npostlife:

Butcher feeds his pigs marijuana, reports ‘redder and more savoury’ cuts of pork
An enterprising Seattle meat man has found a way around the rising costs of pig feed: marijuana trimmings and leftovers. The result? Lots of buzz, and a slightly better cut, according to William von Schneidau.
[Postmedia News files]

Lottery winner puts $1-million toward effort to legalize marijuana
Bob Erb has been playing the lottery since he was a young pothead in the 1970s, smoking 15 joints a day. Today, Mr. Erb is still crushing 15 joints a day — except now he’s smoking them as a multi-millionaire. The 60-year-old Terrace, B.C., farmer and grandfather won a $25-million jackpot last November and promptly began doling money out to friends, family, charity and hard luck cases. Perhaps the biggest recipient, however, has been a cause very close to his heart: the legalization of marijuana. Mr. Erb has dropped $1-million for the effort, and is probably now the biggest financial backer of 420 Day, the annual pot-fuelled haze of a protest this Saturday. He spoke with the Post’s Sarah Boesveld Thursday about his high life and plans for bringing pot legalization to national attention. (BCLC)

Wood & Antweiler: Canada should follow America’s lead in liberalizing marijuana laws
As of November, any Canadian caught with as few as six cannabis plants faces a mandatory six-month minimum prison term. Ironically, the new rules came into effect at the same time that Washington state and Colorado voted to tax and regulate the recreational use of marijuana by adults.

The results of the legalization measures in those states came as a surprise to many Canadians, including, presumably, Prime Minister Stephen Harper. When asked about the four former Vancouver mayors who publicly support the regulation and taxation of marijuana in Canada, he argued “it would inhibit our trade generally because they’re certainly not going to make that move in the United States.”

That may have been true in the past, but Canada has fallen way behind the U.S. when it comes to progressive drug policy. In addition to the two states that legalized the adult use of marijuana, three more legalized it for medical uses. A total of 18 states now allow medical marijuana, and 12 have decriminalized possession of the drug. Meanwhile, Canadian policy is moving in the opposite direction. (Brennan Linsley/The Associated Press)

Court forces Ontario prep school to reconsider diploma denial after student caught smoking marijuana
A student at a private prep school caught smoking marijuana on the night before the final day of high school — and denied his diploma as punishment — has forced the school to reconsider after taking his plight to court.

Political cartoonist Gary Clement’s week in review

Brian Hutchinson: ‘Vansterdam’ can learn from U.S. legalized marijuana experiment
So long, Vansterdam. Thanks to surprising initiatives taken south of the border, this city’s dubious reputation as North America’s marijuana capital is coming to an end. On Tuesday, voters in Colorado and Washington State embraced measures to allow any individual aged 21 and up to possess marijuana, as much as one ounce. That’s quite a lot, really; enough to make about 28 joints.

In B.C., five former attorneys-general have called for marijuana legalization. So have some mayors. But they have also chosen to ignore or downplay potential health risks associated with pot. They haven’t acknowledged every reasonably likely outcome.

But here’s a great opportunity: Our neighbours are about to experience legal, recreational marijuana use. We should watch their bold social experiment unfold, and take lessons from it before doing anything else. (Rick Wilking/Reuters files)

nparts:

With Heroes, Willie Nelson is still a rebel rebel
“We had a couple of pots over there at the Bulldog and then at The Grey Area and then hit two or three good spots after that,” Nelson says, adding, “you probably wouldn’t remember it,” when asked what a night on the town is like in Amsterdam with him and Snoop Dogg. However, Nelson takes his advocacy seriously and is not only the president of the 26-year-old Farm Aid, which has raised US$39-million to help the American family farmer, but is outspoken on everything from the war in Afghanistan to ending the marijuana laws that have imprisoned about 20 million Americans since 1965.

“Most people who know anything at all know that marijuana is a good medicine for stress and a nice recreational drug for responsible adults and it should not be criminalized,” he says. “If we legalize it and bring our folks home from around the world fighting wars over oil, we’d all be a lot better off.” (Illustration by Kagan McLeod/National Post)

Q&A: First Health Canada helps prosecute marijuana growers, then asks them for advice

Mexican drug plot foiled when U.S. stops marijuana-laden go-kart from crossing the border
U.S. border cops in far-west Arizona have seized an off-road go-kart and trailer packed with marijuana, in the latest bizarre attempt by Mexican smugglers to beat beefed up border security.

The Border Patrol’s Yuma sector said agents and officers from the Cocopah Tribal Police Department spotted the single-seater go-kart hauling a trailer through the desert near Yuma, Arizona on Tuesday night and gave chase.

The driver abandoned the homemade vehicle, which was spray painted a desert beige, fitted with knobbly off-road tires, and towing a trailer packed with 217 pounds of marijuana, about 100 yards from the border, and fled back to Mexico.

“It’s not something that we see very often,” agent Spencer Tippets said of the attempt. (Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Reuters)

U.S. boy, 4, pulls out multiple bags of marijuana at school, tells teacher he wants to share
A four-year-old U.S. boy who announced to his teacher at school snack time that he wanted to share pulled nine bags of marijuana out of his jacket pocket, police said on Wednesday.

Police in Meriden, Connecticut were called to Hanover Elementary School Tuesday afternoon after the young special needs student displayed the drugs, authorities said.

Meriden police said the nine individually wrapped bags of marijuana appeared prepared for sale. (Photo: Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

Majority of Canadians support legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, new poll suggests
Canadians have green on their minds, but not in the environmental sense, according to a new poll.

Released on Tuesday, the poll suggests 66% of  Canadians are in favour of the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana, with just 20% supporting leaving the laws as they are now.

The poll, conducted by Toronto-based Forum Research Inc., showed that residents of British Columbia were the most likely to support marijuana laws reform, with 73% of respondents indicating laws should be changed. Quebec had the lowest support for reforms, though the majority of respondents, 61%, supported changing marijuana legislation.

“The public no longer favours devoting the time and resources required to restrict marijuana use and possession, while many feel the best strategy is to legalize and tax its sale,” wrote Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research Inc., in a press release accompanying the research. “For a majority of Canadians, the war on this particular drug needs to end.” (Photo: Aaron Lynett/National Post)

Liberal delegates vote yes to legalizing marijuana, no to cutting off monarchy

Cannabis and the Crown.

It’s as good a motto as any for the federal Liberal party after members voted Sunday morning to make the legalization of marijuana a party policy and rejected a motion to sever ties with the monarchy.

Commonwealth confusion: Marijuana leaf flies on Canadian flag in U.K’s Guardian newspaper

As accuracy-in-media blog Regret the Error points out, U.K.’s The Guardian recently used an image of the marijuana flag to illustrate a comment piece, “Canada’s multiculturalism is no model for Europe.”

The story has since been updated with a photo of Canada’s actual flag, not the one that subs the THC-bearing leaf for the one found on the maple tree, but Regret the Error has a screen grab of the original (a similar pic, by Mark Blinch of Reuters, appears above).

Legalize pot, four former Vancouver mayors say
Four former Vancouver mayors have endorsed a coalition calling for an end to pot prohibition in Canada that they blame for rampant gang violence.

Larry Campbell, Mike Harcourt, Sam Sullivan and Philip Owen all signed an open letter to politicians in B.C., claiming a change in the law will reduce gang violence.

The former mayors support the position of the Stop the Violence BC coalition, which recently released a survey showing most B.C. residents favour an end to the current marijuana laws.

The letter says “marijuana prohibition is — without question — a failed policy.” (Photo: Mathew Sumner/Reuters)

Victoria office workers unknowingly snack on pot brownies
Coffee break brought on more than a caffeine buzz for some Victoria office workers who unwittingly nibbled marijuana-laden brownies this week.

Victoria police said they received a call Monday of a possible poisoning at a downtown office building on Vancouver Street. Three employees, all at once, had been taken to hospital with similar symptoms, including light-headedness, numbness in the limbs and disorientation.

Investigation led to the office refrigerator and some brownies which, it turned out, had been baked with marijuana. Further inquiries revealed all three workers had eaten the baked treats. (Photo: Getty Images/Thinkstock)