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Canada - When Tories Inhale

S.J.B.

S.J.B.

Bluelight Crew
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Jan 22, 2011
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When Tories Inhale
Jonathan Kay
The Walrus
October 15th, 2015

THE MEDIA usually is always quick to jump hard on any politician who says something ignorant or conspiratorial about vaccines, fluoride, or other public-health issues. And so I remain confused as to why Stephen Harper has not been forced to walk back his bizarre claim that marijuana is “infinitely worse” than tobacco. Lest you think I am mangling his words or taking our prime minister out of context, here is the full quote: “Tobacco is a product that does a lot of damage. Marijuana is infinitely worse and it’s something that we do not want to encourage.”

Given that tobacco kills approximately 37,000 Canadians every year while marijuana kills about zero, Harper’s statement would be defensible only if it were inverted. Our PM’s suggestion that the quotient of zero divided by 37,000 is “infinite,” is not just wrong by a geometric factor of mere infinity—but rather the Buzz-Lightyearian geometric factor of infinity squared.

The clear corollary of Harper’s comment is that tobacco is totally harmless. (If the risk of tobacco weren’t zero, then how could any other risk be “infinitely” greater?) Effectively, the Conservatives are telling the country’s nicotine addicts: “Smoke ’em if you got ’em.”

This week, the Tory reefer weirdness continued when Canadians learned that Harper has been targeting ethnic voters with ads in Chinese and Punjabi newspapers suggesting that a Trudeau-run country would be an anything-goes dystopia of brothels and drug-addicted children. According to a National Post analysis, some of the claims seem to be flat-out dishonest. But it’s the fear mongering tone, more than the actual facts, that is the key to any social-panic-driven negative ad campaign. Although I don’t speak either language of the ads, I strongly suspect the writers did their best to channel the tone of Harry J. Anslinger, perhaps warning about pot’s role as a gateway drug to jazz music and Mexican food.
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That shit backfired on him though. I know pot heads who hadn't voted in 25 years who showed up to polls monday. The worse than cigs thing got reposted everywhere. Harper tried to play up the old person demographic as they are the last group who can still be sold this crap. Luckily this election young people showed up in record numbers. I think this might be a turning point where more people are anti prohibition than pro.
 
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