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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Canada: MPs Call for Relaxing of Marijuana Laws
ccguide Thursday 12 Dec 2002 Tracknum: 4509.5.1.1.6.0.20021212113409.04a7a0a0 Pubdate: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 Source: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada Web) Copyright: 2002 CBC Contact: Website: http://www.cbc.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1412 Note: a realvideo of the press conference announcing this report is at http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/ottawa_dope021212.ram See: Report details at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2248/a13.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) MPS CALL FOR RELAXING OF MARIJUANA LAWS OTTAWA - A Commons committee says anyone caught with small amounts of marijuana should be fined, rather than given a criminal record. The Committee on non-medical use of drugs released its report Thursday in Ottawa. It recommends that possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana for personal use should be treated as a civil, rather than criminal offence. Ontario MP Paddy Torsney said the committee recognized the dangers of marijuana use, but said the penalty of a criminal record is too harsh. She said three per cent of Canadians admit to using marijuana at some point in their lives. "The punishment exceed the crime, particularly when three in 10 Canadian admit to participating in a criminal activity under the current laws," she said. Torsney says the recommendations would not affect the large-scale cultivation or shipment of marijuana, which would remain a criminal offence. But she said the judicial system is spending far too much time pursuing occasional users of the drug and that the likelihood of conviction varies from one part of the country to another. "It's very clear to this committee that there is not an even application of the law," she said. Torsney says the committee is concerned about the dangers of pot use, including memory loss in the short term and lung cancer over the long term. She urged governments at all levels to do more to educate the public and discourage use of marijuana. But she said the current law is doing nothing to reduce pot use. The government had earlier indicated it could act on some of the recommendations as soon as early next year.
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