British Columbian cannabis has never been legal, and in all other provinces, police have acted swiftly and aggressively to enforce a criminal code that runs counter to human rights or public health and safety.
Choose your end; prohibition isn’t the means.
In 2015, the Liberals finally recognized this. For decades the political willpower just hadn’t been there. But now it was, and the Liberals used it as a wedge to get Stephen Harper on the defensive and lose the election.
Legalization is simple. Remove cannabis from the criminal code and pawn it off to the provinces, who may decide to cooperate on the issue or go it alone.
Is legalization a mental health issue requiring much state intervention? Or are free, robust farmers markets the way to go? One where the business community offers regulatory and accreditation services instead of having citizens rely on salaried bureaucracy incapable of bankruptcy.
The non-violent “criminal” element of BC Bud harms no one. There is no such thing as getting organized crime out of the trade.
In BC, police have focused on more important crimes. No harm, no foul. Live and let live. This is common sense and a basic precept for a free society.
Under Trudeau, we are threatened by a policy the Harper government may have written. It even has Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose’s support.
Legalize cannabis, but restrict and regulate it. Treat it like a scourge, for the children.
Justin Trudeau is part of the Laurentian elite. His approval of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge’s Line 3 reveal his true colours.
If the goal was to treat cannabis like alcohol and tobacco, then the Liberals couldn’t mention the plant’s medicinal, therapeutic and industrial uses.
The Liberals have no interest in “restoring the middle class” by cutting their taxes. They don’t plan to fight climate change by liberalizing the plant capable of revitalizing industry while reversing environmental degradation.
Neglecting BC Bud is strike number one.
Strike number two, the pipelines.
If Liberal voters thought cannabis criminals would be a thing of the past, those who believed only Harper would ram through oil pipelines don’t understand how the political system works.
What will be strike three? With Christy Clark the Liberal Party shill she is, we arrive at a possible remedy in time for the 2017 provincial election: secession.
A large, vocal Quebec minority have been threatening separation from Canada for decades. In return, at the bargaining table, Quebec has the advantage. The federal government will bend over backward to keep Confederation together.
With a free hemp market more likely to curb greenhouse gasses than federal taxes, regulations, and oil production, perhaps it’s time for British Columbians to ask themselves whether we really need Ottawa.
Of course, we’ll always have friendly relations with the Canadians, but if being Canadian means having a government that acts counter to the common goals of peace, prosperity, and sustainability, then what other choice do we have?
John Locke believed a “right to revolution,” I’m merely proposing a more local means of control.
Following the lead of the Quebecois may be worth pursuing.