Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis • Hacker News Board

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#161

Post by staticelf » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:09 AM UTC

henrikschroder wrote: post #105

andrewstuart wrote: post #58

In Australia "the Victorian government, is introducing laws in December to allow families access to medicinal cannabis in exceptional circumstances. " You have to be genuinely, deeply sick in Australia to be allowed to puff a joint. It's like living in the 1950's. So strange that Australia follows the world so quickly towards becoming more conservative and is so incredibly slow to become less conservative, even when…

Sweden is regularly prosecuting and convicting elderly people who buy or grow, and use, to ease their pains and medical conditions. No consideration is taken for the very sick, or their stories about how it allows them to live a decent life. Then again, with politicians like these: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/07/sweden-justice-...

Yeah, she is clearly not intelligent like most ruling politicians in Sweden right now.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#162

Post by Canada » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:09 AM UTC

chrissnell wrote: post #150

hasenj wrote: post #148

I'm a little bit worried about this, actually. I've been to Vancouver and it wasn't a very pretty sight. The amount of homelessness and crime is 10 times more what I've seen anywhere else in North America. There's an entire section (several blocks) in the Downtown area that's full of homeless people and the streets smell like urine. Shops even in areas far away from downtown put posters on their windows saying they d…

I've been to Vancouver, too, and I've seen the street you're talking about. Drove down it with my family and it was shocking. Massive piles of trash everywhere, grocery carts, garbage bag "luggage", mobs of people. It was sad and quite shocking if you've never seen it before. Nothing I've seen in SF or LA compares to this. But...I don't think marijuana caused that. I think it has a lot more to do with a permissive ci…

There are many reasons that area is how it is, and the presence and legal status of marijuana isn't one of them.

The root cause of the situation in the downtown east side is the City of Vancouver's effort to help these poor addicts.

Vancouver has policies and programs to support addicts, while other cities in greater Vancouver don't. The result is a concentration of addicts from all over the place.

For example, there are medical services in place to help addicts such as methadone clinics and a safe injection site.

The methadone clinics are supposed to ensure the dose, which the provincial government pays for and the clinic profits from, is consumed by the patient. Instead it's often sold outside for cash which is then used to purchase heroin or crack.

The huge huddling masses you see on Hastings Street tend to be concentrated around these clinics. The area is perfectly safe, there's no need to fear assault or robbery. It's just stinky, dirty and unpleasant.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#163

Post by bayesian_horse » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:13 AM UTC

Probably now Trump wants to build a wall at the border to Canada too.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#164

Post by sleepychu » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:15 AM UTC

auntienomen wrote: post #103

cpncrunch wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not in my experience...it's just a matter of knowing where to look. Not that I'm really interested in smoking pot any more. It's a bit too uncool and boring.

Bully for you. Not all of us are down to hang out with old hippies, just to purchase some weed. I'd rather have Amazon ship it.

With Prime Same-Day by drone!

(And more seriously, from a reputable and regulated supplier)

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#165

Post by bayesian_horse » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:17 AM UTC

ktRolster wrote: post #134

lee wrote: post #93

One thing that I am disappointed in is that I wish the Liberal government first decriminalized marijuana. For one thing, decriminalization is easy to do. Simply revoke the current criminal laws. The bill would be passed quite quickly. Which would then buy time to figure out a bill for legalization. Why is this important? Despite popular belief, simple possession laws ARE upheld in Canada, but the people charged are d…

>For one thing, decriminalization is easy to do. Decriminalization is a bad idea. It increases demand, which gives gangs and mafia types more money. If you're going to do it, legalize it.

I can't see that being an option in the case of heroin or meth.

It makes sense to decriminalize users/addicts because they are the victims whom drug legislation is supposed to protect in the first place.

But to me it makes no sense to allow anyone to profit from a substance that causes this much harm.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#166

Post by roel_v » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:27 AM UTC

bosse wrote: post #70

roel_v wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many Dutch cities take active measures against drug tourists. They are not a profitable or desirable crowd. Besides, most drug tourism is and always has been from countries where drugs laws are still (relatively) strict.

Ah yes, the wietpas, a mandatory coffee shop membership card only available for residents and with a hard limit of 2000 members. When this government sanctioned system was put into play, the streets of Maastricht suddenly had plenty of aggressive pushers overnight, with no "brand" quality, health information or age checks, and plenty of nuisance in the streets. It was so bad that the mayor of Amsterdam noped out of i…

Yes, the coffee shops do, and I'm not arguing that the residency-requirement wasn't (and isn't) a stupid idea. My point is that drug tourism isn't a net positive for the broader Dutch economy. Again, I'm not saying that that means it should be discouraged, but the GP seemed to imply that somehow more liberal drug laws elsewhere are a negative for the Netherlands - which it isn't.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#167

Post by exprA » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:29 AM UTC

bayesian_horse wrote: post #165

ktRolster wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For one thing, decriminalization is easy to do. Decriminalization is a bad idea. It increases demand, which gives gangs and mafia types more money. If you're going to do it, legalize it.

I can't see that being an option in the case of heroin or meth. It makes sense to decriminalize users/addicts because they are the victims whom drug legislation is supposed to protect in the first place. But to me it makes no sense to allow anyone to profit from a substance that causes this much harm.

How did they manage it in the 30s (or whenever depending on your nationality)? Are you absolutely certain that criminalization wasn't an overreaction to a problem that after all wasn't all that big?

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#168

Post by pluma » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:32 AM UTC

robbiep wrote: post #147

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like Bill Hicks said: "Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake."[1] I'm not huge in to this 'God' person, so replace 'God' with whatever is in fashion this week, the point stands. It's wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. Harm reduction, we do it with alcohol. That's t…

As much as I am in favour of legalising and controlling drugs (as opposed to the current system) that is a horrible argument that Bill Hicks uses - opiates are legal however I firmly remain of the opinion that allowing recreational opiate use would be a terrible thing

I disagree with your phrasing but probably not with what you are meaning to say.

Substance abuse should not be illegal. Substance abuse is not a crime. Addiction is a mental health issue and addicts need to be treated as mentally unwell, not as criminals.

Ultimately some substances should be controlled (rather than simply banned) but it's important not to criminalize their (ab)use.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#169

Post by johnpowell » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:32 AM UTC

tn13 wrote: post #133

There is nothing great about smoking weed but something seriously bad about jailing people for smoking, possessing or growing. That is the reason why I support marijuana legalization but I dont think Canada wants to decriminalize Marijuana.

It has been legal in Oregon since last summer. Walking the streets of downtown Portland you wouldn't know the law changed. Really, there is absolutely zero difference that I can see.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#170

Post by pluma » Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 8:43 AM UTC

OSButler wrote: post #6

I'm curious if all those decriminalizations and legalizations in various states & countries are having an impact on Netherlands' tourism.

Intuitively one might think so, but in practice the drug tourism money isn't as important as you would think. I would even go so far as to say that legalizing prostitution in other countries wouldn't impact the Netherlands' tourism much either.

It's mostly just part of the country's (and Amsterdam's in particular) reputation. Let's put it this way: you can legally obtain cheese and wine in most parts of the world -- even French cheese and wine -- but that doesn't stop people from associating France with cheese and wine (whether when in France they actually consume it or not).