See
More Prohibitionist
Nonsense From Edmonton About Indoor Growing; RCMP Targets Property And Assets
and
Edmonton
Police Actually Claim That Canadian Marijuana Is Being Exported To Mexico – April 9, 1998
(Ed. note: Recently, the Edmonton Sun has been running a series of delusional reefer
madness articles about how there is this big problem with indoor marijuana cultivation of
strains that are so strong that they are being exported to Mexico. Talk about
"boosterism!" Of course, there is not the slightest evidence of this, but there
is nothing new about the police getting nonsense about marijuana printed in the local
prohibitionist papers.
However, the Canadian Justice Minister happens to be from Edmonton and having her
hometown portrayed as the killer weed capital of the world was embarrassing. They were
overdoing it a bit. So now the message is "Cool it, boys!"
In the meantime the editors of the Sun have weighed in, and now we know why they have
such low journalistic standards. They are hardcore prohibitionists. They are even opposed
to medical marijuana.
This series of stories and the editorial give an excellent insight into the
relationship between the prohibitionist press, ambitious narks and gutless politicians.)
CHIEF ALLAYS MCLELLAN’S POT FEARS
Edmonton Sun
April 8 1998
sun.letters@ccinet.ab.ca
http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/
By Bart Johnson—Staff Writer
CHIEF ALLAYS MCLELLAN’S POT FEARS
Federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan’s concern over pot
farms in Edmonton appears to have been nipped in the bud by police Chief John Lindsay.
McLellan, MP for Edmonton West, had a meeting with the chief yesterday and left
satisfied the growth in hydroponic marijuana operations in the city is not out of control.
"In Western Canada right now there is some increase in the number of cultivation
operations and clearly that’s something that the Edmonton police force and other
police agencies are watching very carefully," she said.
"But at this point, there does not appear to be any
necessity for any change in the law."
City police told reporters last week that Edmonton pot growers are producing such
high-quality weed that it’s now being exported south of the border and even into
Mexico, itself a prolific pot exporter.
"It’s a big problem in the city and it’s a big problem in the
province," drug unit boss Staff Sgt. Nick Bok said at the time - although a police
spokesman later downplayed the concern.
News of Bok’s comments reached McLellan in Ottawa, prompting her to set up a
meeting with Lindsay to discuss her concerns during a trip home for Easter.
"The chief and I discussed it this morning and clearly, where these operations
exist, the police are working hard to identify them and deal with the people
involved," McLellan said after the meeting yesterday.
"But I didn’t get a sense from the chief that Edmonton is out of line with
other communities, and certainly not out of line with other western Canadian communities,
in relation to this issue."
Police spokesman Sgt. Bryan Boulanger confirmed yesterday that Lindsay and the justice
minister met, but would not discuss details of their chat.
"They discussed issues of mutual concern," Boulanger said. "But (the
chief) didn’t wish to make a comment with respect to their private
conversation."
April 6, 1998
Edmonton Sun
sun.letters@ccinet.ab.ca
http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/
THAT POT PROBLEM
Justice Minister Anne McLellan is supposed to meet with Edmonton police chief John
Lindsay this week to discuss Edmonton’s blooming reputation for growing highly potent
marijuana.
It appears McLellan is embarrassed that her home town’s "City of
Champions" slogan is now being applied to the really good quality dope being grown
here and exported abroad.
"I am going to get to the bottom of the concern," she has stated. By why?
McLellan, after all, has mused aloud about decriminalizing marijuana for medicinal
purposes.
Didn’t we all rally around Ross Rebagliati after the International Olympic
Committee stripped him of - and then reinstated - his snowboarding gold medal after
testing positive for marijuana?
Indeed, Solicitor General Andy Scott, who has been invited to sit in on McLellan’s
meeting with Edmonton’s top cop, declared of Reefer Ross at the time that "every
Canadian would love to see him have his medal."
No wonder Rebagliati was confused by the spectacle that followed his drug test. Because
government and society in general are confused about where to draw the line on marijuana.
Olympic athletes who smoke marijuana are heroes. Sick people deserve our compassion and
should be allowed to use marijuana to alleviate their symptoms.
We’ve all heard the argument that ordinary people who grow or use dope in their
own home aren’t harming anyone, so where’s the crime? And now McLellan is
worried because Edmonton grows some wicked weed?
Apply the Ross test to Edmonton, and McLellan should be proud of our city’s
reputation for major-league dope! Who knows, maybe we’ll corner the snowboard market
in the process.
Perhaps the cops’ recent bust of big hydroponic dope
operations has deprived suffering individuals of much-needed pain relief.
Yes, we’re being facetious. In fact, we’re glad that McLellan is taking the
pot issue seriously and meeting with police.
What we’re complaining about is the lack of consistency from our elected
officials. Either marijuana is illegal or it is not.
We do not support the decriminalization of marijuana, even for medicinal purposes, as
we don’t believe the medical evidence supports it.
So as McLellan meets with Edmonton cops this week to find a way to crack down on
Edmonton’s growing pot industry, she needs to make sure her stance on the marijuana
issue is the same, through and through.
Mixed messages on drugs are just dopey.
Copyright © 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership.
