Will Canada Legalize Weed?

[tenni]

Justin Trudeau, leader of the Canadian Liberal Party, announced a few weeeks ago that if his party (Liberal) becomes the government that they will legalize recreational maijuana. Former governments spoke about decriminalizing it so that people would not have a criminal record if caught with recreational(small amount..non sellers). The present government has thus far been mute over seven years and continued to fine Canadians for having any weed.

Well, the Canadian reaction to legalize marijuana has been very positive. It has the present Conservative government announcing on Tuesday the following. This is not legalizing marijuana but providing better access to medical marijuana.

The Conservative government is launching a $1.3-billion free market in medical marijuana this Tuesday, eventually providing an expected 450,000 Canadians with quality weed.
Health Canada is phasing out an older system on Monday that mostly relied on small-scale, homegrown medical marijuana of varying quality, often diverted illegally to the black market.

Tories launching billion-dollar free market in medical marijuana (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/federal-government-to-launch-billion-dollar-free-market-in-medical-marijuana/article14590161/)

Here I thought Canada had gone all wussy and right wing. :( I bet some right winged people will say ..See first same sex marriage and now legal pot..lol Canada is sodom and gomorah (sp)... ;)

I read where Mexico is talking about legalizing drugs(not sure which) to stop their criminal activity between drug lords?

What is your country’s view on legalization of marijuana?
Do you think that your government will ever legalize it?

[Annika L]

The US view seems to be (pretty strongly) to favor letting states decide for themselves...and *probably* if enough states legalize it, the federal government would likely decriminalize as well. Currently, we have two states where marijuana has become legal...and it's an interesting bind, because it's not a state offense to own or use (again, small amounts), but it is a federal offense to own or use any amount. However, the federal government has made it clear that they have no interest in pursuing criminal claims against individuals in states where pot is legal, as long as reasonable regulations are in place to keep large amounts of pot from crossing state borders, to keep pot away from minors, etc. Basically, they seem (wisely in my opinion) to be viewing these states as experimental testing grounds to see if society goes to hell there...and many other states are watching for the same reasons, and to figure if they might like to jump on that bandwagon. If Canada legalizes pot in whatever measure, I would bet it would give some US states some additional confidence to follow suit (hah! you Canadians aren't used to us copying you, are you! ...even if it's us copying you copying us *smile*). However you look at it, it's pretty exciting news.