Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, first I want to thank the hon. member for New Brunswick Southwest. There is no question that on this specific issue we have the same view. There is no question in my mind that this is a great example of what we can accomplish when we take the time to share information in a positive way and look at the objective we are reaching for.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Pursuant to Standing Order 38(5), the motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 6.48 p.m.)

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, I am up tonight on a question I asked the Minister of Health some time ago. In fact I wrote the Minister of Health on February 7 on an issue regarding pressure treated lumber. It was another softwood crisis in the looming. The pressure treated lumber industry needed approval of a chemical called CVA.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, in that response we really hear the inherent contradiction in the government's policy. On the one hand, the parliamentary secretary and the minister say that they affirm Israel's right to self-defence but in the next breath they say that they are opposed to the escalation of violence.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, I will first like to correct the record. I think it is very important to say that the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not say that the actions on the part of the Israelis were disproportionate. The Minister of Foreign Affairs made it clear that what would not ameliorate the situation would be a disproportionate response.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, on March 6 I attended a major speech given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Canada-Israel committee which elicited an extremely negative reaction for suggesting that civilian casualties regardless of their cause were equally reprehensible. In other words, making no distinction between civilians tragically killed as bystanders in the course of defensive military operations and civilians deliberately targeted and killed in terrorist attacks.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to respond to my colleague on this issue. The number of recent victims of the conflict in the Middle East since it began 18 months ago is some 1,500 dead on both sides. Many thousands have been injured. People's livelihoods have been destroyed and mutual trust has been shattered as the habits of dialogue which once existed over the last decade between the Palestinians and the Israelis have been abruptly abandoned.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  It being 6:29 p.m., the time allotted to debate has expired. Pursuant to order made on Wednesday, April 10, 2002, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion are deemed put, and a recorded division deemed demanded and deferred until the end of government orders on Wednesday, April 17, 2002.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  That is borderline. We must respect the use of certain words out of respect for our colleagues and the House.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to take part in this debate on Bill C-344, an act to amend the Contraventions Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. I already had the opportunity to indicate that I would be wholeheartedly supporting my colleague's private member's bill.

House debate  The House resumed from February 18 consideration of the motion that Bill C-344, an act to amend the Contraventions Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana), be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the amendment.

Supply  I am one of the members in the House of Commons who supports what the health minister has initiated in terms of doing studies to see whether the consumption of marijuana for health purposes should be decriminalized. I support the Minister of Health in this study. I hope that the conclusions will lead to the beginning of the decriminalization of marijuana in our society.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  The Ottawa police chief said that the risk of things going wrong during marijuana busts are too high. In 1995, 43,000 Canadians were charged with 62,000 drug offences, and 71% of them were for marijuana. In the past 20 years, 700,000 Canadians were arrested on marijuana charges.

Legalization Of Marijuana For Health And Medical Purposes  Last March, the American medical institute published a report that found, once again, that marijuana has an excellent medical potential. In November of 1998, the British science and technology committee of the House of Lords took a strong stand in favour of the legalization of marijuana for therapeutic uses.