Illegalize It?

I thought that I would be happy when Canada’s cannabis laws were changed, making both medical and recreational marijuana legal in our country, but I have a few reservations. I have been a decriminalization advocate for over four decades and have been a medical supporter for almost as long, but I believe the new laws are not only an understandable money grab but also an example of over legislation and micromanagement.

With the new legislation there are now over 40 different ways to break Canada’s cannabis laws, which can result in being fined or jailed, compared to eight ways to be fined or jailed when marijuana was illegal. The laws seem to be confusing to the police, who are in a legal, jurisdictional and funding haze, and to the recreational user, who will just be in a smoky haze. I am sure that the legal challenges will happen meaning the lawyers will also get their share of the “pot,” and I am sure that our wise lawmakers will soon realize how silly many of the new ways to break the law are. Canada will learn along with the rest of the world, which is also experiencing the acceptance of medical and recreational benefits of cannabis. As the rest of the world is changing along with Canada, there seems to be three basic attitudes towards marijuana — legal, decriminalized and, of course, illegal. There is another sub-attitude that cannabis is illegal, but not enforced in about 20 per cent of the world, including the Netherlands, which has recently legalized medicinal use. Recreational use is illegal but there are many coffee shops where the use and sale are accepted. These shops all pay their taxes and that makes it easy for “enforcement.” In other words, pay your taxes, the law will look the other way, and all is well.

There are some countries that have tried to make their marijuana laws as confusing as Canada’s, such as Germany where it is legal for medicinal cannabis but illegal for recreational marijuana. That may not sound strange but possession of pot is illegal but consumption of cannabis for recreation is not. Talk about a smokers haze! Cannabis is legal in Spain but do not get caught smoking it in public or you will be fined 300 euros. If you want to grow pot in Spain, you must join one of the over 800 grow clubs (which are of course licen$ed). There are many countries where marijuana is illegal except for religious reasons, including Jamaica where recreational cannabis is decriminalized but is totally legal for Rastafarians…yah mon erting be awrie. Recreational use of marijuana is gaining acceptance and I am encouraged by the great changes regards medical marijuana. The legalization of medical marijuana in Canada actually occurred in 2012. Since then, the perception of cannabis as a medicine has changed from one of shamanism and folklore to one of medical and pharmaceutical acceptance. The governments (all three levels) have greedily changed their attitudes to cannabis as the medical marijuana dispensaries have paid their “high” taxes, licence fees, and any number of other “administration costs” they can invent. There are paybacks to those taxes and fees and that is not only the acceptance of a “new” medicine, but the new funding for research. Researchers seem to be constantly surprised by their discoveries and are finding more benefits from this natural herb. We must not forget what the additional taxes will mean for other expenditures such as infrastructure and education, and I hope we all gain from these new laws. The new laws will generate “high” taxes which will go in to the government’s “pot,” and I am sure the sticky laws will “weed” themselves out. I am confident our hopes will not go up in smoke.