Ottawa, Ontario: United States anti-drug officials are working behind the scenes to discourage Canada’s Parliament from moving forward on plans to liberalize the country’s marijuana laws, according to a report this week in the Canadian Internet journal, Global Nation. The report came days after Canadian Health Minister Anne McLellan alleged that U.S. bureaucrats sabotaged Canada’s medicinal marijuana program by denying Health Canada access to the U.S. government’s supply of research-quality pot seeds.
“The United States has a history of exporting its failed drug policies throughout the globe, and using strong-arm tactics to ensure that other nations do not depart from those policies,” said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation.
According to the Global Nation report, U.S. Drug Czar John Walters has threatened Canada with trade sanctions if Parliament relaxes the country’s pot laws. Earlier this month, the Canadian Senate’s Special Committee on Illegal Drugs published a preliminary report concluding that marijuana is a relatively harmless drug that has little impact on public safety. The committee is presently holding hearings on marijuana policy and is expected to recommend decriminalizing pot later this year.
Health Canada already legalized the use and cultivation of medical marijuana last year. The government initially intended to dispense medical pot to qualified patients beginning this year, but recently put those plans on hold after announcing that U.S. officials would not grant them access to the federal government’s marijuana seeds.
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751.