Irv Hoffman and Margie Weiss wondered Friday how their only child went from police informer to murder victim. Rachel Hoffman, 23, who grew up in Pinellas County and recently graduated from Florida State University, was found dead in a rural area near Tallahassee two days after she disappeared while helping police with a narcotics investigation. full story

Adults in Canada believe the consumption of cannabis should be allowed in their country, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies. 53 per cent of respondents support the legalization of marijuana. Less than 10 per cent of respondents believe other drugs -- such as ecstasy, powder cocaine, heroin, crack cocaine and crystal meth -- should be legalized. In July 2002, Canada became the first nation in the world to regulate the consumption of cannabis for medical reasons. full story

Like most Canadians, I live close to the US border and have routinely traveled into the US throughout my life. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) about four years ago. On November 8th 2007, I was traveling to the US with my son and daughter, both in their twenties. My daughter was taking a flight from the US to Florida so it would be three of us going down, and two of us returning in a few hours, a historically common practice for many traveling Canadians. Upon arrival at the border, my daughter's flight ticket was produced, verifying she was leaving that day for a weekend trip. The duty officer asked for all of our identifications and took them into the office, presumably for a computer check. When she returned a few minutes later, she requested all of us to leave the vehicle. full story

A former New Democrat MP claims that the Conservative government's proposed amendments to the Food and Drugs Act are the result of lobbying from big pharmaceutical companies. Lyle MacWilliam, who represented Okanagan-Shuswap from 1988 to 1993, told the Georgia Straight he formed part of former Liberal health minister Allan Rock's 17-member transition team that helped set up the Office of Natural Health Products, now the Natural Health Products Directorate, where "the landscape for a new regulatory structure for NHPs arose". Bill C-51 would amend the Food and Drugs Act and multiple other statutes, and this has MacWilliam worried for the fate of the natural-health-product industry, which he said will be placed under "stringent" and onerous conditions. full story

London, Ontario - Marc Emery is standing behind the counter at his former business, the City Lights bookstore on Richmond Street, talking about his quixotic quest to end society's prohibition on marijuana. "My argument for marijuana is not that it's good for you and not that it's safe," he says. "It's that any law that punishes peaceful and honest behaviour is an unjust law and must be struck down." Canada's self-proclaimed "prince of pot" -- the man whose ongoing legal battle with the U.S. government has prompted profiles by the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone magazine, 60 Minutes, CNN and CBC -- is in London to visit his ailing mother. But Emery rarely passes up a chance to proselytize. And so, he talks. full story

OTTAWA - The Harper government is embracing tough-on-crime policies even as the United States backs away from similar approaches that have produced record levels of incarceration, huge taxpayer costs and racialized prisons, says an American expert on sentencing policy. "We've had this get-tough movement for three decades now," says Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which promotes reforms in sentencing law and alternatives to incarceration. "If that's the best way to produce safety, we should be the safest country in the world, and clearly that's not the case." full story

Vancouver's newest marijuana seed outlet is celebrating their two-year anniversary with a big party on Saturday, May 31st. "I can't believe that it's been two years," says Dana Larsen, former editor of Cannabis Culture Magazine and co-founder of the Vancouver Seed Bank (VSB). "We are going to have a great party at the end of May." Larsen founded the VSB with his partner Rebecca Ambrose in May 2006, less than a year after their friend Marc Emery was charged with exporting marijuana seeds to the USA. Emery is still facing extradition and could get a 30 year sentence in an American prison. full story

Canadians Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams are fighting extradition to the USA. The Canadian Government decided to not go along with the plea deal even though the USA and Marc Emery were in agreement, so the extradition hearing has been rescheduled. Emery, Rainey and Williams (collectively known as the BC3) appeared in the BC Supreme Court on April 9th and set dates for the extradition hearing. The extradition hearing is now scheduled for February 9th through 17th, 2009. See the No Extradition forum in the CC Forums for more information and discussion. full story