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Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

theguardian.com

61–70 of 218 posts

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#61
post #56
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I understand, legalization is a lot more complicated in relation to international drug treaties that Canada is a part of.

Nah, we're not really worried about those treaties, we're going to send our little, "thank you, but we will no longer be complying with Section XXXXX, in YYYY)". Decriminalizing is simply taking it off the current schedule, and removing it from existing laws. Legalization requires a whole framework of laws to be created. You could piggyback off cigarettes of alcohol, but should you? Those are the discussions that wil…

Sounds plausible that it takes some time to come up with a reasonable-ish framework for legal production, distribution, and consumption. Most of the US states that legalized seemed to jump in with an attitude more like legalize it now and figure out the details as we go. It seems to have worked okay, but could be seen as being kinda risky.

I also think that many people way overestimate the importance of international law and treaties. There is no court with any teeth on these things, and nobody gets any brownie points for following treaties. The only enforcement mechanism is what other countries care to do about any violations they perceive, which could be anything from nothing at all for blatant violations to sanctions, trade war, or real war for minor violations or even not going along enthusiastically enough.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#63

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Convention_on_Narcotic_... How do they get out of this? I've read that this is a big holdup in US federal drug law reform.

https://www.civilized.life/despite-treaties-justin-trudeau-c...

So basically a country can pull out of a bad treaty and all they're going to get is some strongly worded letters?

Hopefully once Canada and others defy these terrible agreements, poorer countries will realise they have a lot to gain by ignoring them, too.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#64

Canadian News Source http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/philpott-un-marijuana-legisl... I love that they picked this day to make an announcement.

It can't be a coincidence. I hope they pass the bill next year on this day. I'll be booking work off and heading to the Art Gallery for that one.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#67
post #7

How does this effect the supply chain? Let me re-phrase that, are we still criminalizing the supply side? If so, we're just exporting our violence south of the USA border.

No, they have promised legalization. However there's virtually no chance of this being a free-for-all. What I expect the main features to be: - Certified and regulated producers, though not numerically limited - heavily-taxed. - no problems growing your own. - retail distribution depends on province. More liberal in BC, government-run in Ontario. - separate certifications for places "serving" (ie, pot cafes). Can't t…

...I'd prefer my neighbors not to stink up the whole building with their skunk stench.

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#68
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they could not pass it on day one. Getting legislation together like this takes support building in other areas of government, and getting it right so it isn't toppled because of flawed wording takes crafting. They need to bring people on board and do it well or it falls apart. It takes time.

You're confusing the two. Decriminalization needs nothing more than to be removed from the controlled substances list, and being removed from the criminal code. It's easy peasy, and could be done easily within a week. You don't need anything because it's no longer criminal, you just stop prosecuting them. Quick announcement to the feeds on the streets, and you're running. Legalization on the other hand, which is what…

Edit: I thought you were the one with your definitions reversed but it seem news organizations and stories actually seem to also use contradictory definition.

See for example:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/06/ec...

versus

http://globalnews.ca/news/2650706/canada-to-introduce-pot-le...

Re: Canada to introduce legislation to legalize recreational cannabis

#70
post #38
post #6

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

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 introducing it, together with most mayors in towns that doesn't kiss a border. I believe most, if not all coffee shops in the Randstad area (Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht) are still welcoming any adults into their coffee shops.

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