Grow ops reaching epidemic

CP24's website posted this amusing article a while back that I have been meaning to address. Apparently Canada has earned the title of "source country" for marijuana. Well duh, no kidding. OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino buys into the US's fanatical approach to drugs stating that "It's a black eye on Canada when you have the United States... refer to us as a source country of marijuana." Well, in response to Commissioner Fantino I say, its a black eye on this country when you have the cops arresting people for using a drug which has less negative long term effects than a diet high in fat.

Fantino is apparently most alarmed at the continued increase of organized crime involved in marijuana production and distribution. "Organized crime will use whoever and will do whatever (to) achieve their goals and objectives, which is to make these obscene profits illegally." Finally this cop says something I can agree with. Organized crime is a bad thing, that gangs continue to profit from marijuana is a bad thing, that violence is used to protect their profits is a bad thing. What I disagree with is Fantino's solution. Fantino want's tougher drug laws in Canada, and he has a hard on for US style war on drugs despite knowing that the war cannot be won.

So who the hell wants to fight a war that cannot be won? Why would Fantino buy into this madness. Why won't he bother to examine the facts. Sure marijuana trade can be one wrought with violence and criminal activity, you know how to solve this, change the law and legalize it.

I know, I know, I have said this a thousand times on this blog but its simple. To take the power out of the hands of organized crime you MUST put them in the hands of someone else. Marijuana use is not going away plain and simple, its not particularly dangerous, so why not just call a cease fire on the users and make it legal and make a regulated distribution system to take the power from the hands of the gangs and put it into the hands of ordinarily law abiding, tax paying citizens? What is the use in persecuting so many people for using a drug that the vast majority of us have at least tried.

Are the gangs going to vanish? No of course not, they will shift to other drugs, but at least cops can focus on what's important and arrest the right people. History has proven again and again that prohibition simply does not work.

The Economics of Legal Marijuana

The Economics of Legal Marijuana

This is an excellent article on how taxing and regulating marijuana would do wonders to stop the violence in Mexico. bring a seriously needed cash infusion into government coffers., and LOWER the cost of marijuana.

The article quotes from a Fraser Institute study saying:

The study estimates that the average price of 0.5 grams (a unit) of marijuana was $8.60 on the street, while its cost of production was only $1.70. In a free market, a $6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana would not last for long. Entrepreneurs noticing the great profits to be made in the marijuana market would start their own growing operations, increasing the supply of marijuana on the street, which would cause the street price of the drug to fall to a level much closer to the cost of production. Of course, this doesn't happen because the product is illegal; the prospect of jail time deters many entrepreneurs and the occasional drug bust ensures that the supply stays relatively low. We can consider much of this $6.90 per unit of marijuana profit a risk premium for participating in the underground economy. Unfortunately, this risk premium is making a lot of criminals, many of them with ties to organized crime, very wealthy.

“If we substitute a tax on marijuana cigarettes equal to the difference between the local production cost and the street price people currently pay--that is, transfer the revenue from the current producers and marketers (many of whom work with organized crime) to the government, leaving all other marketing and transportation issues aside we would have revenue of (say) $7 per [unit]. If you could collect on every cigarette and ignore the transportation, marketing, and advertising costs, this comes to over $2 billion on Canadian sales and substantially more from an export tax, and you forego the costs of enforcement and deploy your policing assets elsewhere.”

Its a very interesting article with some very interesting points. None that haven't been brought up time and time again on this blog and by many other pro marijuana supporters.

Legalized Marijuana? We May Already Be on the Way - ABC News

Legalized Marijuana? We May Already Be on the Way - ABC News

ABC is reporting that Obama appears to be headed towards legalization of marijuana. While I wish it were true, because any step in this direction will free up Canada to do the same (once we oust W. Bush Jr aka Harper from his throne), I highly doubt it.

Sure Obama is refusing to attack people who are using it medically, but come on, is refusing to prosecute sick people for using medicine that has been proven effective really the same thing as legalizing the medicine for anyone to use. The whole thing is a farce. Obama has no interest in legalizing marijuana, and is just as anti-drug crazy as any other american politician.

The Associated Press: Mexican Congress debates legalizing marijuana

The Associated Press: Mexican Congress debates legalizing marijuana

Once again a discussion on legalizing marijuana, this time out of Mexico, and like so many others before it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell. That being said discussion on the merits is ALWAYS good. The more people discuss legalization, the more people will realize that legalization won't bring more violence, but rather help curb it.

From the above article I notice that they are only talking about decriminalization really, not true legalization, and that is the problem. Decriminalization will do nothing to stop the violence, only legalization and regulation will do that. Decriminalization will keep the supply in the hands of the cartels, where legalization would put the supply in the hands of the people. Gangs wouldn't disappear, but they'd fade and be forced to find other businesses, perhaps ones that are easier to track.

Mexico should learn from history, and the examples set by the USA, they shouldn't worry that relations will be strained with the US, that would be a short term fall out. Eventually, as the Mexicans could focus on illegal distribution across the boarder exporting of marijuana from Mexico to the States would die down, and in the long run this would be good for both countries. Plus the tourism in Mexico would skyrocket as American's and Canadian's flocked down to Mexico to be able to legally spark up in public without fear of reprisal.

California to legalize marijuana?

I doubt it will pass, but California is trying to pass a bill which would legalize marijuana in that state. The idea behind the bill is that the legalization and taxation of marijuana will ease the deficit the state is currently facing. I have posted links to articles on this to the blog already, but I though I would weigh in and give my comments.

Naturally I am all for this bill, no one should be surprised by this fact, if you are then ummm did you check out the title of the blog. Unfortunately I highly doubt it will pass. The logic behind the bill is sound, millions of dollars are wasted on enforcement of the outdated prohibition laws, and millions more could be added to the coffers in taxes. Basically it could seriously turn around the economic condition of any state that legalizes marijuana.

So if the logic is sound, and the bill really will help California, why do I think it will fail? People are ignorant, they believe the lies told by generations that pot is bad. Time and time again I read articles from California that cite Schizophrenia studies and other supposed mental issues "linked" to marijuana use, and "gateway drug" is also being bandied about as if it had merit.

The world would be a much better place if people actually bothered to research what they state before bellowing the evils they see.

Legalizing All Drugs

Ok, everyone who reads this knows that I am all for the legalization of marijuana, but of late there has been a lot of talk in the press about legalizing all drugs. This is certainly an extreme view amongst legalization circles, and on this one I am not entirely decided. I mean on one hand, its not really my business what someone else injects into their body, if they want to kill themselves slowly or quickly that's their business, on the other hand many drugs are highly addictive and once a person starts its hard to stop, although I reject the notion that after one taste you can be hopelessly addicted to ANY substance for life, I don't care how addictive it is using anything once does not make you an adict.

The money that would be saved in enforcement would be beyond measure really, not to mention the income from taxation, but how much of that would just be redirected to health care due to deteriorating health. There is a simple solution to that and say you can't get treated under governemnt health plans for ailments resulting from dangerous behaviours, it has to come out of your own poket. This is something I am actually rather a proponent of, ie if you are an alchoholic and your liver has issues, you have to pay for the treatment, if you are a smoker and get lung cancer you have to pay for the treatment, if you are a meth adict you have to pay for the treatment to get you out. However accidents and general illnesses of course would be covered. Of course the problem with this line of thought is where do you draw the line? Is a skydiver elegiable for coverage if his shute malfunctions? Skydiving is a dangerous activity.

In my mind marijuana obviously should be legalized, the proven negative effects are so incredibly small as to not even count. There is no logical reason to keep marijuana illegal. Other drugs, I still am unsure about. Though, as with marijuana, regulation is always the better option to prohibition.

Mary Jane & Me

Since this blog has begun I have waxed philosophical about the wonders of marijuana, my personal opinions are well known on this blog and to most people who know me. Heck even my boss at my "day job" is well aware of my love of Mary Jane, but what is known to only a few is that this is not something I have believed my entire life. There was a time where I believed much of the government propaganda. I honestly believed, due to what I had been told by "authority figures" and my own observation of one pot user, that marijuana rotted the brain and caused laziness in users. I was a fervent supporter of marijuana prohibition.

Hard to believe that yours truly would be batting for the other team isn't it. Alas it was true, and I can only claim ignorance of the facts as to why I would believe the fairy tales of the government. By those who discover my deep dark secret I am always asked what was the point that I switched views. There was not magical turning point really, but rather a gradual change in my thought process.

When I was younger and still in highschool I watched as my brother wasted more and more money on hash oil. I truly believed that he was headed down a dead end road. To me it seemed he was always looking for how to get his next hit and didn't seem to be doing anything else. He seemed a true pothead. Of course looking back, his grades were good, and he had an active social life, more so then me to be honest. Then came grade twelve history in which a fellow classmate and I had an ongoing debate on marijuana, one which actually dwarfed what I learned in the actual class. He started listing all the environmental benifits of Hemp, demonstrating its usefulness, I retorted that marijuana was bad for you, and he responded that marijuana and Hemp were not the same thing, that industrial Hemp would never be smoked due to the extremely low amount of THC. That was the first cautious step towards believing that marijuana was not an evil weed after all.

From there it grew, the more I learned about the plant, the less I trusted the government propaganda. I have learned much about the plant and would love the chance to meet up with my ganga mentor from highschool and discuss the weed again, since that time I have learned that some of his own claims are myths spread to idolize marijuana, but most I believe, and now am a full on supporter.

So now I ask you my faithful readers (if there are any actually out there ;)) tell me when you first began to believe in the cause.

An Expert Speaks Out On Legalization of Marijuana

Medicinal vs. Decriminalization vs. Legalization

The fight to stop the war on drugs on both sides of the boarder have always been divided on the end goal of the movement. Some say legalizing medicinal marijuana is the holy grail, this is where it should end, others say decriminalizing marijuana, and still others say full legalization is the only viable option. So why the divide? In any highly charged political issue there is always a divide amongst supporters, think back to the same sex marriage debate, some claimed that a civil union would have solved the issue and made everyone happy, while others said a civil union was a step back not forward, in the end logic won out and same sex marriages are legal. Back to marijuana the three sides of the marijuana debate all have points, but which is the ideal solution.

Medicinal Marijuana Only:

Those who support medicinal marijuana only agree that marijuana should be a controlled substance, but feel that it should be a prescription drug. These people are usually highly informed on the medicinal aspects of marijuana, but sketchy on anything else. They are usually directly affected by the ban on marijuana in that they have a disease which marijuana can help with, or they know someone personally who could be helped.

The goal of these activists is to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes only, they do not want to see it legal for anyone on the street to possess or grow marijuana, they generally would like to see penalties stay the same for non medical users of marijuana.

The problem I have with this camp is that although their cause is just and there should be no reason why they can’t use a medicine that so many doctors know is beneficial, it still turns millions of citizens into criminals for using a recreational drug that time and time again has been demonstrated to be less dangerous then tobacco, alcohol, or even coffee.

Decriminalization:

Decriminalization activists want to make marijuana use not a criminal matter meaning that those caught with weed would be given a fine and sent on their way. This is certainly somewhat of a step in the right direction, however it is also a step back.

Decriminalization does not address the criminal element involved in the drug trade, the black market will not only continue to thrive, but it will grow, and criminals who prey upon the helpless will grow bolder and stronger. With decriminalization I see an increase in marijuana related crimes, an increase in government spending in order to combat drug related crimes, and backlog of court cases of weed warriors fighting the fines due to the fact that any decriminalization bill is not likely to have any real teeth.

Legalization:

In my mind legalization is the only logical move. Along with legalization would come taxation and regulation. The black market for marijuana would be all but eliminated, depending on the regulations involved. Government spending used to enforce the drug war could be spent elsewhere, like perhaps the dangerously failing healthcare system, or the education system. Add to that the taxes that could be collected, I am not just talking the standard PST and GST taxes, add a sin tax to it, carefully balancing price vs the desire to grow outside the system and thus avoid the taxes, but even if only 25% of users buy marijuana and the other 74% grow their own or buy it under the table from friends, that still leaves a good chunk of change that can be collected in taxes. I think that with careful management a good 75% of users would probably buy as opposed to grow, initially there might be more who grew, but as long as the for sale stuff is sold fresh and is of good quality I think the majority of people would pay for weed rather then grow it themselves.

Nay sayers would claim that with legalization would come an increased addiction problem, and increased teenage abuse. The truth is that this is unsubstantiated fear mongering. The data points to the exact opposite. With proper regulation and education programs teen use will likely drop like a stone, and as for addiction, sure some might get addicted, but there is no evidence to suggest it will be any higher then it is right now, in fact evidence from the Netherlands experiment into legalization demonstrates that usage amongst their citizens is actually declining.

Opposition will next clamor that it will lead to an unproductive work force and more accidents on the roads due to impairment of drivers. Well both these issues are easy to fix, if an employee is stoned at work and has no medicinal reason for being so can him. If a driver drives under the influence of marijuana throw him in jail for impaired driving. No one is petitioning for carte blanche to smoke up whenever the whim hits, but rather that prohibiting a relatively safe drug is silly.