Greetings and Happy New Year, Cannabians!
The New Year is upon us already, 2012, a year many claim will be a year of great change for mankind. It is our hope at NORML Canada that this great change includes “NORMLization of cannabis in Canada. We are working hard with Members of Parliament, Senators, Constitutional Lawyers, and everyday Canadians to try and bring about this change. Please consider financially supporting our work, or donate your valuable time or skills to further our goals. Our mandate is clear, our mission is just, our goal will be achieved… with your help.
Our Mandate:
“NORML Canada is a non-profit, public interest, member operated and funded group, chartered at the federal level in Canada since 1978. The organization aims to eliminate all civil and criminal penalties for private marijuana use – through government lobbying, public education, research, and legislative and judicial challenges. NORML Canada believes that the present policy of discouraging marijuana use through the use of criminal and/or civil law has been excessively costly and harmful to both society and the individual.
We would like to wish all of you a joyous and prosperous New Year. May 2012 greet you with a song and good cheer that carries in your heart throughout the New Year. Thank you for your contributions and efforts. We will see you in the future.
– NORML Canada Staff
2012 promises to be busy. With Harper’s total disregard for democracy, the battle lines have been drawn and cannabis users and growers are clearly in his sights. We will use the tools at our disposal to try and change the tide. We know the majority of Canadians are on our side. We at NORML Canada have powerful political allies, passionate and active members, friends in the press, and volunteers across the country willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard to bring the battle to Ottawa. We will not rest until cannabis prohibition comes to an end.
NORML Canada is working on its Senatorial outreach campaign; we want to convince the Senate to send Bill C-10 back to the House of Commons. We have been actively engaging Members of Parliament in ridings all across Canada expressing our discontent with Bill C-10. Some MP’s have stood up in the House of Commons and presented our Break up the Omnibus petition, and we will continue to pressure Conservative and opposition MPs to vote out the mandatory minimum sentences for cannabis “crimes”.
The Liberal Party of Canada’s Biennial Convention on January 13 – 15 promises to be interesting. Executive Director Marc-Boris St-Maurice will be in attendance to help drum up support for the resolution to Legalize and Regulate Marijuana.
NORML Canada in the New Year
NORML comes to Ottawa
We would like to thank Mike Foster of Crosstown Traffic for the gracious financial donation that will allow us to secure physical space in our Nation’s capital. NORML Canada will have an Ottawa mailing address this summer! More details to follow in future newsletters.
Legal Repository
Ontario Regional Director, Paul Lewin, is heading up a group of lawyers and drafting a legal repository of information designed both for lawyers so that they can more effectively fight marihuana charges with the most current and relevant legal information available, and for self-represented individuals so that citizens can better protect themselves against the system.
There will also be information for health care professionals and child protection workers so that they know more about marijuana and the law.
“This is just the beginning; it will grow over time as the fight against cannabis seems to be playing out on more and more fronts.”
– Paul Lewin
These first 5 sections will be available spring 2012:
- What to do when you are arrested (written for citizens)
- Fighting a ‘possession for the purpose’ designation (written for lawyers)
- Sentencing (written for lawyers)
- What to do when children’s aid try to take away your kids (for lawyers and citizens)
- What to do about marijuana employment issues (for lawyers and citizens)
Website Update
We will be revamping our website, making it more user-friendly and informative for 2012. Key elements of the new design will include blogs from cannabis activists across this great land, a legal repository section that will provide tools for both lawyers and self represented individuals, current relevant cannabis activist materials for downloading and distribution, among a host of other exciting and informative things. If you would like to volunteer as part of the development team, or have a blog you would like us to consider posting, please email details to: info@norml.ca