[Public_Domain]

Trudeau will probably not bring marijuana very far.

He has a few years still before his irritating faux-populist landslide victory, so there's still more time for some American states to legalize to make legalization in Canada properly "economic" enoguh to be cared about

Guess we'll see

[llama66]

Personally I still say legalize it, control it and tax it like booze. Take it out of the hands of organised crime.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

Trudeau can yap all he wants but the fact of the matter is, it ain't gonna happen until the Big Dog to our south does it.
The majority of Canadians seem to be fine with legalization, it's the idiots in D.C. that need to be convinced.

[llama66]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

Trudeau can yap all he wants but the fact of the matter is, it ain't gonna happen until the Big Dog to our south does it.
The majority of Canadians seem to be fine with legalization, it's the idiots in D.C. that need to be convinced.

It seems the attitude in the States is changing... albiet slowly. 2 states with outright legalisation and another 21 with either medical use or decriminalised posession is a start.

[martin14]

llama66 llama66:

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

Trudeau can yap all he wants but the fact of the matter is, it ain't gonna happen until the Big Dog to our south does it.
The majority of Canadians seem to be fine with legalization, it's the idiots in D.C. that need to be convinced.

It seems the attitude in the States is changing... albiet slowly. 2 states with outright legalisation and another 21 with either medical use or decriminalised posession is a start.

Nothing changes till the Feds change, because they control the border.

States changing is irrelevant.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

martin14 martin14:

llama66 llama66:

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

Trudeau can yap all he wants but the fact of the matter is, it ain't gonna happen until the Big Dog to our south does it.
The majority of Canadians seem to be fine with legalization, it's the idiots in D.C. that need to be convinced.

It seems the attitude in the States is changing... albiet slowly. 2 states with outright legalisation and another 21 with either medical use or decriminalised posession is a start.

Nothing changes till the Feds change, because they control the border.

States changing is irrelevant.

It's quite relevant. When the previous Liberal party was in power they were looking at decrimming with an eye to possible legalization in the future.
Bush and the rest of his hot air bags had a shit hemorrhage when they got wind of it. Threatened to shut down the border, impose economic sanctions and all that jazz.
Hell, I remember when BC bud hit the headlines. Bush called it the single biggest threat to 'Murica. Yeah, and that was AFTER 9/11.
Seemed kind'a funny to hear some nitwit exclaim that a relatively innocuous bit of greenery was a bigger threat to the US than ideological idiots crashing airliners into American skyscrapers.

[martin14]

PublicAnimalNo9 PublicAnimalNo9:

It's quite relevant. When the previous Liberal party was in power they were looking at decrimming with an eye to possible legalization in the future.
Bush and the rest of his hot air bags had a shit hemorrhage when they got wind of it. Threatened to shut down the border, impose economic sanctions and all that jazz.

And the US federal gov't would only change those border threats when they declare
the war on drugs lost.
Not seeing it soon, even Barry won't go that far.

[Jabberwalker]

Imagine if the Government got into the pot-selling business. I could be the first time in history that anyone lost money dealing dope.

[CanadianJeff]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

The group that Trudeau is aiming at, would sooner smoke a bowl and play XBox than take half an hour out of their indolent life to go down and vote

Kind of true and false it seems the most adamant on this issue are not likely to get up and go vote (young people seem to have that problem today even without pot) but there are many that smoke casually and see this as a "Oh I don't have to be treated like a criminal" thing.

For example I have a few friends that like to smoke and about once or twice a month nowadays I light up with them. It's relaxing and I'm certainly not harming a soul. So yeah if I didn't have to go through a bunch of hoops to enjoy that once in a while it's something I would consider voting for.

Still while it's a plus for JT there are so so many more important issues that he has little to no stance on and placing this one at the top of the pile shows a real lack of priorities.

[Freakinoldguy]

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

For example I have a few friends that like to smoke and about once or twice a month nowadays I light up with them. It's relaxing and I'm certainly not harming a soul. So yeah if I didn't have to go through a bunch of hoops to enjoy that once in a while it's something I would consider voting for.

Given that premise it'll be interesting to see how far the decriminalization referendum goes in BC remembering that this province actually got enough people onboard to have the anti HST one passed.

You'd likely vote yes but for it to succeed all people who want the law changed had better get off their asses and sign up because if it doesn't pass it will be a major setback to the movement and show that a majority of mainstream society for what ever reason doesn't think like the activists want us to believe.

But on the other hand if it does pass it may just be the opening they need to pressure other provinces and the Federal Gov't to open a meaningful debate on both decriminalization and legalization.

[ShepherdsDog]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

For example I have a few friends that like to smoke and about once or twice a month nowadays I light up with them. It's relaxing and I'm certainly not harming a soul. So yeah if I didn't have to go through a bunch of hoops to enjoy that once in a while it's something I would consider voting for.

Given that premise it'll be interesting to see how far the decriminalization referendum goes in BC remembering that this province actually got enough people onboard to have the anti HST one passed.

You'd likely vote yes but for it to succeed all people who want the law changed had better get off their asses and sign up because if it doesn't pass it will be a major setback to the movement and show that a majority of mainstream society for what ever reason doesn't think like the activists want us to believe.

But on the other hand if it does pass it may just be the opening they need to pressure other provinces and the Federal Gov't to open a meaningful debate on both decriminalization and legalization.

Trudeau's caucus meetings will look like a scene from That 70s Show......and have about an equivalent amount of substance.

[Curtman]

CanadianJeff CanadianJeff:

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

The group that Trudeau is aiming at, would sooner smoke a bowl and play XBox than take half an hour out of their indolent life to go down and vote

Kind of true and false it seems the most adamant on this issue are not likely to get up and go vote (young people seem to have that problem today even without pot) but there are many that smoke casually and see this as a "Oh I don't have to be treated like a criminal" thing.

For example I have a few friends that like to smoke and about once or twice a month nowadays I light up with them. It's relaxing and I'm certainly not harming a soul. So yeah if I didn't have to go through a bunch of hoops to enjoy that once in a while it's something I would consider voting for.

Still while it's a plus for JT there are so so many more important issues that he has little to no stance on and placing this one at the top of the pile shows a real lack of priorities.

It's not JT that pushed his opinion on the Liberal Party though, its the other way around. He went from being a prohibitionist to decriminalizer to legalizer in a short period. I expect he will sell Liberal policy to Canadians, rather than tell Liberals what policy he's going to deliver.

It's a plus for JT because every demographic in every jurisdiction of Canada supports legalization. some more than others. It puts the Conservatives in a corner defending the war on drugs when they admit its a failure, but they escalated it anyway.

The real shocker is the NDP position these days.

[Curtman]

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2013/07/ ... -marijuana

$1:

Uruguay Takes Historic Step Toward Becoming First Country to Legally Regulate Marijuana

Marijuana Regulation Bill Passes Lower House, Moves on to Senate

Initiative Reflects Broad Political Shift as Latin American Countries Seek Alternatives to Drug Prohibition and the War on Drugs

On Wednesday, the Uruguayan House of Representatives approved a bill to legally regulate marijuana. Passing with 50 out of 96 votes, the bill now goes to the Senate. If approved by the Senate, Uruguay will become the first country in the world to legally regulate the production, distribution and sale of marijuana.

The marijuana legalization proposal was put forward by President José Mujica of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) last June as part of a 15-measure package aimed at fighting crime and public insecurity. The bill allows three forms of access to marijuana: domestic cultivation of 6 plants, membership clubs similar to those found in Spain, and licensed sale in pharmacies. It also prohibits sales to minors, driving under the influence, and all forms of advertising.

In the year since Mujica announced the proposal, support for the initiative has risen among diverse sectors of Uruguayan society. A national TV ad campaign, featuring a mother, a doctor, and a lawyer explaining the measure's benefits on public safety and health – has reached hundreds of thousands of Uruguayans. Regulación Responsable (“Responsible Regulation”), the coalition of prominent Uruguayan organizations and individuals that support the initiative, has held events around the country, sparking debate at all levels. LGBT, women’s rights, health, student, environmental and human rights organizations have all united to support Regulación Responsable, alongside trade unions, doctors, musicians, lawyers, athletes, writers, actors and academics.

Mujica and a growing chorus of current and former Latin American political leaders are contending that legal regulation will separate marijuana users from the offer of more dangerous drugs on the black market, allow access to medical marijuana for patients in need, and enable Uruguay to reinvest the millions of dollars now flowing into the pockets of drug traffickers into education, treatment and prevention of problematic drug use. The bill represents an adjustment to fix a contradiction in Uruguayan law, where the use of marijuana and all other drugs is legal – but the production, distribution and sale are penalized. As a result, the country has a substantial black market for drugs and has suffered from an escalating prohibition-related violence.

“At the heart of the Uruguayan marijuana regulation bill is a focus on improving public health and public safety,” said Hannah Hetzer, who is based out of Montevideo, Uruguay, as the Policy Manager of the Americas for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Instead of closing their eyes to the problem of drug abuse and drug trafficking, Uruguay is taking an important step towards responsible regulation of an existing reality.”

In recent years, debate and political will for drug policy reform has gained unprecedented momentum in Latin America. In 2011, Kofi Annan, Paul Volcker and Richard Branson joined former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), César Gaviria (Colombia) and Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico) and other distinguished members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy in saying the time had come to “break the taboo” on exploring alternatives to the failed war on drugs – and to “encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs,” especially marijuana.

More recently, current presidents Juan Manuel Santos in Colombia, Otto Perez Molina in Guatemala, and José Mujica in Uruguay have joined these calls for reform. In May, the Organization of American States produced a report, commissioned by heads of state of the region, that included marijuana legalization as a likely policy alternative. The OAS report predicted a likely hemispheric move towards marijuana legalization in the coming years.

“Sometimes small countries do great things,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Uruguay’s bold move does more than follow in the footsteps of Colorado and Washington. It provides a model for legally regulating marijuana that other countries, and U.S. states, will want to consider – and a precedent that will embolden others to follow in their footsteps.”

Decriminalization made the black market violence worse? Who would have seen that coming?

[Zipperfish]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Zipperfish Zipperfish:

Is it still illegal in BC? I can never remember.

It is illegal. But as I've said before, a law not enforced is no law at all. The big problem with legalizing it, they are starting to find out in places like Washington State is what to legalize.

To legalize it; you have to label it's contents, and regulate it the same as any other drug, or food for that matter. If Merck produced a drug that had the side effect of 'may cause schizophrenia', how soon would it be pulled fromt he market? So how do you regulate it? If General Foods produced a product that said "Contents: unknown", how well would that fly?

Do you regulate THC content? How about other compounds like Cannabidiol? Do you regulate the ratio of THC to Cannabidiol? Do you require each batch to be tested for potency?

What are the age restrictions for use? What are the long term effects of the chemical compounds in Pot?

So many questions, so few answers.

Agreed. Except to be perfectly correct (according to the latest findings), it doesn't cuase schizophrenia, but seems to contribute to early onset.

[martin14]

Curtman Curtman:

The real shocker is the NDP position these days.

Just more proof that when the party is in 3rd place, you can pretty much
say whatever you want.

Being 2nd means being a bit more careful.