The US Stopped Other Countries from Legalizing Weed for Generations

[S.J.B.]

The US Stopped Other Countries from Legalizing Weed for Generations
Maia Szalavitz
Vice
July 2nd, 2018

With its decision to legalize weed starting on October 17, Canada has effectively signed a death warrant for pot prohibition worldwide.

The United States has long been the world's drug cop, but now that it has abandoned the beat by allowing nine states to legalize weed, international laws preventing countries from setting their own policies on marijuana are basically unenforceable. Canada's move could make that situation permanent.

"I think it's a real shock to the international treaties and agreements that have held countries back from going against the hysteria that has come out of the US," said Kassandra Frederique, New York State director for the Drug Policy Alliance.

"It sends a big message," agreed Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington think tank, noting that Canada was among America's most important trading partners, and happens to share a massive border.

Even the staunch legalization opponents at Smart Approaches to Marijuana admitted in a powerpoint presentation that "legalization is now a reality and it's gaining support every year."

Read the full story here.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Uruguay legalized years ago.

 

[S.J.B.]

Uruguay legalized years ago.

Szalavitz comments on that:

"To put it very simply, Canada legalizing marijuana is huge," added Tom Angell, editor in chief of Marijuana Moment, one of the leading online sources for marijuana news and a longtime legalization activist. "While it's the second country to do it, it's the first major global economic player to do so."

Uruguay declared it would legalize marijuana regardless of international law in 2013, although sales of the drug did not start there until last year. But the small South American country has nothing like the status of Canada, which by one measure is the tenth-largest economic power in the world.

 

[ro4eva]

It's huge but it shouldn't be huge.

This should never have occurred in a nation dubbed 'The Land of the Free.'

Hopefully Trump and his administration's petty trash-talking regarding the Canadian PM shall only further effect change in the proper direction.

I cannot overstate how relieved I am to see this day come, and not because I am a fan of the 'drug' in question, but rather, because every day that passes wherein which it continues to be illegal is a fucking disgrace towards the values which we claim to hold dear; and of course, the common knowledge that criminalizing something which is in a perpetual state of high demand essentially means that we are handing the keys to an extremely valuable coffer to organized crime on a silver platter which has "exploit me" written all over it. Yeah... what a colossal, tragic waste indeed.

 

[Limpet_Chicken]

We too, once that dirty slag May has gone for good (for fucking fantastic! being more like it), hopefully will follow suit. We have forever kissed the arse ring of the US, and had friendly relations with canada, no?

And yeah, taking the money out of the hands of organized crime would happen overnight. The more drugs are legalized and freely sold, or at least allowed for home cooking by hobbyists and clandestine chemists, and Bees, who wouldn't have to be clandestine about it anymore (even if it could hurt elements of the underground clandestine chemist culture, but in the end the gains would be worth it and we Bees wouldn't bee going anywhere either), then the more monetary sources are overnight, bar batches they might already have imported but now have to short-sell just to recoup a bit of their last spend on the last few hundred keys of coke and H, meth, MDxx etc, IF anyone would buy them, and the less people arrested, abused by pigs and fucking having their property stolen, and families damaged by porcine assault and jail.

And that can only be better. Especially with MDxx 'E' pills, no more PMA, PMMA, PMEA made only because anethole is easy to get whilst safrole is hard and is watched...all those dodgy pills, gone. People producing proper MDMA instead, and the more Bees will be making exotic tryptamines and phenethylamines. Which would be just wunderbar.

 

[spacejunk]

I'm so glad to see this being said.

Australia was prevented from trialling a few different progressive drug reforms in past decades (such as heroin maintenance for addicts) becuause of our "close relationship" with the USA.

I always find it kind of ironic when americans on bluelight boast about the legality of cannabis in various states - it was the american government that banned cannabis globally for the last century or so.

Not to say i'm not grateful to see the US leading the way in breaking that ban down, but it's been frustrating for a very long time, the way US political pressure has stifled drug law reform across the whole world.

Personally i think full legalisation of drugs is the only sensible option. The decriminalisation of possession (but not supply, cultivation, manufacture etc) keeps the profits from drug black market industries in the hands of criminals, and exposes users to potentially dangerous adulterants, impurities and random, fluctuating impurities.

In terms of cannabis, it's great to see prohibition disintegrating - i honestly didn't think this would happen in my lifetime, snd i hope it keeps gathering speed around the world.