[EyeBrock]

I'm all for legalising it.

Unfortunately unless our biggest trading partner agrees, it would be a fiscal and political mistake for Canada to go this route at the moment.

Bad cops bad harper bad cops bad harper.

[sandorski]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

I'm all for legalising it.

Unfortunately unless our biggest trading partner agrees, it would be a fiscal and political mistake for Canada to go this route at the moment.

Bad cops bad harper bad cops bad harper.

You're correct about the Trade partner thing. Outright Legalization is very difficult, but there are certainly ways to limit the damage. Mandatory Sentences are the wrong way to go though, at least for the small players. It's one thing to throw the book at someone operating a Grow-Op(s)and quite another merely Using Pot or some smalltime Street distributor. Given that Smuggling is what causes Border frictions, that's where the Legal focus should be.

[OnTheIce]

sandorski sandorski:

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

With everything going on in the World today is making weed legal really that important?

What does the "World" have to do with Domestic Policy? Bupkiss.

Fail.

[OnTheIce]

sandorski sandorski:

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

With everything going on in the World today is making weed legal really that important?

What does the "World" have to do with Domestic Policy? Bupkiss.

Fail.

[RUEZ]

Do people really think that legalizing pot will reduce gang activity?

[sandorski]

RUEZ RUEZ:

Do people really think that legalizing pot will reduce gang activity?

It will, guaranteed.

[EyeBrock]

For a while maybe sand, but they will quickly find something else.

[sandorski]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

For a while maybe sand, but they will quickly find something else.

Some of them undoubtedly will, but many will not. Nor will they find a Product nearly as Profitable. Regardless, that's no reason to maintain the status quo.

[Gunnair]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

For a while maybe sand, but they will quickly find something else.

No they won't. They'll simply stop doing stuff that is illegal because pot has been legalized. It's a fact... or at least that's how it is presented in some circles.

[Curtman]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

People are rarely, if ever, jailed for smoking pot.

People aren't being accosted in their homes for smoking weed and playing video games.

I don't see why there's such a rush to legalize something that's so loosely policed anyways.

$1:

1.5 million Canadians have criminal records for simple possession.

Approximately 50,000 Canadians are arrested each year for crimes related to marijuana.

75% of drug-related criminal charges are related to marijuana.

65% of Canadians arrested for marijuana related crimes are for simple possession (under 30 grams of cannabis).

More than 30,000 Canadians are charged with simple possession annually - about 5% of these go to jail.

$1:

The letter says “marijuana prohibition is —without question —a failed policy.”

“It is creating violent, gang-related crime in our communities and fear among our citizens, and adding financial costs for all levels of government at a time when we can least afford them. Politicians cannot ignore the status quo any longer, and must develop and deliver alternative marijuana policies that avoid the social and criminal harms that stem directly from cannabis prohibition,” the letter says.

The reason for the rush and why you should care is because of the people making money in the black market, and the money you and I spend on enforcing prohibition without any success whatsoever.

[Curtman]

Gunnair Gunnair:

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

For a while maybe sand, but they will quickly find something else.

No they won't. They'll simply stop doing stuff that is illegal because pot has been legalized. It's a fact... or at least that's how it is presented in some circles.

When the gangs have easy access to a lucrative market that they have full control of (through violence and intimidation) they will prosper. Its like leaving food out where there are rats. You feed them and they multiply. Get rid of the gangster gravy train.

[Gunnair]

Curtman Curtman:

Gunnair Gunnair:

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

For a while maybe sand, but they will quickly find something else.

No they won't. They'll simply stop doing stuff that is illegal because pot has been legalized. It's a fact... or at least that's how it is presented in some circles.

When the gangs have easy access to a lucrative market that they have full control of (through violence and intimidation) they will prosper. Its like leaving food out where there are rats. You feed them and they multiply. Get rid of the gangster gravy train.

[herbie]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

For a while maybe sand, but they will quickly find something else.

So if we do, the gangs will have to find something else and we'll piss off the right wing Yanks?
Let's do it tomorrow.

[EyeBrock]

Personally I care not what the 'right-wing Yanks' say or do but I'm hazarding a guess that the US would tighten it's border beyond reasonable belief, causing real issues for exports etc.

Anything like this has effects other than the obvious. Strategic thinking is required here.

[Zipperfish]

California is pretty cose to legalizing it, I think, with the whole medicinal pot thing.

It's mre of a problem in the US where they drug test you for everyting, so smoking pot actually has a downside to it. In Canada, it's easier and cheaper to get than it would be if it were legal, and we don't have to worry that the gummint is spending billions a year to see if Walt the Postman is smoking a joint on the weekend. Not yet anyways. Give the Conservatives few more years. It's easier to get away wiht smoking a joint on the beach than it is to drink a beer.

So I don't see much incentive to legalize it, in BC anyways.