From: [m--g--s] at [hempbc.com] (Dana Larsen)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs.pot,alt.drugs,alt.drugs.culture,rec.drugs.cannabis,rec.drugs.misc,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: BILL C-7: What was the testimony?
Date: Wed, 08 Nov 1995 15:13:47 -0700

This the fourth in a series of posts about Bill C-7.

What follows are excerpts from most of the groups that testified before
the subcommittee on Bill C-7.


“…we are under a fair amount of pressure from our neighbours to the South,
who see us a weak link in the chain…”
   -Bruce Rowsell
   -Director of the Bureau of Dangerous Drugs

“Our position is that Bill C-7 should be withdrawn completely.”
“this bill will neither stop the flow of drugs into Canada, nor the
production of drugs within Canada... it does absolutely nothing to address
the multiple causes of drug use in society.”
“In the guise of complying with international drug control conventions, we
are trampling all over international human rights conventions.”
   -Eugene Oscapella
   -Canadian Foundation on Drug Policy

“Canada is already one of the world’s leaders in per capita drug arrests.
About two-thirds of the convictions are for cannabis possession.
“A study has shown that only a year after their court appearances, 92% of
cannabis users were again using the drug… Users of any drug, in fact, tend
to regard threats to their health by drug use as a greater deterrent that
the risks of getting caught.”
   -Mark Taylor
   -President, Addiction Research Foundation

“Decriminalization measures have had little or no impact on rates of use,
but they have substantially reduced the social costs associated with the
enforcement of marijuana laws.”
   -Dr Eric Single
   -Director of Policy Research and Information
   -Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse

“It has always struck me as odd that Canada’s drug control policies are
more like those of Malaysia, Singapore, and of course the United States
than they are like those of Great Britain, Australia and the Netherlands,
countries whose liberal democracies we profess to admire.”
   -Jan Skirrow
   -former director of both the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse
   and the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Commission. 

“The prohibition approach to drug control is outdated and has proven
ineffective in decreasing drug use, reducing crime, or improving public or
individual health. Bill C-7 will result in a significant increase in rates
of incarceration and in lengths of sentences, and will place additional
stresses on an already overburdened criminal justice system. It will not
contribute to public health but will accomplish exactly the opposite.”
“Bill C-7 represents a misguided approach to drug control, one that is
unnecessary and costly to Canadians.”
   -from the Canadian Bar Association’s submission on Bill C-7

“There is a concern… that cannabis remains classified with cocaine and
heroin as the most serious of drugs.”
“To provide a seven-year maximum penalty for possession of cannabis makes
no sense to us whatsoever.”
“In our view, six months in jail for possession of cannabis for a first
offense is ludicrous, as is one year for possession on a second charge.”
“The purpose of prosecuting someone who grows one or two plants at home
for producing cannabis is beyond me.”
“we doubted that any political party would be prepared to advance or
support a total decriminalization of cannabis...”
   -Paul Copeland
   -Former Vice-President of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association

“We don’t see any classification in the various schedules according to the
danger of the drugs or products that are listed there…”
“[Bill C-7] allows officers to search any one found on the premises where
a search is being carried out… If we are going to search the Forum in
Montreal, I think it would be considered an abuse to have the right to
search the 16,000 spectators at the Forum.”
“a certificate could be issued allowing police officers to violate the
provisions having to do with searches...”
“...an officer could be authorized to deal drugs, and everyone working for
him, as well as his informers, will be protected.”
   -Michel Denis
   -President of the Standing Committee on Criminal Law
   -Quebec Bar Association


“I think altering consciousness is a ubiquitous part of human activity.
The key should be to first choose substances that don’t harm or impose the
least harm possible.”
   -Neil Boyd
   -Professor of Criminology

“Harm reduction is endorsed by the drug strategy but it is not found in
Bill C-7.”
“We recommend that the Canadian government take time to fully discuss and
consider the impact of its proposed legislation across the country,
allowing for debate from all citizens within the context of Canada’s drug
strategy.”
   -from the submission of the Toronto Department of Public Health on Bill C-7

“Bill C-7 fails to strike a balance between controlling the illegal use of
drugs and permitting legitimate medical and other uses.”
“The CMA has grave concerns that Bill C-7 does not differentiate a
practitioner conducting a legitimate practice from the common criminal,
does not protect the confidentiality of patient records, and does not
protect the legitimate practitioner from indiscriminate search without the
authority of a warrant.”
“there are a number of substances that fall under this act that are
extremely useful in treating the pain of terminal illness and psychiatric
conditions that would otherwise not be controlled.”
“The CMA recommends that section 4 of the Bill be amended by adding the
following clause:
“This act and its regulations do not apply to a physician engaged in an
activity that falls within the legitimate practice of medicine.”
   -Dr Richard Kennedy
   -President of the Canadian Medical Association

-- 
Dana Larsen
Editor, Cannabis Canada "The Magazine of Canada's Cannabis Culture"
Suite 405 - 21 ater St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 1A1
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