Thank you to everyone who attended the rally!
Special thanks go to our speakers: Boris, Alison and Wendal
and thanks to the NRP and the NF Parks Police.
N.Y. Governor, David Paterson, Signs Rockefeller Drug Law Reforms
April 24, 2009 - ALBANY, N.Y. - Governor David Paterson was in Queens Friday morning to sign into law a bill reforming the controversial Rockefeller Drug Laws. The 1973 laws required mandatory prison sentences for lower-level drug felons. Now judges will have more leeway and could send first-time non-violent offenders to treatment rather than prison.
April 22, 2009
Conservative Justice Minister, Rob Nicholson, defending Bill C-15 at committee. In this clip, Mr. Nicholson refuses to answer whether or not he spoke to Senate Report chair Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin and stonewalls NDP committee member, Libby Davies, when asked to present evidence that mandatory minimum sentences work for drug crimes.
Department of Justice
Canada Justice Department Study on Mandatory Minimums
Department of Justice Canada -
Research and Statistics Division
January 2002
"MANDATORY MINIMUM PENALTIES: Their Effects on Crime, Sentencing Disparities, and Justice System Expenditures" Download the Report (PDF, 1.6M)
[excerpts:]
9.5 Mandatory Sentences for Drug Offences (page 30)
"Severe [Mandatory Minimum Sentences] seem to be least effective in relation to drug offences. Studies using a variety of methodologies seriously question the value of the 'drug war' approach."
"Drug consumption and drug-related crime seem to be unaffected, in any measurable way, by severe [Mandatory Minimum Sentences]."
Activism you can do RIGHT NOW!
On April 2, 2009, Liberal MP, Dr. Keith Martin, introduced a bill
to decriminalize less than 30g of cannabis. The bill isn't perfect, but it's a move in the right direction.
If we want out members of Parliament to vote against Bill C-15 and move towards decriminalization and legalization, we need to tell them so.
Marc-Boris St-Maurice
Executive Director of NORML Canada http://norml.ca
"Boris" has been conducting a national fact-finding tour to introduce "The National Resolution for the Legalization of Marijuana".
Learn more about it:
Resolving Marijuana Prohibition Tour
Offer your Highway name suggestion
At the March 23rd, 2009 meeting, Niagara Falls City Council unanimously passed a [proposal] brought forward by Councillor Pietrangelo that staff investigate the renaming of Highway 420 and solicit suggestions from the public...
Help us Rename Highway 420 (City of Niagara Falls web site)
Our suggestion: "The Freedom Highway"
Ending Cannabis Prohibition is in Canada's Best Interest...
In 2002, the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs concluded:
"The continued prohibition of cannabis jeopardizes the health and well-being of Canadians much more than does the substance itself."
A regulated Cannabis market would stimulate Canada's economy...
"Legalization would prove beneficial, not only for users, but also for the federal and provincial governments because of the considerable revenue they might well derive from the sales taxes on such a popular product." - Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs
A majority of Canadians (2/3rd's) support cannabis law reform, but Stephen Harper isn't listening. In fact, he's determined to take Canada in the opposite direction.
Public Service Announcement: Prohibition Harms Everyone!
Cannabis prohibition harms ALL Canadians.
The cannabis issue is everyone's issue.
Canada Justice Department Study on Mandatory Minimums
