Week 10 - Movement to Legalize Cannabis

inaugural 4/20 celebration at Victory Square on Hastings St. in Vancouver

1995

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA)

1997 - moved cannabis from schedule 1 to its own category in schedule 2 and charges were dealt with on case by case basis

compassion clubs

non-profit organizations that defy laws by providing support and alternative services via cannabis for medicinal use

BC Compassion Clubs Society (BCCS)

1997 - members can see available cannabis and herbal products (inspired by WAMM in Santa Cruz, California)

Hilary Black, Bill Small, and Jim Fanthorp

founders of the BCCS in 1997

Health Canada Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR)

failed to provide legal source of marijuana and supreme court ruled it unconstitutional

Prairie Plant System

provided dried cannabis and seeds for patients via courier after the MMAR was ruled unconstitutional

first nation to establish a federal medical marijuana program

Canada

Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drug - Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy

concluded that cannabis prohibition was a failure and recommended legalization (mostly got rejected)

first nation to fully legalize cannabis

Uruguay

Grow-Ops

drug scare in the late 1990s and 2000s that linked illegal cannabis growing to gangs even though there was no proof of this

Cheech and Chong

1970s - 1980s

Half Baked

1998

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

2004

Trailer Park Boys: The Movie

2004

Growing Op

2008

Safe Streets and Communities Act

2012 - included punitive mandatory minimum sentencing for some cannabis offence and was seen as generally not progressive

Washington (state) and Colorado Laws in 2012

a person could legally grow 6 cannabis plants

Dana Larsen

helped run Sensible BC campaign that eventually led to Sensible Policing Act in 2012

Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulation (MMPR)

2014 - allowed for medical cannabis but it was expensive and inaccessible and personal growing was not allowed (previously it was)

Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulation (ACMPR)

2016 - allowed for personal growing in limited amounts

how many medical cannabis producers were approved as of 2017

58

Task Force on marijuana legalization and regulation

established in 2015 and final report in December 2016

cannabis

the cannabis plant and all things under that

marijuana

the flowers and buds on the cannabis plant that are smoked and contain THC

The Cannabis Act

proposed by the federal government task force in 2016 and implemented on April 13th, 2017

Marc Emery

cannabis activist that founded Marijuana and Hemp (1994) and Cannabis Canada (1995) newsletters

Hilary Black

founded the British Columbia Compassion Club in 1997

Justin Trudeau

liberal PM elected in 2015