6 - "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, AUGUST n, 2000 PUBLISHER................ J. Peter Hvidsten BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, Kathy GENERAL MGR.........Don Macleod SB 2 Yrs. 4 oe Member n i ) % ; udley, Janet Rankin, Lesley West, Heather 1 MANAGING EOI. Jo ica ocna WEEKEND STAR [IEP ep WEE ! .... Gayle apiey AR a " a & Ly i : ADVERTISING MGR...Deb McEachern Member Ontario Somimuny FE A -- EE fu « pa 8 a oS : > Newspaper a DYBRTISINGG. Si Toad Gliily dopin, ARR Chris Hall ewspaper Assoc. ail Morse, Heather regor, ' ¥ F tors. ; | Yoalance Wiiters Hasler Meliss, John B. McClelland, Published every Friday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - L9L 1B7 Janet Archer, Malcolm Lennox, Lisa Monk i PHONE (905) 985-7383 Distributed free in the following communities: Port Perry - Uxbridge - Sunderland - Little Britain - RR Lindsay Janetville PRODUCTION MANAGER: Pamela Hickey i FAX (905) 985-3708 Oakwood - Manilla - Seagrave - Greenbank - Brooklin - Ashburn - Columbus - RR Oshawa Production Staff: Trudy Empringham, | E-MAIL: port.perry.star@ sympatico.ca Caesarea - Blackstock - Raglan - Nestleton - Yelverton - Prince Albert Daryle Wright, Arlene Cheel, Richard Drew f A toe oY: Opinions expressed by columnists, coniibutors and eter writers aro not nocessarly hase of Tha Por Pery Star Lars must be signed and tha tloghono number (which will ot be published) nciuded. Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only i there is a compelling reason to do so. Errors wa ba corrected # brought to the editors attention. We reserve the right o edi or refuse publication of any material submitted. ADVERTISING POLICY: The publisher is not kable for sight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher is not kiable for other ors or omissions in connection with any advertisement in any subsequent issue of th refund of any monies pai for the advertisement. Al cams of ero in publication must ba nade by Wednesday, noe. por tyne nen erst momen, af me on the value of an advertisement. Th publisher is no kab for the errors or OPINION Time for a new law The federal government is being forced to revisit its antiquated marijuana laws, in the wake of a recent Ontario Court of Appeal ruling. . The court judged Canada's outlawing of simple marijuana possession to be unconstitutional, because it denies people who need the drug for medicinal purposes access to it. The feds have 12 months to decide on a course of action. They could appeal the ruling; let the ruling stand and do nothing, thus voiding the current possession law, or revisit the legislation, and decriminalize possession. : Decriminalization would be a prudent choice. . We're not talking about legalization of pot here; should decriminalization occur, it wouldn't be okay to light up joints in public. Rather, possession would probably be treated as a mis- demeanor offence, and ticketed, like speeding, rather than prosecuted in the courts. - Such a move would free up police and court resources, both of which are now strained to the max, to deal with more serious offences. And people charged with possession would no longer be saddled with criminal records for what is widely viewed as a rather minor transgression. - While the feds are rewriting their law, they can add clear exemptions for those conditions for which marijuana is proven to be an effective treatment. . It's a housekeeping matter that's overdue, and the Court of Appeal ruling has provided the impetus for action. BS Er (EE By Wait Radda : THERE WAS A Mosquito ON YouR EAR! a A A A Ae ANN AI St i ip 0; / Sill 7, r/ Proto OF THE WEEK Hil My name is Pickles and this is me just hangin' around, relaxing on my favourite ledge. My brother Zee Zee is really weird, he prefers to kick back in the bathroom sink. Do you have a good picture for this feature? Drop it by the Star office or send it to Picture of the Week care of this newspaper. ETTERS To the Editor: The members of the Blackstock Nursery School would like to thank the Port Perry Star for the article that was published a couple of months ago, with regard to the possible closure of our school. We would also like to thank the community for its response to our situation. If you recall, we were not able to operate we are happy to report that we now have a board for the 2000-2001 school year. We are now accepting application (by phone) for enrollment just by calling the 'Thanks' does not To the Editor: I would like to take this opportunity to thank all involved who helped me and my family in our desperate time of need after the fire that destroyed our home. Thank you does not seem enough to say to show you our appreciation for everything the entire community has done for us. | would like to thank Canadian Tire, The Great Blue Heron Casino, The Mississaugas of Scugog Island, I.G.A., Operation Scugog, the school without a board of directors and Nursery now has board of directors school at 986-4585. Our fees for the upcom- | ing year are as follows: $80 per month (I day per week); $150 per month (2 days per week) or (2 children | day per week). These new fees help to eliminate the need for fundraising. Once again we urge the community to respond as early as possible because with- out enrollment we can't operate the school for the 2000-2001 school year. Sherry Anderson, President Maureen Cockerton, Treasurer Board of Directors, Blackstock Co-Op Nursery School seem like enough Waterfront Coffee Shop, Sledheads & Soft Tails, and all other businesses I have failed to mention. I would also like to thank all my family, friends and co-workers for their support: Even people | do not know, thank you. Your generosity is overwhelming. We thank you all for helping make our new apartment a home. Laura, Jon and Justice Colwell Port Perry