A judge in Ireland recognized that cannabinoid metabolites in urine are not sufficient evidence of impairment.
The Canadian government has called a snap election for October. Canadian activists hope to make cannabis law reform an election issue.
Authorities in Australia have succeeded in shutting down the Nimbin HEMP Bar and Hemp Museum by threatening landlords.
]]>When your only tool is a hammer, the old saying goes, then every problem looks like a nail. And if your main tool is jail? Then longer jail terms will make everything all better. In Nigeria, a Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency complained bitterly in a column last week that judges only sentence "drug barons" whom police feel (but can't prove) might be murderers to only "three months in imprisonment, sometimes two." And though 5,000 bags of pot ("Indian Hemp") were seized by vigilant cops, only 20 of 81 persons arrested for this dastardly drug crime were convicted this year, bemoaned the top Nigerian narc. So, drop those murder cases, and forget about catching thieves: "you cannot fight criminality in the society without fighting drugs first because armed robbers use drugs before embarking in robbery activities." And that's why we must jail Indian hemp users.
The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistic's report released last week continues to reverberate in the media, undercutting the political strategy of capitalizing on fear of crime. The ruling conservatives' call for an election the middle of October has many examining MP Seven Harper's rationale for eternally ratcheting up punishments for "drugs" (read: cannabis). While murders and thefts are at a 30-year low in Canada, "drug rates rose by 10%... Possession offences, specifically of cannabis and other drugs, have been responsible for a 10% hike." Not enough real crimes with victims? Go out and pad arrest stats by snagging cannabis users, all the while proclaiming drugs are "not a victimless crime".
And finally this week, Ontario cops knew the man was a doper, some kind of a "marijuana activist". So when cops found a pound of leafy green substance, and a field test was positive for THC, what further need of witnesses have we? Lots according to the accused, who demonstrated how the catnip he grows looks like pot to some drug tests. "It's a simple mistake -- it looks like good stuff," said Ron McInnes of Ontario, Canada. The "MP Rapid test kit" thought it looked like the good stuff, too: "indicating a positive sample for THC -- even though there is no THC in catnip."
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