Canada has been moving much faster than the United States in making the drug legal and has had more efforts to do so. However there is much to go before Cannabis becomes legal, because we all know that it will eventually (come on, even the Tory leader is for decriminalizing the drug).
Decriminalizing is not the same thing as legalizing though. One simply means that you cannot be arrested and that no criminal record will remain; yet you will surely be either warned or fined for the offence, while the other makes it completely legal.
Cauchon will wait for parliamentary committees before he makes up his mind about decimalization.
Cannabis possession charges number 30,000 in the year 2000. The System is flawed and inconsistent across the country, which varies between police working night and day against the drug to letting someone smoke a joint right in front of them without wincing.
Cannabis is a relatively inoffensive drug as it is not physically addicting and people tend to give it up afterwards. The argument of the police and those against decriminalization is that it is a stepping-stone to Heroine and Cocaine. However, a Senate committee found no such evidence.
Recently, in the past few years, after a court ruling, medicinal marijuana became legal and soon afterwards Canada became the first nation to regulate the medicinal use of marijuana.
The issue is a long one, historically, as most people in power have a desire to legalize the drug yet it is so controversial that no one desires to be the ones to do it. The NDP has long been a supporter of legalization or at least decriminalization. The Progressive Conservatives, as well as the Bloc Quebecois are also in favour of decriminalization as they believe that a kid who gets caught smoking pot shouldn't live with it the rest of his life, in the form of a criminal record.
Parties were even formed to legalize the drug such as the Bloc Pot in Québec and nationally as the Marijuana Party.
I personally have never tried the stuff for anti-conformist reasons as many of my friends are potheads. I am however in favour of legalization as it is a total waste of resources to control it (and its failing, especially in British Columbia), it should be government regulated (to make it safer) and the use of hemp could hold economic advantages such as in the textile industry (note: it is also more environmentally friendly as it requires less pesticides than cotton) and in tourism.
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