Canada Second Nation to Decriminalize Marijuana After Uruguay

[dynamo]

Posted on June 23, 2018
Natural Health News

By Brandon Turbeville, Natural Blaze

Canada is now tiptoeing into the 21st century with the recent passage of a marijuana legalization bill. The new legislation, known as the Cannabis Act (C-45), has now made Canada the second nation to legalize recreational marijuana in the world after Uruguay.
The Cannabis Act passed in the Canadian Senate 52 to 29.

But while many are hailing the new law, it must be kept in mind that there is a vast difference between legalization and decriminalization, the latter being the most desirable since the former often involves strict controls. While decriminalization means that no laws will be passed to restrict the possession, production, or consumption of the plant, legalization works on the premise that the individual has not the right to consume what they choose but that the government is responsible for designating that consumption as a privilege.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter to emphasize that difference when he said, “It’s been too easy for our kids to get marijuana – and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that. Our plant to legalize and regulate marijuana just passed the Senate.”

Still, the move is undeniably a major step in the right direction.
Once the legislation goes into effect, Canadian adults over 18 years of age will no longer be arrested and thrown into cages for possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana in public.
However, marijuana purchases must be made through government-approved vendors that themselves will be regulated by the Federal government and the states and provinces.
New laws are being updated to determine how to adjust the definition and penalties for “driving while impaired” and Canadians must be careful to get the law right before they end up being forced to give blood at checkpoints or be charged with impaired driving over weed they smoked weeks prior.

Regardless, Canada’s new approach to marijuana is a giant step forward by ending nearly a century of strict prohibition and being the first G7 country to officially legalize the plant. Although not the ideal law, it is highly encouraging that the world is finally realizing, even if their governments do not, that the global “war on drugs” is nothing more than a war on freedom” and a “war on individual rights.”
Canadians should be very proud of that.

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Brandon Turbeville – article archive here – is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies,Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria,and The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President.


Turbeville has published over 1,000 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties.

Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

[GaelVictor]

"The Cannabis Act, has now made Canada the second nation to legalize recreational marijuana in the world after Uruguay."

Recreational use of marijuana has historically been legal in the Netherlands and is legal to this day

It's also legal in the Czech republic, Equador and Mexico, while Colombia and Portugal have decriminalized marijuana.

[Richard S.]

What we needed was decriminalization, not legalese...

This is the way they grab hold of it, now they can regulate all they want, pass laws to further entrench the substance.
More so, nothing about Hemp, which is THE plant to help us.
Provinces have their own agendas, working with the Canadian law. In Quebec, we won't be able to grow it, you can only get it form a government house that will be opened for their profits.
Amendments proposed by the senate, to make the entrepreneurs of this new industry transparent and expose fiscal paradises were removed.

They have done a good job fooling the public!

[MrBlack420]

I actually admire Canada polices and I agree with https://cannasos.com/news/hot-news/w...nadas-policies that we have a lot of to learn from them.

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by GaelVictor (here)
"The Cannabis Act, has now made Canada the second nation to legalize recreational marijuana in the world after Uruguay."

Recreational use of marijuana has historically been legal in the Netherlands and is legal to this day

It's also legal in the Czech republic, Equador and Mexico, while Colombia and Portugal have decriminalized marijuana.

It is not legal in the Netherlands - it remains illegal actually, It is decriminalized in designated area for personal use only. The other countries have "decriminalized it" not, "legalized it" - big differences actually. We see some states in the US that have legalized it, but the country has not and it still remains in the same classification as heroin by the US federal government.

Legalization creates an entire nationwide government structure that sets up supply chains, regulations around consumption, retail outlets, and of course taxation. Legalization by a "country" has to be a federal dictated law, not a province or state level law. In Mexico, for example, the federal law level just changed it so that people with less than five grams get sent to rehab instead of jail - as a measure to keep the jails for real criminals - this is hardly legalization, and only a gesture toward decriminalization. In the Vancouver area of BC, cops have been ignoring most people small cannabis crimes for at least a decade now - one might have called that "decriminalization" - but just because the police wouldn't arrest you for it, doesn't mean the law still didn't say it was illegal.

In Canada (possibly province dependent), you'll go to any beer store across the entire country and pick up a 1/4 oz of you favourite bud. If you want to open a "marijuana" store to sell all the awesome bud you grew, you can get licenses to do that legally.

So technically, yes, Canada is the second country to have legalized marijuana, respecting the distinction between decriminalization, or reduced sentencing for personal use.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by Lovespot (here)
What we needed was decriminalization, not legalese...

This is the way they grab hold of it, now they can regulate all they want, pass laws to further entrench the substance.
More so, nothing about Hemp, which is THE plant to help us.
Provinces have their own agendas, working with the Canadian law. In Quebec, we won't be able to grow it, you can only get it form a government house that will be opened for their profits.
Amendments proposed by the senate, to make the entrepreneurs of this new industry transparent and expose fiscal paradises were removed.

They have done a good job fooling the public!

Remind me not to move to Quebec. I think Ontario and BC are trying for "full monopoly" as well. It doesn't mean that one can't create a hemp fibre plant there - you can, but you'll have to sell your product to the "board" only. Like how Canada does wheat, for example. (which while provides some protection, dampens capitalism).

[Ernie Nemeth]

Full monopoly will only secure the loyal base of customers that have and will continue to support the underground culture.

What will happen, however, is that the provinces (equivalent to states) will proceed to increase their pressure on the black market. With pot legalized the stigma of being an illegal grower will create an atmosphere of paranoia. Like with many of these moves, any instituted set of laws designed to regulate a segment of the market, there will come a grace period where not much active sting operations will occur, perhaps ten years or so. Then with the public mind set altered and grown accustomed to the new system, the policing, prosecution, and fining of illegal grow ops will scale up.

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
Full monopoly will only secure the loyal base of customers that have and will continue to support the underground culture.

What will happen, however, is that the provinces (equivalent to states) will proceed to increase their pressure on the black market. With pot legalized the stigma of being an illegal grower will create an atmosphere of paranoia. Like with many of these moves, any instituted set of laws designed to regulate a segment of the market, there will come a grace period where not much active sting operations will occur, perhaps ten years or so. Then with the public mind set altered and grown accustomed to the new system, the policing, prosecution, and fining of illegal grow ops will scale up.

It's all about price. I read somewhere that " ... it is expected that Canadians will pay a premium for "legal" pot ..." <-- I don't know who is "expecting" this to be true, but the facts are this ... In areas where pot is easy to get (like all of Canada), people who want to use it do, and those who don't, won't. Legality makes almost no difference. Colorado has seen this exactly be true.

So this means that the people who already use, already have an "illegal" channel to obtain their stuff - the "law' doesn't bother them or stop them.

Now they are presented with a "legal" channel. These people had no issues obtaining it when it was illegal, and now the can also get it legally, perhaps slightly more conveniently - I'll admit that may be a small advantage for some. But at the end of the day, using myself as an example, if I can't get it cheaper legally, what is my motivation to stop getting from my current channel? Because its illegal? Didn't bother me before ... so why should it bother me now?

So if people can get it cheaper through their illegal channels, they will continue to. Period.

As far as fighting the black market goes, I foresee police cutting their costs to not really go after these "crimes". Vancouver police already have been in most cases ignoring all small pot related offences for many, many years (still illegal), to cut costs and address proper priorities. I think other police districts will want to do the same, so they can be more effective at fighting real crime.

The federal government is thinking the cap for growing at home should be four plants. More than enough to supply an entire family, if you grow them right. I do see your case where provinces that are gunning for full monopoly (BC, Ontario), but again, if there's no motivation to buy it through legal channels, the underground will thrive, and at the end of the day, I only see less money being spent around "enforcement" than current. Not more.

So I am slightly disagreeing with your 10 year outlook. If legal wants to "win", they need to provide the motivation to shift the buyers, else the underground will continue to thrive as it does now.


The real scary part I see coming is Monsanto / Bayer getting ready to position themselves to own the entire NA markets. That is a major concern.

https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/mon...-of-marijuana/

[Spellbound]

No one is going to pay a premium for pot in Canada who can get it elsewhere (from their regular dealer) for a lot less. The thought that legalizing weed will stamp out the black market is a myth. Black market weed will keep the gov't honest in terms of price (not the same concept as alcohol, which the gov't taxes to high heaven....cuz people can grow weed a lot easier). I can pick up an ounce of top shelf hydroponic herb for $150 Cdn.....it's going be interesting to see what the gov't charges come Oct 17th.

Dave - Toronto

[Joe from the Carolinas]

Legalized huh? Does that mean the gov gets to approve GMO cannabis to the public?

[Richard S.]

Posted by Joe from the Carolinas (here)
Legalized huh? Does that mean the gov gets to approve GMO cannabis to the public?

DeDukshyn's last point, and my thoughts exactly.

I see 2 major things here:

1- We are going to lose Heirloom cannabis (mind you, I am not sure if it's still possible to get that).
2- The way the government has it set up, they will not hinder the black market. Their pricing is really out of it. ( I usually get it under $100.00/oz, the want to sell it at $280.00)

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by Joe from the Carolinas (here)
Legalized huh? Does that mean the gov gets to approve GMO cannabis to the public?

You may have missed my concern and link on this just abovehere again) https://worldnewsdailyreport.com/mon...-of-marijuana/

This is what I find concerning ... Monsanto poising themselves to introduce their GMO weed into the NA market. However, many people who use also don't want their stuff contaminated. Good growers always aim for a very clean product - and users always seek it out and consider it the best. The majority of Canadians would vote for GMO labeling so they can avoid it -- if we can get the government to allow this, I think this would alleviate the concern. Canadians generally don't want GMOs - like propbably most people. The problem is that government won't enforce labeling -- not necessarily the GMOs themselves. If the government approves it, we'll need it labeled as such - from there it might be self regulating.

Another concern I have is synthetic THC ... this stuff is horrific and should never be consumed (horrible side effects), but I bet it'll wind up in edibles as it is generally cheaper to manufacture. I hope it gets banned actually.

[Omni]

I am distraught that GMO cannabis is coming. They are taking a divine gene and warping and tainting it for profit. I would not be surprised if the GMO cannabis loses it's miraculous healing ability with Monsanto making the strain. I want to get the strain name of the Monsanto cannabis, that would be good information. That way I can tell dispensaries to avoid it, maybe make a flyer or PDF to send to dispensary owners. I bet there will be some shifty deceptive mechanism for the name, maybe they will change it once people figure out the name. I certainly want nothing to do with Monsanto cannabis. The thought is horrifying, it is basically what the propaganda says about "marijuana", Satan's seed at that point.

What do you bet the conscious effect is not the same, not as pure. As for legal cannabis that is a good step in the right direction, however it is bittersweet if Monsanto is cornering the market.

[Ernie Nemeth]

These are fascist ideologies at work here. The idea is to "bind the sticks". Pot is a huge money maker; there is a very large demand for marijuana. It must be brought under the umbrella of control and regulation. The sanctioning method is too costly and drives the whole industry further underground. Its legalization will allow the police to target illegal growers because the industry will be interconnected and visible. The cost will go up as soon as they have a grip on the market. First will come intelligence gathering, some of that will be in nefarious ways. Then a data base will be compiled. From there it will be easy to target specific individuals and bring them to "justice". And the public will agree with the government because why do illegally what can be done by the books, greedy so-and-so. This method has been employed countless times in our society.

[Spellbound]

I will add to this discussion that I was perfectly fine with pot not being legal. For the last 20 years or so, pot wasn't really on the police's radar. They didn't really pay attention to it or consider it a huge crime. I probably shouldn't admit this, but I actually went through a ride program while smoking a joint once 15 years ago (stopped by the police at a random roadside checkpoint where they check for people who have been drinking)....and after I explained that I hadn't been drinking (I quit drinking 29 years ago....not a drop)....the cop leaned in and could smell my weed so he asked if I had been smoking anything....to which I was honest and said yes. He asked if he would find anything if he searched my car and I told him he'd find the other half of that joint I was smoking in the ashtray. He ran my license (came back clean)....gave me my license and registration back and said to me...good job on the alcohol, but you may want to work on the weed....have a nice night. He let me go with no fine or ticket or anything. Cops didn't care much about weed in the last 20 years or so...because they know it's not that big of an issue. But now with the feds legalizing it, it's bringing sooooo much attention to it, thus making it much more of an issue than it should be. I don't puff/vape and drive anymore. However, I was perfectly fine with pot being under the radar.

Anyways, I just wanted to show this from a different perspective.

Dave - Toronto

[noxon medem]

- Congratulatons to Canada !
You are now another civilized nation for legalizing the nature.
Uruguay also is here, and Portugal, Netherland and some other
european (and world) countries, and some clever US states giving
some way to accept it ...
So much of the globe is lagging behind on this .
- Come on !
:- )

[Richard S.]

Posted by spellbound (here)
i will add to this discussion that i was perfectly fine with pot not being legal. For the last 20 years or so, pot wasn't really on the police's radar. They didn't really pay attention to it or consider it a huge crime. I probably shouldn't admit this, but i actually went through a ride program while smoking a joint once 15 years ago (stopped by the police at a random roadside checkpoint where they check for people who have been drinking)....and after i explained that i hadn't been drinking (i quit drinking 29 years ago....not a drop)....the cop leaned in and could smell my weed so he asked if i had been smoking anything....to which i was honest and said yes. He asked if he would find anything if he searched my car and i told him he'd find the other half of that joint i was smoking in the ashtray. He ran my license (came back clean)....gave me my license and registration back and said to me...good job on the alcohol, but you may want to work on the weed....have a nice night. He let me go with no fine or ticket or anything. Cops didn't care much about weed in the last 20 years or so...because they know it's not that big of an issue. But now with the feds legalizing it, it's bringing sooooo much attention to it, thus making it much more of an issue than it should be. I don't puff/vape and drive anymore. However, i was perfectly fine with pot being under the radar.

Anyways, i just wanted to show this from a different perspective.

Dave - toronto

and that is exactly the point to the whole thing!