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Cannabis In Canada – 2001 Annual Report Card
By Hempology | December 4, 2001
write-up by Lenard Simon
Helper, CBC Canada
December 4th, 2001
Victoria’s Hempology 101 Society today released the first annual report card
on the state of cannabis in Canada. This report seeks to evaluate the federal
government in three areas: access to medical marijuana, use of
taxpayer dollars, and hemp production and processing.
Medical Marijuana Regulations: F
The federal government was ordered, by the courts, to draft new, more workable
regulations under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act by
July 30, 2001. The government gets an F
for making the new regulations unwieldy, largely unworkable and more
complicated than the old regulations.
| # | Grade | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources of legal marijuana for research and distribution: | 1 | F |
| Exemptions granted to grow and use cannabis for medical purposes under the new regulations: |
38 | F |
| Turned down, still in process, or deemed incomplete under the new regulations: | 79 | F |
| Granted exemption to grow and use cannabis for medical purposes under the old regulations: (Source: Health Canada) |
521 | C- |
Use of Taxpayer Dollars: F
More
than 75% of Canadians do not support the current laws governing marijuana. According to the Centre for Substance Abuse,
about 2,000 Canadians go to jail every year for cannabis possession, at a cost
of about $150 a day each. This is over $100 million per year, just to jail pot
smokers. The pot laws are ineffective
and unenforceable. Moreover, the data
that being recorded and presented to the public is insufficient, which makes a
fair review of the laws impossible. If
public resources are being strained as the politicians insist then why spend
taxpayers dollars on a war that very few people want?
The government gets an F here.
| # | Grade | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual population charged for a marijuana offense: | ~30,000 | F |
| Annual cost to taxpayers of the War on Drugs: | ~$450,000,000 | F |
| Annual economic costs of Canada’s War on Drugs: | ~$5,000,000,000 | F |
Hemp Production: C
Since
1993, the federal government has been granting licenses to grow and process
hemp to make paper, clothing and other goods. The government gets a Chere for
granting licenses to just about everyone who applied. They could improve their rating by actively advertising,
marketing and helping fund hemp as a Canadian export. There is no large scale hemp fibre production facility in Canada.
| # | # granted | Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applications to breed and cultivate industrial grade hemp: | 112 | 110 | C |
| Total hectares for cultivation applied for: | 1,336 | 1,316 | C |
| Applications to process hemp fiber: (Source: Agriculture Canada) |
55 | 54 | C |
For more information, contact:
Ted Smith
250-381-4220
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