
By Calli Walton My mother always told me as a child that if I needed help I could run to a police officer, but something very unfortunate has been happening as I grow older – Police officers all over the world seem to have regressed away from the friendly lawmen we knew we could trust […]
Last thursday we heard the news that my medical cannabis extract decision has once again been appealed by the Canadian Government. It is now destined to become the first case to present evidence regarding medical cannabis to the Supreme Court of Canada. The supreme Court does not typically accept new evidence and the government has […]
For Immediate Release Thurs Sept 11, 2014 Victoria, B.C.: The federal crown has decided to go to the Supreme Court of Canada to determine whether patients should have access to cannabis extracts, appealing the Aug 14 BC Court of Appeal decision in the Smith case. No date has been set yet. For many […]
By Owen Smith For the most part, medical cannabis users are among the least fortunate people in society. Not only have they acquired a life-altering condition but the treatment options that are available don’t work for them. Cannabis is medically necessary for these individuals. The Victoria Cannabis Buyers club is a medical cannabis dispensary that […]
Winter of Hash? Has Smith created legal lacuna for extracts? All of the impacts of the recent Smith decision in the BC Court of Appeal have not been fully understood and many questions remain. While the lawyers debate about how the government will respond, there are a few points I would like to raise about […]