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Marijuana in Canada
After reviewing the findings of two government appointed committees concerning Canada’s current drug policy, the Canadian government is planning to implement a new drug strategy in which the government will decriminalize marijuana. This new legislation will serve to benefit Canada both socially and economically, with the only major opposition coming from the American government, which vigoursly opposes any law that they perceive as threatening their war on drugs. Nearly every political party in Canada supports this movement as well as the majority of Canadian citizens. Unless the government gives into the constant pressure coming from outside influences, there should be minimal difficulty passing the bill into legislation.
Canada is merely following a trend in which several countries including Britain, Australia and Holland have loosened their marijuana laws and experienced positive results. Each country as well as Canada had come to the conclusion that their marijuana laws did not coincide with their idea of disciplinary justice. So in an effort to correct their previously outdated marijuana laws, Canada organized together two committee’s to get the bottom of the issue. The first was the special senate committee on illegal drugs, whose task was review the current anti drug policies and legislation. ... The second committee was a House of Commons special committee on non-medical use of drugs which was charged with reviewing Canada’s overall drug strategy and recommending any changes they deemed necessary. They came to similar conclusions as the Senate Committee, deeming that marijuana was unhealthy, but also that the current penalties do not match the crime. Wayne Easter, the solicitor general of Canada put it "Weve recognized we do have a problem with marijuana in this country and the current laws are not working, the current penalties are not uniform across the country,". They recommended that the Canadian Ministers of Justice and Health devise a strategy to decriminalize the possession and cultivation of marijuana to no more then thirty grams. ...
Over the last few years the Canadian government has felt severe pressure from the public to change its current policy on marijuana, especially from out west. Government organizations such the Marijuana Political Party and the Marijuana Party have sprung up in an attempt to end the prohibition of marijuana in Canada. Many people have begun to blatantly ignore the law by celebrating the smoking of marijuana. ... The government has responded not by cracking down on these shops and intensifying their persecution of marijuana users, but by becoming more relaxed on the issue and dismissing more then its fair share of possession charges. ... The courts in British Columbia are even questioning if the current marijuana laws are actually laws and have several cases pending that would set new precedents in Canada’s legal system. One such case was when Judge Patrick Chen ruled "there is no offence known to law at this time for simple possession of marijuana. ... Currently this is not the issue as many Canadians are currently smoking marijuana with reckless abandon and the government is wasting money prosecuting people for a law that its courts will not even uphold.
Approximate Word count = 2468
Approximate Pages = 9.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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