420

Maj. Miesiac Maryski. W Toronto calotygodniowe harce marihuanowe juz zaczynaja sie w czwartek 4 maja i beda trwac do srody 10 maja.

Wlasciwie dniem swietowania maryski tu w Ameryce Polnocnej jest 20 kwietnia. Umownie w zakodowanym zargonie nazwany "420" (czyt. four twenty).
W zeszlym tygodniu haslo "420" bylo najczesciej wystukiwanym haslem w wyszukiwarce Google.

Na poczatku lat 70. w liceum kalifornijskim mlodziez wyskakiwala na skreta po lekcjach o 4:20 po poludniu i tak juz sie przyjelo do dzisiejszego dnia. Z tym, ze znaczenie kodu sie zmienilo. "420" to nie czwarta dwadziescia czyli czas na papieroska, a 20 kwietnia czyli dzien marihuany.

W sobote rozpoczyna sie w Toronto "Global Marijuana March". Uczestniczy caly swiat i nawet Warszawa. Na stronie CannabisWeek.ca na liscie uczestnikow marszu promarihuanowego i antyprohibicjonistycznego jest tez Warszawa (http://www.cannabisweek.ca/world.html).
Warsaw Poland kontakt at kanaba.info. Strona Kanaba nazywa ten marsz: Marsz Miliona Blantow (MMM), ale trudno sie na te strone dostac. O wpisaniu czegos to nie ma mowy. Widocznie wszystkie sluzby wywiadowczo-policyjne Polski obserwuja te strone internetowa - "Hyperreal.info SITE FOR FREEDOM" (https://hyperreal.info/).

420 Marijuana activists have long declared April 20 (or "420") an annual holiday to recognize and celebrate marijuana use - a cause that always proves popular on university campuses. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws also tries to use the day to launch its annual convention.
Half the fun of the celebration for those who do not partake in actually smoking is speculating about where the term 420 comes from. Incorrect, but creative, explanations for the term's use include: 420 is Hitlers' birthday (Hitler was indeed born on April 20, but it is a mere coincidence); 420 is either the California police code for possession of marijuana (it is neither); and the Greatful Dead's Jerry Garcia died at 4:20 a.m on April 20 (in fact, he died on August 9).
The real story? According to both High Times magazine and snopes.com (a Web site that rates the accuracy of urban myths), "420" started its life as a code word for smoking marijuana, at a San Rafael, Calif., high school in the early '70s. The students would get together at 4:20 every afternoon, after school let out, to smoke pot. They found that cryptically referring to the activity as "42o" kept them out of trouble (Marni Soupcoff, "Saturday Zeitgeist", NATIONAL POST, Saturday, April 29, 2006).

W skrzynce na listy czekalo juz na mnie najnowsze czerwcowe wydanie magazynu "High Times" (www.hightimes.com). W numerze duzo o Kanadzie, ktora pod rzadami konserwatysty Harpera wzmogla amerykanska wojne z marihuana.

Kanada to nieliczny kraj na swiecie, w ktorym sprawa marihuany zostala upolityczniona do tego stopnia, ze istnieja marihuanowe partie polityczne (federalna i w Brytyjskiej Kolumbii); wiekszosc Kanadyjczykow jest za legalizacja ziola; mamy wiezniow politycznych (Marc Emery); parlament podzielony (Senat jest za legalizacja); wiekszosc partii politycznych jest albo za dekryminalizacja lub legalizacja (NDP, Liberalowie, Zieloni, PQ). Tzw. prawa narkotykowe w Kanadzie sa wstydliwa pozostaloscia rasizmu.

CANADA'S COLD WAR ON WEED

A timeline of Canadian cannabis laws shows swings to the left and right.

1908 - The Opium Narcotic Act of 1908. North America's first national antidrug law, makes the import and sale of opiates illegal. Cannabis is not included.

1920 - The Department of Health creates the Opium and Drug Branch to enforce narcotics legislation.

1922 - The Black Candle, a book-length collection of sensational and biased articles condemning narcotics, provides powerful propaganda for swaying public opinion and pressuring the government to create and enforce stricter laws.

1923 - The Opium and Narcotic Drug Act of 1923 makes cannabis/hemp illegal for the first time.

1961 - Canadian support for the United Nations' Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs results in increasing the penelty for cultivation to a minimum of seven years.

1969 - Nearly 5,000 people are charged with cannabis-related crimes.

1970-72- Arrest rates decrease as the government leans toward decriminalization.

1972 - The Canadian government's Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs issues the Le Dain Report, which recommends ending pot prohibition and allowing citizens to grow for private use. Despite the report, the laws remain the same.

1972-79 - Prominent politicians Joe Clark, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien take a public stance on the decriminalization of marijuana, reflecting an apparent consensus in Parliament.

1980-92 - Let by the Reagan administration, the United States' escalating War on Drugs provokes a more conservative stance on marijuana laws in Canada, a negative effect that carries over into George H.W. Bush's term in office.

1997 - The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act passes both houses of Parliament, consolidating marijuana laws previously found in the Narcotic Control Act and Parts III and IV of the Food and Drugs Act.

2000 - Ontario's Court of Appeals rules it a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ban the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

2001 - Canada becomes the first country to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

2003 - Bill C-38 is introduced, proposing a two-tiered system of fines for possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana. The bill dies later in the year.

2004 - Bill C-17 is introduced. Nearly identical to Bill C-38, it aims to reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

2006 - Bill C-17 dies when the federal election puts the Conservative Party in power on a platform promising harsher drug laws and no moves toward decriminalization (HIGH TIMES, June 2006).