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Post by Bonobo on Sept 24, 2010 21:50:11 GMT 1
Pro-cannabis marches glide through Warsaw
22.09.2010 16:10
The Ras Tafari Religious Community staged three different marches in favour of the legalization of marihuana in Warsaw, Wednesday.
The marches started at 15.00 CET in three different locations in the city centre and finished at the Parliament.
The aim of the marches is to protest against Warsaw City Hall’s decision to refuse the “Free Hemp” Legislative Initiative Committee to register a demonstration in favor of the legalization of marihuana.
“We’ll stop the traffic in the city for some time and let the world know that in Poland people don’t have the right to meet on the streets,” Adam Fularz from Ras Tafari Religious Community told the PAP news agency earlier.
The Warsaw City Hall argues that the decision had nothing to do with the subject of the demonstration.
“Cannabis supporters wanted to organize three marches a day for twelve days in Warsaw city centre in rush hours. The marches would cause huge traffic jams and be a major inconvenience for city residents. Organizers of the protests did not try to reach a compromise, they openly admitted that their aim is to cause traffic chaos,” says Marcin Ochmanski from Warsaw City Hall, adding that in May “Free Hemp” Legislative Initiative Committee was allowed to stage a protest.
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Post by Bonobo on Oct 7, 2010 19:05:43 GMT 1
Marijuana demo ban goes up in smoke
06.10.2010 12:02
The Court of Appeal in Warsaw has overruled a decision by Warsaw City Hall to refuse a number of marches through the capital by pro-cannabis supporters.
Earlier, the “Free Hemp” Legislative Initiative Committee had planned to march through the city every day for two weeks, with demonstrations set to take place during rush hour in the city.
After worries that the marches would paralyse transport and communications in Poland’s capital, Warsaw City Hall announced on 17 September that the demonstrations would not be allowed to take place.
“We will certainly organise the marches now,” Jedrzej Sadowski from the “Free Hemp” initiative told TVN Warszawa, adding that the court ruling “goes to show that the courts are able to function according to the law even in such controversial cases.”
The “Free Hemp” initiative wants the legalisation of marijuana possession for personal use. Currently, sentences of up to three years may be incurred for possession of the drug.
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 3, 2011 9:42:19 GMT 1
Miners working on a high?
02.02.2011 12:02
The Supreme Mining Office has received complaints from miners who claim that their colleagues drink alcohol and take drugs, including smart drugs, while working underground.
Last month turned out to be one of the most disastrous Januaries in Polish mining. Six miners died and some were wounded in several accidents, causing the Supreme Mining Office to check safety at mines and opening a telephone hotline asking miners to report any cases of violating safety procedures.
“When human life is in danger we take all calls, even anonymous, seriously,” assures Jolanta Talarczyk from the Supreme Mining Office.
In just three weeks the office received more than 26 calls. Miners complained that methane levels were not being properly measured, that there were not enough people working on one shift, some people were mobbed by their supervisors, and, what is new, some miners drank alcohol and took drugs, including smart drugs, while working underground.
“These were single cases but, nevertheless, we decided to raise coal companies’ awareness of the new problem, which can threaten miners’ safety,” says Talarczyk, adding that the office will appeal to coal companies to launch training courses on smart drugs becoming a new threat in mines.
Coal companies seem to have different attitude towards smart drugs, however. Katowice Coal Holding, for example, bought drug tests to determine if miners are under the influence of drugs after several young miners suddenly fainted.
“They were not ill or drunk so we suspected they took smart drugs,” says Wojciech Jaros from Katowice Coal Holding. Meanwhile, Kompania Weglowa, the largest coal company in Poland, has tried to play down the problem. “Miners are not junkies. They prefer to drink than take drugs and they do it only after work,” says a spokesman from Kompania Weglowa.
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 1, 2011 21:44:39 GMT 1
The Left says ‘dope gives hope’
30.03.2011 18:57
The opposition party Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) wants to legalize cannabis for medical use in Poland.
Today, members of the Polish left are going to introduce an amendment to a bill on preventing drug addiction, which will legalize the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Seventeen MPs signed the amendment draft.
“Marihuana, similarly to other drugs, such as morphine, can also be used in medicine for treating many diseases. The use of cannabis as a medicine is legal in several European countries and it should also be accepted as a remedy in Poland,” said former health minister Marek Balicki.
Cannabis used for medical purposes is legal in the Netherlands, some parts of Switzerland, Canada and 14 states in the US.
Cannabis used medically relieves pain, stimulates hunger during chemotherapy and AIDS patients, is effective in treating glaucoma and ameliorates nausea.
Studies have also shown that it can be beneficial for patients who suffer from multiple sclerosis, depression and cancer.
The Democratic Left Alliance will call for a more precise definition of what “small quantity of drug for self-use” means. According to the amendment, a person who possesses that amount of cannabis will not be punished. Currently, everyone who carries, grows or trades cannabis in Poland is a criminal.
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Post by valpomike on Apr 2, 2011 16:14:14 GMT 1
If they get drugs, tax them, and this will help all.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 3, 2011 16:00:40 GMT 1
If they get drugs, tax them, and this will help all. Mike No taxes are considered yet. However, new legislation has ben passed. MPs vote to de-criminalise personal use drug possession
01.04.2011 14:47
Poland’s lower house of parliament (Sejm) has voted to amend legislation effectively decriminalising the possession of some forms of illegal drugs for personal use only - at the same time as cracking down more heavily on drug dealers.
The motion was supported by 258 MPs and opposed by 159, primarily from the opposition Law and Justice party.
The legislation allows prosecutors to drop charges against someone found in possession of small amounts of drugs.
Justice minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski underlined however that the new law does not legalise the possession of drugs
“The possession of any kind of drugs is illegal and is subject to punishment under the criminal code,” he said.
The new legislation also obligates prosecutors to collect information on any addiction those detained may have and also extends the possibilities of suspended sentences to allow for treatment.
The new law also increases penalties for drug dealing.
Minister Kwiatkowski pointed out that the amended legislation is directed primarily against drug dealers and aims to help addicts.
“We have increased the criminal responsibility for those who sell death, in order to provide for more effective prosecution. Police should concentrate on the pursuit of drug dealers and not drug addicts. We should focus on providing treatment for such people.”
The debate in parliament on the amendment was stormy, with Law and Justice accusing the more liberally monded Civic Platform-led government of legalizing drugs by the back door and buying votes from the younger electorate.
The legislation now goes to the Senate for debate and is to come into effect six months after the President signs the draft into law. |
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Post by valpomike on May 31, 2011 19:52:17 GMT 1
Now tax it, and use this money to help the poor.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 3, 2011 21:27:16 GMT 1
Now tax it, and use this money to help the poor. Mike Like in the USA? |
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Post by valpomike on Jun 3, 2011 23:37:01 GMT 1
Here in the states, most all is not legal, just grass, and it is taxed, and the sales are controled.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 4, 2011 22:28:00 GMT 1
Here in the states, most all is not legal, just grass, and it is taxed, and the sales are controled. Mike I see. How often do you get a smoke, then? |
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Post by Bonobo on Nov 27, 2011 16:22:35 GMT 1
Calls for MP to lose post after dope smoking brag
22.11.2011 11:34
Politicians have called for liberal MP Robert Biedron to be removed from his post as vice chairman of the Commission on Justice and Human Rights (SPC) after he appeared to brag about smoking cannabis.
Robert Biedron,
Mr Biedron of the Palikot's Movement party, interrupted a parliamentary debate about the legalisation of soft drugs on Friday, calling out: “I smoke! I smoke!”
Friday's debate in the Sejm (lower house of parliament) followed on from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's inaugural expose, the major policy statement that chimes in with the swearing in of the new cabinet.
MP Robert Telus from socially conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) was addressing parliament at the time of the outburst.
Although Telus's fellow PiS MP Andrzej Jaworski filed the official submission to the Speaker of Parliament calling for the removal of Biedron from his SPC post, representatives of other parties are backing the action.
Andrzej Biernat from Civic Platform, the senior partner in the coalition government, joined in the criticism.
“It is unacceptable that a member of parliament, and particularly a member of the Justice Commission, should boast about breaking the law,” he told the Rzeczpospolita daily.
Although Biedron's party, Palikot's Movement, championed the legalisation of soft drugs in the lead-up to the 9 October election, Biedron - Poland's first openly gay MP - has since countered that he was referring to burning “incense” during his outburst.
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