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MTLBudMan

Unfortunately the biggest problem is the country to the south who have promised longer wait times at the border if Canada so much as decriminalizes.

Estimated cost on Canadian businesses of the weight time at the border last year? $8.2 billion Canadian.

...yeah.

I for one would love:

[A] The U.S. enacts some sort of decriminalization law. It's already happened in some states and cities (e.g. in New York City, it's usually a fine for possession of up to a certain amount; my friend got a $20 US fine) but needs to be national or near-national. After some time under a new system the government will realize how much money they GAIN from decriminalization compared to how much they LOSE via the "war on drugs."

[b] Canada hears the threats from America (longer wait times) and does it anyway. It would be a huge step for the country in not conforming to the demands of its southern neighbour which, unfortunately, happens much too often. Why? Well, Canada thrives on its exports, and the US takes around three-quarters of them (which makes up for 20% of US imports, so for all intents and purposes, BOTH countries rely on each other, it's just that Canada relies on the US more).

 

Zilos

exactly, its all about money and contral

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matty86

Just recently a poll was done in all provinces to see what the Canadian population thinks about the idea of legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana. More than half of Canadians support it's legalization as does Prime Minister Martin. There is no doubt in my mind that before the end of next year we will see marijuana atleast completely decriminalized or maybe even legalized. The poll found that it was the wealthiest and most educated Canadians (those with a household income of $100, 000 or more) that most supported it's legalization. The only thing that really gets to me is when the 14% of all Canadians who completely oppose even it's decriminalization do so because it's a "gateway drug". If marijuana is a "gateway drug" then George Bush isn't an ashole. Keep pushing and we'll be there sooner than you know.

Matt

Samsonality

I disagree, perhaps you aren't entirely sure how our government is shaped at the moment.

Canada currently has a minority government, meaning that although the Liberals have the most seats in parliament, they don't hold half or more. This means that they must persuade other parties to vote in favour of bills which they present, such as the decriminalization of Marijuana, so that at least half of the seats are in favour of the bill, and thus it is passed.

If a bill is presented and the Liberals lose, or the bill is rejected, we go back to the polls again, and nobody wants that right now because elections are very expensive, and holding one just months after the previous acomplishes nothing.

The easiest solution to this problem, if you can vote, get out there and vote for the Liberal party next election so that they can secure a majority government(half or more of the seats) and pass any bill that they desire without the need to compromise with other parties.

As far as making Marijuana legal in Canda, I doubt this will happen for quite a long time. The bill which the Liberals are proposing will decriminalize the possesion of a personal amount of Marijuana(15 grams or less). If caught with this amount, you will no longer recieve a court date and possible criminal record, but instead a small fine of a few hundred dollars, depending on your age.

The reason for this reformed law is simple, the Liberals believe that young people who experiment with Marijuana and casual pot smokers should should not be penalized as harshly as they are, as well as the fact that the amount of pot smokers being tried in court is backing up our court systems and costing quite a bit of money.

However, the new bill will create stricter penalties for trafficking/growing Marijuana, in hopes that Marijuana will become more difficult to obtain. Again, penalties vary depending on how many plants are found, and/or the amount of Marijuana found on the person(must be in possesion of 15 grams or more to be suspected of trafficking).

I also believe that the new bill will make possesion of 1 gram of resin or hash result in a fine of $500, although I'm not exactly sure.

If you are striving for legalization of Marijuana, your best bet would be to vote for the Marijuana party of Canada, but don't expect any results, as they have yet to win a single seat.

djelimon

Not neccessarily. The NDP official position on the MJ issue is full legalization. The NDP + the liberals make up just under 50%. The BQ tend to favour decrim as well. There's the majority to pass the bill.

IIRC the BC marijuana party's members are now joining the NDP where the NDP is strong.

 

djelimon

Also,

With the NDP advocating legalization, you might expect them to demand compromise in that direction for them to vote it in, ie weakening of penalties, etc.

Qwiz

Hello fellow Canadians,

I’ve been following this challenge for some time now and would like to make you aware of it. More Canadians are finding out that there are no pot laws in our country. I know you may find it hard to believe but these challenges have been used successfully over the past year. The Toronto Trio were given an order to get their grow equipment back and a gentleman was just let out of jail using this defense.

The forms are free and have all that you need to defend yourself. You don’t even need to say a word in court, as the forms are complete and self explanatory. When you represent yourself the Judge must by law represent you against the prosecutor. There is a publication ban on this information so I would like to bring it to your attention. This can be used by anyone in jail for possession or for growing ‘cause in short marihuana has been eliminated from schedule II of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. (CDSA)

The government is worried that this info will get out and the jailhouse gates will swing open wide.

Know someone who was busted in the last two years? Show them this. You don’t need to take my word for it but you do need to be aware of all the facts. Check it out for yourself!
Get out of jail FREE
Qwiz

Dazed.Confused

actually, i think there are laws, or else we would know about it, but it is the fact that there is a loophole on how people were prosecuted, im not exatally sure, but that is what i gathered from reading about 1 minute.

Qwiz

Perhaps you’ll remember when the Government was given one year to write new legislation. The year passed and there was no new legislation which brought us the summer of legalization. Courts can only strike down bad laws they have no power to make laws, only Parliament can do that. The case you think resurrected the law was only an opinion and the order was never signed. I find this information very interesting.

I tried to keep it short for you, let’s hope you get to this point in the post, in under a minute.
Qwiz

Larmer

Bah, I hate bad information...

It still is illegal in Canada, that's a confirmed fact. The decision you're referring to is fairly old, there's already beem a SC decision that has legalized medical marijuana, but clearly stated that recreational use is off limits. Basically it went to the Oakes test, and it was determined that pot has detrimental effects to pregnant women and schizophrenics, thus allowing the government to prohibt it's use, in the interests of good governance.

Take a look yourself...

You're forgetting judicial review.

The SC has repeatedly "read in" changes to existing law, rather than stiking down the law completely. The court basically has three options: 1) strike down the law, 2)read in to bring the law in line with the Charter 3) Make and exception in extenuating circumstances. We've taken JR quite a bit further than in the states, separation of powers is more strict there than here...

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