Fuck Harper Archives - Twelve High Chicks

Nov

13

A Liberal Win Means Hope for Hemp

Amazing! We did it Canada, we voted for change this election with 68% of Canadians stepping out and making their voices heard. And more, the youth of Canada spoke. I couldn’t be prouder to be a Canadian today!

I volunteered for the Liberal candidate in my riding and met with Don Johnston and his wife Jeanette early in his campaign. I threw the question out about cannabis at him and asked what he thought about gardens and dispensaries. His answer was very much what I wanted to hear: ‘Marijuana has been beneficial medically for years and the science is there, never mind the fact it is safer than alcohol and is prohibited and that is ridiculous. People shouldn’t get criminal records and lives ruined over a bit of pot.’

Oct

20

Congratulations, Canada — Cannabis is Coming!

After nearly a decade of Harper’s Conservatives and a ridiculously long election cycle, a new political age dawns on Canada, a new majority Liberal government steps up, and a new Prime Minister takes the reins.

Whether this shift in control was due to strategic voting, a true demonstration of belief in Justin Trudeau, or a reaction to the racist, American-style fearmongering of the Conservative’s Islamophobic campaign, the result is the same: Canadians can only be pushed so far and Canada has the opportunity to be not new but itself, once again.

Oct

06

Pot Politics — Strategic Voting

On October 19th, Canadians will — or at least should — head to the polls for our federal election. It is an intense fight: As of this writing the three top parties seem to be neck in neck if the polls can be believed. And there has been mudslinging, dirty tricks, and low blows from all sides. Not many people are happy about their electoral choices or the changes made to voting procedure, and so there is a lot of noise about strategic voting.

Sep

18

The ‘Normalization’ Blame-Game

Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose’s claim that normalizing medical marijuana use will put kids in ‘danger’ of recreational pot use is a slippery slope fallacy and it hides the real reason teenagers ignore the warnings of Health Canada.

Sep

15

Normal Medication Is Not ‘Normalized’ Teen Recreation

In the fight between the Harper Conservative’s Health Canada and actual health experts, Minister Rona Ambrose claims the high road in a fight to ‘protect the children’ from pot while actually fighting to retain federal control over adult access to a useful, versatile drug. She doesn’t want pot use ‘normalized’ for kids.

While I agree that pot use among children and teens shouldn’t be encouraged, Ambrose’s claim that legitimate medical marijuana dispensaries would do so is inherently flawed.

Jun

05

The Path to Legalization Is an Eight-Lane Expressway

It’s been 44 years that I’ve been fighting for legalization for the odd-numbered, serrated leaf we know as marijuana. It’s a long, drawn-out, bloody war that is heavily influenced by racism and a desire to control morality with roots back to the beginnings of the Church.

But I get off topic when I’m smoking weed, back to legalization. With recent developments now both the cities of Vancouver and Victoria are going forward with steps to licence and regulate the dispensaries that have been opening up faster than fireworks stands at Halloween. At the time of writing Vancouver has ninety operating dispensaries and there are six in Victoria, the capital of the province.

Feb

10

Ottawa: Screening ‘The Culture High’

Early this past December I had the pleasure of staying in Ottawa with a close friend to engage in a few amazing experiences. I also had the pleasure of crossing off a few items on my bucket list; I never imagined that I would have the luxury of meeting film producer Adam Scorgie, or Brian O’Dea, Canadian-international marijuana smuggler, anytime in my cannabis-activism career. I was truly thrilled that this was a part of my itinerary in Ottawa.