Canada comes closer to legallizing marajuani (or however it's spelt!)

[Basstrap]

There's gonna be a decision reached soon, and it seems like there could actually be a good chance it goes through!!

the advocates for it have very very good arguments. Lowers policing and court costs, decrease criminal activity and smuggling and the like.
amongst many other things

it would be sold in stores and would have the same restrictions as alcohol. It would be considered a health risk like cigarettes and alcohol, but would not be considered illegal.

the arguments against are mostly weak. I do not agree that more people would smoke it. It would lose a lot of the "cool" stigma and, though it would prolly shoot up at first, it wouldn't be long before it dropped at least to the level of cigarette smoking.

The one argument against legallization that I have heard and which is almost enough to outweigh the advocates is that pot is often a stepping stone to higher drugs.
So even though I agree that it is less harmful than alcohol is many many ways, there is that particular risk factor.

What do you think?
it would make life a lot simplier in that it would crush the core of many big smugglers and such.
Millions would be saved

But there are good aruments against as well

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

it's marijuana.

 

[speedracer]

the arguments against are mostly weak. I do not agree that more people would smoke it. It would lose a lot of the "cool" stigma and, though it would prolly shoot up at first, it wouldn't be long before it dropped at least to the level of cigarette smoking.

Forget the mind-altering nature of marijuana...there is evidence that smoking the stuff is even worse for your lungs than smoking tobacco (even taking into account the fact that marijuana is often used in smaller quantities than tobacco).

I don't necessarily know if this is reason enough to keep it illegal, but if it is legalized it should be taxed up the wazoo to compensate for the strain that it might put on health care.

 

[Holy John]

I don't know what happened to Canada in the last week (Kyoto and now marijuana), but I like it

 

[RavenStar]

Hey Basstrap! Yer back! You should check lemonade stand for the pics I took in Newfoundland.

About the marijuana...I read about this on the front page of a newspaper this morning(im too cheap to buy the paper so I just read the front page). I dont see anything wrong with it. You smoke marijuana, you harm yourself. I dont see why people hate drugs so much. There is a difference between substance USE and substance ABUSE.

 

[speedracer]

Hey Basstrap! Yer back! You should check lemonade stand for the pics I took in Newfoundland.

About the marijuana...I read about this on the front page of a newspaper this morning(im too cheap to buy the paper so I just read the front page). I dont see anything wrong with it. You smoke marijuana, you harm yourself. I dont see why people hate drugs so much. There is a difference between substance USE and substance ABUSE.

To us, yes. To the law, there generally isn't. Therein lies the problem.

 

[RavenStar]

Most laws are so out of touch with reality it makes math teachers look real.
Note: I had a math teacher that didnt understand how I could buy half a chocolate bar from a friend.

 

[speedracer]

Most laws are so out of touch with reality it makes math teachers look real.
Note: I had a math teacher that didnt understand how I could buy half a chocolate bar from a friend.

Well, we all know thanks to AfroMan that excessive marijuana use leads to

-problems in school
-unemployment
-sexual dysfunction
-car accidents
-loud chicken-like noises

How do you enact a law that legalizes "recreational" marijuana use but not marijuana abuse? (or alcohol or tobacco, for that matter)

 

[Angela Harlem]

Dropping to the same level as that of smokers?

Are your stats (ie Canadian) reflective of more people smoking pot than tobacco?

Interesting supporting statement.

Petty theft clogs the legal system too. Maybe renaming that activity to lawfully obtaining without right, would help ease the court sytem too. Infact, get rid of all petty criminal charges because they all clog up the legal system.

Decreasing criminal activity. Well, yeah it will be decreased because it doesn't have the same name. Selling it in shops will no doubt attract some kind of tax. Who will a pot smoker buy off? Joe Schmoe on the corner who will sell without the added cost of a government charge? Or your local takeaway/grog shop who has to add on extra charges? These people will have set prices. Any schmuck who has the freedom to take the advantage of selling can still charge whatever they want. They will undersell your friendly convenience store to ensure their marijuana business remains strong. Remember your local dealer is in it for one thing, and thats money. Not to become a legal registered business.

I'm a bit confused on this whole smuggling aspect. This law will allow anyone to bring the drug into the country and what, they are taken on good faith to do their right and lawful duty in selling it? And this will be monitored how?

 

[zonelistener]

Asstrap -

If you would stop smoking so much Mary Jane, you would stop kilkling brain cells and be able to spell better.

 

[pinkfloyd]

it will be better , anyway u can buy it , if you want . It's a private business of every human from 18 years of age .

 

[Salome]

I don't think there is any prove that legalizing marijuana will lead to more marijuana being used/abused

I think the pros and cons are almost the same as tabacco and alcohol (though different studies have different outcomes)

but it seems to me (taking the outcome of the different studies into account) that there isn't much reason that legislation regarding marijuana should be different than re. tabacco and alcohol

 

[nbcrusader]

the advocates for it have very very good arguments. Lowers policing and court costs, decrease criminal activity and smuggling and the like.

Decriminalizing anything would achieve the same goals.

 

[U2Bama]

Building on what Angela Harlem and nbcrusader have mentioned, I might run for office on the following platform: Legalizing crime would reduce prison over-crowding.

 

[Salome]

Legalizing crime would reduce prison over-crowding.

allowing one thing because companies (+ government in taxes) make a lot of money out of it (tobacco and alcohol)
while criminalizing another thing because all of a sudden you fear that citizens aren't responsible enough to not give in to a possible addiction (while the number of tobacco and alcohol addictions is still very high)
also is a very interesting policy

 

[Danospano]

It was said that the pivotal point on the anti-legalization side was that marijunana was the "gateway" drug. This is not true. If we want to be technical we should say that nicotine and alcohol are the original gateway drugs. This is true because most people have access to these drugs long before they ever see most illegal drugs.

Nicotine and alcohol are mind-altering substances, which means they share a trait with pot. To ignore this is to ignore significant correlations.

 

[Badyouken]

Well, how is it doing in the Netherlands?
Tell us, Salome, Rono, Dr.Teeth...


Maybe we could learn from their experience...

 

[CannibalisticArtist]

i say decriminsation not legalisation, this would still solve every problem legalisation would.
i don't care of the goverment will be able to produce better weed at lower prices including tax. i just don't want the government putting their greedy hands on yet another commodity.
oh but what about the boost in economy?
if insane taxes on cigs and alcohol (taxed and consumed LOADS more than weed is and ever will be) are not helping the enconomy enough, then the economy is fucked anyway so another product will not likely boost it by much, especially when what Angela Harlem talked about would happen. legalisation just seems like plain goverment greed and control. which would lead to black market sales anyway like Angela mentioned. it makes no sense.
free-market, it's working for weed now so just let it be.

 

[Popmartijn]

Hello,

Somebody asked how the situation is here in the Netherlands. Well, here the possession of marijuana is decriminalized (despite common perception maybe it's still technically illegal in most cases here!). The sale is regulated to certain bars (the so-called 'coffee shops' although I don't know what kind of coffee you get in those. BTW, just follow the dialogue at the beginning of Pulp Fiction, then you get most of it). Those bars may ONLY sell marijuana and non-alcoholic drinks. This is to make a separation between the so-called soft drugs (marijuana, cannabis, etc.) and hard drugs (cocaine, heroin, crack, etc.). It is not, never, no way allowed to sell those hard drugs.
So the idea of the government is that by having a separation between the 2 users of marijuana will not get into contact with those other drugs. So marijuana will not lead to users wanting stronger stuff (and having access to those), but to users having something stronger than cigarettes and that's that.

Another point I have to make is that there is a difference in philosophy behind the Dutch view on drugs and those in many other countries (I know the USA for sure, don't know about others). The Dutch government sees addiction to drugs as a medical problem, not a criminal. Dealing drugs IS a criminal problem, but using it not. Users will not go to jail because of possession of drugs, but will have access to medical facilities to get clean. You should also see the Dutch position on marijuana in this light. Decriminalize it to try to control the addiction and its behaviour.
I don't have any sources with me at the moment, but there are many research publications that mention that the Dutch policy on soft drugs has resulted in less addicts to the hard drugs, less drug related crime and less drug related AIDS infections (often caused by sharing needles).

Marty (who doesn't smoke)

 

[walkon11]

Well, we all know thanks to AfroMan that excessive marijuana use leads to

-problems in school
-unemployment
-sexual dysfunction
-car accidents
-loud chicken-like noises

LMAO
"la da da da da da..."

 

[Walkron]

Alcohol,Tobacco, prescription drugs,spray paint, Marijuana what's the diff.
We legalize it. regulate it, no problem
I have never heard of anyone performing any violent crimes high on marijuana alone.