Cannabis is legal in Canada: What you need to know

The policy change regarding viewing drugs not as criminal but decriminalized and a health issue where needed, is the safer thing to do in a regulated market that will improve safety for recreational use and harm reduction. The War on Drugs started as an attack on personal freedoms and made drugs more dangerous both in production and use, spawning all sorts of synthetics that are more dangerous and black market mafia forces spawning violence just like during alcohol prohibition.

Maybe in 2019 the US can be next as a whole ending cannabis prohibition, about 50 years after the kickoff of Nixon's drug wars due to losing to Leary in the SCOTUS over the Marihuana Tax Act [1]

> Leary v. United States, 395 U.S. 6 (1969), is a U.S. Supreme Court case dealing with the constitutionality of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. Timothy Leary, a professor and activist, was arrested for the possession of marijuana in violation of the Marihuana Tax Act. Leary challenged the act on the ground that the act required self-incrimination, which violated the Fifth Amendment. The unanimous opinion of the court was penned by Justice John Marshall Harlan II and declared the Marihuana Tax Act unconstitutional. Thus, Leary's conviction was overturned. Congress responded shortly thereafter by replacing the Marihuana Tax Act with the newly written Controlled Substances Act while continuing the prohibition of certain drugs in the United States

Unfortunately, it is too bad leading states like Colorado, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and more aren't able to capitalize on the markets until the US as a whole federally ends prohibition. US states that are forward looking are cut off from banking, interstate commerce, global investment and are being held back by the anti-market approach of the current prohibitions.

Canada stepped up to first mover globally for cannabis which will lead to a chance at global cannabis companies being Canadian.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leary_v._United_States

You are correct that the US border policy with Canada doesn't make any sense.

And yes for many, many people it absolutely improves their quality of life dramatically.

So, I have no idea why you’re taking issue with this statement (unless you work for a pharma co / drug gang, in which case I totally get why you would).

That guy loved to use anecdotes instead of facts, and presented marijuana as a drug that makes you kill people. As an example, he often used a case in which a guy from Florida killed his parents and chopped their bodies, always failing to mention that this person was recommended to go to a mental institution and didn't end up going there because his parents vouched for him.

After Harry was done with criminalizing marijuana within the US, he started advocating for other countries to do as well, being the US representative in the United Nations Narcotics Commission. Even Thailand ended up criminalizing it, despite marijuana usage being embedded in their culture and history. The fear of the US turning their backs on you was and remained a risky action for smaller countries.

The good news is we're on our way to revert his fuckery within a century. The bad news is that his fuckery lasted a century and got countless people sent to jail.

For those interested in how the current drug laws came to be, I highly recommend you to read Chasing The Scream[1]. It has completely changed my perspective of drug usage and war on drugs and I consider it one of the best nonfiction books I got my hands on so far.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_J._Anslinger

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_the_Scream