The Canadian Senate Thursday night gave its approval to a government package of crime measures that include a number of harsh provisions, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for growing as few as six marijuana plants. The bill, C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act, now heads back to the House of Commons for final approval.
The bill has already passed the House, but members will have to approve amendments adopted by the Senate that more clearly define terrorist activities and how victims of terrorism can seek compensation from groups or states that support terrorism.Passage in the Senate came after ruling Conservatives used their majority to limit debateon the measure to six hours. Liberals objected vociferously, but in vain. The only Conservative to vote against limiting debate was Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, a long-time advocate of marijuana and other drug law reforms.”Canadians are expecting us to pass this,” said Conservative Sen. Claude Carignan, explaining that the rush to passage was necessary because the government had promised to pass the legislation within a hundred days of taking office. “The best way to ensure the population is not jaded when it comes to politics is to keep our promises.”
Liberals argued that there was enough opposition to the bill that every senator deserved to be heard on the issue, but that argument didn’t fly with the Conservative majority.
“There is no excuse for what this chamber is about to do,” said Liberal Sen. Joan Fraser. “We should be ashamed of ourselves.”
While the bill is now almost assured of final passage, opponents have vowed to carry on the fight in the courts. Once the bill becomes law and goes into effect, look for quick challenges to its constitutionality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
If the words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on. — Terence McKenna
Sayer Ji, Contributing Writer Activist Post
January 11, 2012
While this article is not focused on the recreational use of cannabis, Terence McKenna’s quote speaks directly to a sacred right, increasingly being legislated against in our society, namely, the ability to choose and use substances that grow freely on this Earth as our medicine.
In a day and age where possession of an herb like cannabis is an offense punishable by incarceration, it is important for us to reflect on how we arrived at this dark point in time.
Herbs, after all, were put here by God. If you prefer the word Nature, the point is the same; and it was put best by Bob Marley when he said: “you can’t tell God it [cannabis] is illegal.”
And yet authorities are telling God, and you and me, that is is illegal, despite a growing body of scientific evidence that it has profound potential as a medicine. Does this not in some way call into question the very legitimacy and authority of those who would lay claim to the right to decide that a human can or cannot use a natural substance to improve their health, or enliven their spirit? As long as no harm is being done to others in the act of choosing what is best for oneself, who can rightfully take issue with the freedom to choose one’s own “medicine”?
Were it not for the fact that the human body is hard-wired to respond to cannabis through the endocannabinoid system (ES), claims for its medicinal value would have much less weight. The ES, in fact, encompasses a wide range of physiological processes, including appetite, pain sensation, mood and memory. So fundamental are these processes to what motivates and defines human behavior, it is no wonder that a plant with the power to directly affect these functions would be the subject of such profound controversy, as well as brutal socioeconomic and politically-mediated criminalization.
Indeed, the endocannabinoid system mediates the psychoactive effects of cannabis associated with its “highs” and sometimes “lows.” Any plant with the power to alleviate pain or illness, and which grows freely in the wild, represents a significant threat to a conventional medical establishment whose monopoly is founded on the coining of medicines from patented and proprietary chemicals.
Cannabis, however, is not a Johnny-come-lately to the fierce debate over whether traditional herbal medicines have proven safety and efficacy within the “evidence-based” model of medicine. In fact, few plants can lay claim to as much scientific, and particularly human clinical data supporting its right to exist alongside other prescribed medicines as a viable treatment option. Indeed, the GreenMedInfo.com project has uncovered 129 distinct disease categoriesthat may benefit from this remarkable plant thus far, and new studies are being added on a weekly basis.
Given the glut of research establishing the likelihood of a legitimate medicinal role for the plant in human disease prevention and treatment, the tide is beginning to turn against the miseducation of the public about this valuable herb.The fate of the practice of traditional herbalism itself, and our health freedom as a whole, hinges in many respects on whether the pharmaceutically-driven medical establishment, and the drug conviction-dependent privatized-prison industrial complex succeeds in maintaining the media-articulated stranglehold on mainstream opinion. We hope the positive cannabis science will arm those advocating for health freedom with the truth, and ask that you distribute it widely to those who are receptive to rational, science-based discourse on this herb’s benefits.
Possessing and using any herb, but especially one that has such a high level of safety, should be the choice of that free adult, and not grounds for the termination of their constitutional and human rights associated with arrest and imprisonment, which in this day and age is equivalent to enslavement and torture.
Please visit GreenMedInfo to access their vast database of articles and the latest information in natural health.
Cannabis Cures Cancer? Rick Simpson discusses how everyone can learn to make their own all-natural, soil/sun grown hemp oil and its potential use to “help cure/heal many health ills, including cancer” … and $ big pharma (gov.) policing people’s common rights to earth’s bountiful medicinal plants … Freeman Radio.
The following presentation of RUN FROM THE CURE: The Rick Simpson Story was made possible by Rick Simpson and video producer Christian Laurette… made for free to teach YOU how to heal yourself of disease and illness using cannabinoids.
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As I’ve discussed previously, Drug Czar is just one of the worst jobs you can have. You don’t get to use cool weapons or go on missions or do anything exciting, ever. Your job is to convince adults that the drug war is good and convince young people that drug use is bad. It hasn’t gone well for anyone, no, not at all.
If anybody needs a quick exhibit in why the government’s anti-drug propaganda has become such a joke, you’re in luck, because the Drug Czar’s office continues to release some of the straight-up stupidest advertisements I’ve ever seen, and this is one of them right here:
The message of this ad is, “Hey kids, don’t do drugs. Jump from rooftops! It’s better somehow.” That’s exactly what the message of this ad is, and it’s the only message the ad even contains. If I am mistaken, if the message of this ad isn’t that leaping from dangerously high places is better for you than smoking marijuana or tripping on silly-pills, then please explain to me what it is that I don’t understand about this.
As Pete Guither points out, it’s all just a sad attempt by the Drug Czar’s office to associate their messaging with something cool, and it’s true that parkour is A) hip, and B) not drugs. But that’s about as far as this idea gets before literally landing flat on its face. You see, parkour is, well, let’s just say it’s not a very good way for young people to avoid injuring themselves.
The very idea that the Drug Czar would endorse this particular pastime as an alternative to pot is incredible. Is it necessary for me to continue to pointing out that a lot of the people responsible for manufacturing anti-drug messaging in America are nothing more than professional drug war cheerleaders who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, don’t give a crap about the safety of children, and wouldn’t know where to begin even if they did?
We’ve come a long way from the days when the government warned everyone that taking drugs would make you go crazy and jump off a building. Now, our young people are being encouraged to jump off buildings in order to distract themselves from the alluring dangers of drugs. The whole thing is so pure in its irony, so perfectly and completely absurd, that it could come from only one source. The Drug Czar’s advertisements pose a continuing threat to the safety of the nation’s youth, and parents will have to take an active role in protecting their children from the dangers of ill-conceived anti-drug propaganda until these reckless messages are removed from the airwaves once and for all.
Update: In response to comments from parkour fans, I have zero problem with parkour and I think it’s awesome when young people learn how to do cool backflips and stuff like that. It’s just an unusual thing for the government to endorse. Given that the Drug Czar can see no safe way to use marijuana, I’m surprised he would have anything nice to say about jumping off buildings either. It’s ironic, and more powerfully so if you’re as familiar with the history of government anti-drug propaganda as I am. I’m sorry if, in my eagerness to make that point, I appeared to paint parkour in a negative light. If necessary, I would defend vigorously your right to do it, and I hope no one in the parkour community ever faces the kind of ruthless and systemic government persecution that responsible marijuana users have endured for decades.
Massive amount of information covered on the second episode of End the Lie radio with Madison Ruppert, Bob Tuskin, Jules, and Josh from Anti-Tyranny News.
Just a couple of the things we cover are:
– The F-BOMB miniature $50 spy computer which can hack Wi-Fi networks, monitor and relay data, etc. all while giving the government total plausible deniability. This means that they can more easily conduct widespread illegal surveillance of people in the United States and around the world without worrying about getting caught.
– The disturbing trend of police departments across the United states refurbishing armored trucks in order to outfit them with surveillance equipment. They then use these vehicles to harass, intimidate and criminalize people without having to pay attention by that pesky thing called probable cause and the legal system.
– Monsanto, the dangers of Roundup, general Monsanto corruption
– Cannabis and how if it was legalized it would likely get dominated by corporations like Monsanto who could control the seeds and production.
– Taking back the country from the local level, how Sheriffs can act as a buffer between a tyrannical federal government and the American people.
– Much more! Listen to find out and be sure to tune in every Sunday!
If the words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ don’t include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn’t worth the hemp it was written on. — Terence McKenna 
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