Canada signs on to U.S.-led renewal of war on drugs
Canada was rebuked on Monday by a group of world leaders and experts on drug policy for endorsing a Trump-led declaration renewing the "war on drugs" and for passing up a critical moment to provide global leadership on drug regulation.
The Trudeau government's decision to sign on to the declaration, released by the White House on the sidelines of U.S. President Donald Trump's first attendance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, contradicts Ottawa's previous skepticism of Washington's drugs war at home and abroad, and comes just weeks before cannabis legalization in Canada.
Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark said she believed that both Canada and Mexico − which also signed the declaration even though president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has repeatedly said that the "war on drugs" has failed and he will pursue new policy − likely have signed on reluctantly, held hostage by the North American free-trade agreement talks in Washington, over which a critical deadline looms.
Countries that signed the "Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem" were promised an invitation for their leader to attend a kick-off event with Mr. Trump in New York. The statement was not drafted in the usual multilateral process of a declaration from the UN and the wording was presented as non-negotiable. One hundred and thirty countries signed but 63 did not; the dissenters include major U.S. allies such as Germany, Norway and Spain.
Previously: Canada Becomes the Second Nation to Legalize Cannabis
Related: WP says Marijuana Legalization Makes World a Better Place
Related Stories
Christopher Ingraham writes in the Washington Post that many countries are taking a close look at what's happening in Colorado and Washington state to learn lessons that can be applied to their own situations and so far, the news coming out of Colorado and Washington is overwhelmingly positive. Dire consequences predicted by reform opponents have failed to materialize. If anything, societal and economic indicators are moving in a positive direction post-legalization. Colorado marijuana tax revenues for fiscal year 2014-2015 are on track to surpass projections.
Lisa Sanchez, a program manager at México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, a Mexican non-profit devoted to promoting "security, legality and justice", underscored how legalization efforts in the U.S. are having powerful ripple effects across the globe: events in Colorado and Washington have "created political space for Latin American countries to have a real debate [about drug policy]". She noted that motivations for reform in Latin America are somewhat different than U.S. motivations - one main driver is a need to address the epidemic of violence on those countries that is fuelled directly by prohibitionist drug war policies. Mexico's president has given signs he's open to changes in that country's marijuana laws to help combat cartel violence. Sandeep Chawla, former deputy director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, notes that one of the main obstacles to meaningful reform is layers of entrenched drug control bureaucracies at the international and national levels - just in the U.S., think of the DEA, ONDCP and NIDA, among others - for whom a relaxation of drug control laws represents an undermining of their reason for existence: "if you create a bureaucracy to solve a particular problem, when the problem is solved that bureaucracy is out of a job".
Canada becomes second nation in the world to legalize marijuana
Recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in Canada after the Senate passed a "historic" bill on Tuesday with a vote of 52-29. Canada is only the second country in the world -- and the first G7 nation -- to implement legislation to permit a nationwide marijuana market. In the neighboring US, nine states and the District of Columbia now allow for recreational marijuana use, and 30 allow for medical use.
Bill C-45, otherwise known as the Cannabis Act, stems from a campaign pledge of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep marijuana away from underage users and reduce related crime. The act to legalize the recreational use of weed was first introduced on April 13, 2017, and was later passed at the House of Commons in November. The Senate passage of the bill was the final hurdle in the process.
Uruguay was the first country to legalize marijuana's production, sale and consumption in December 2013.
Also at CBC, BBC, NPR, Reuters, and The Guardian.
Recreational cannabis is now legal in Canada... to a point. Here are some ground rules:
Adults of at least 18 years old will be allowed to carry and share up to 30 grams of legal marijuana in public, according to a bill that passed the Senate in June. They will also be allowed to cultivate up to four plants in their households and make products such as edibles for personal use.
[...] The supply of recreational marijuana could be limited, at least early on, in some stores. Officials in Nova Scotia and Manitoba said they won't have a large selection, at least not on the first day, CNN affiliate CBC News reported. [...] Marijuana will not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco. Consumers are expected to purchase the drug from retailers regulated by provinces and territories or from federally licensed producers when those options are not available.
[...] Authorities will soon announce plans to pardon Canadians who have been convicted with possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, CNN partner CTV reported. The production, distribution or sale of cannabis products will still be an offense for minors.
Why is Canada running out of marijuana?
Cannabis retailers in Canada began to run low on supplies from the very first day of legalisation a month ago. How long are shortages expected to continue as the new market for recreational cannabis finds its feet?
In the early days of legalisation, James Burns was confident his company had enough product on the shelves of its five new cannabis retail stores, even though they only received half of their order from the provincial supplier. Now, he has had staff refreshing the government supply website in the early hours to snap up scarce new stock as soon as it's available, and is considering restricting store hours.
"While there was product to order we were very comfortably getting a large amount of it," says Burns, the CEO of Alcanna, a company that owns a chain of private liquor stores in Canada and the US and, now, cannabis stores in the province of Alberta. "But obviously, when there's literally none there, it doesn't matter how big you are, there's just none there. If the government warehouse is empty, it's empty. There's nothing you can do."
[...] A report released in early October by the CD Howe Institute, a Toronto-based economic think tank, estimates that the current legal supply will meet about 30% to 60% of total demand in the first months of legalisation. But people in the industry say the scarcity is worse than expected. "Everybody knew this was going to happen," says Burns. "Probably, frankly, not this quick and this starkly."
Patrick Wallace, owner of Waldo 420 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, predicts it will be a year to 18 months before supply matches demand. "We're riding on our initial investment of stock from a few weeks back," he says. "So we're OK now but it's not sustainable."
Previously: Canada Becomes the Second Nation to Legalize Cannabis
Peter Thiel's Cannabis Company Was Briefly Worth More Than Twitter
Hostage to NAFTA? Canada Signs on to War on Drugs Despite Recent Cannabis Legalization
Cannabis Becomes Legal in Canada
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @05:01AM
[6][3] = [6 + 3] = [9] = [1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9] = 45th POTUS Donald Trump
(Score: 5, Informative) by pipedwho on Monday October 01 2018, @05:02AM (13 children)
Yes, "the world drug problem". Has nothing to do with people taking/selling drugs. It is caused simply due to the legal framework enabling the militarisation and police state activity that escalated a drug trade into something far far worse. The concept of 'drug war' only exists because the authoritarian state makes it a war. Proper regulation and 'legalisation', of something that should have never been illegal in the first place, would go far to solving the problem as it exists. See prohibition of alcohol for examples.
Sadly, I'm guessing there are huge vested interests that would lose a great deal of income should the government no longer need its excessively militarised police force, and the prison industrial complex no longer needed to provide free board, feed and supervision for a continual influx of 'casualties' of said 'war'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @05:04AM
See the first post, Trump would end the drug war if politically convenient for him.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @05:49AM (11 children)
Yes, Fentanyl cocktails for everyone!
Not that I particularly care when people off themselves, I just hate dealing with the collateral damage. Sometimes you must deprive some people some freedom for their own good, and that of the society. That is the main job of the government.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Monday October 01 2018, @06:05AM (2 children)
1. Most people aren't choosing to use fentanyl. They are choosing heroin, but getting "whatever".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fentanyl#Recreational_use [wikipedia.org]
Likewise, people who want MDMA or other substances often get "whatever" instead. Legalize or at least decriminalize everything, and more people will be getting what they want instead of something made in the trailer park, or low-quality stuff mixed with chemicals that could kill an elephant.
Heroin, Fentanyl? Meh: Carfentanil is the Latest Killer Opioid [soylentnews.org]
Legalize cannabis, and people won't bother with K2/spice [wikipedia.org]. And they can get organic cannabis grown by hippies instead of low-grade, pesticide-drenched cannabis.
2. The main issue for now is cannabis, and legalizing cannabis has shown to result in lower opioid use rates:
Two More Studies Link Access to Cannabis to Lower Use of Opioids [soylentnews.org]
Plenty of people fall into heroin use after legitimate use of opioid painkillers causes them to become addicted. Big Pharma knows how to create real gateway drugs.
The War on Drugs isn't just trampling on people's freedoms. It's also expensive, counter-productive, kills more people, funds criminals instead of government, spreads misinformation by lumping dissimilar drugs together, and doesn't lower drug use.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @09:55AM (1 child)
Instead of? More criminals = more funding for government agencies fighting those criminals. The worst thing that could happen to such an agency is a substantial reduction of crime.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Monday October 01 2018, @03:42PM
https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/opinion/branson-end-war-on-drugs/index.html [cnn.com]
The DEA budget is only about $2.1 billion annually.
What happens if you reduce the amount spent on enforcing drug laws, putting it towards other uses, and divert billions of dollars of untaxed revenue from the cartels? You #MAGA, most likely.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @06:05AM (6 children)
False dichotomy. There are more choices than just 'fully legalize every drug in existence for recreational use' and 'fight a war on drugs.'
Go after the specific people who cause collateral damage and no one else.
No, that's the main job of authoritarians. The government should ideally respect people's liberties.
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Monday October 01 2018, @07:45AM (5 children)
What government do you know of that has actually done a good job of that, in the entirety of human history? Now don't get me wrong, I'm no anarchist. Life without government is usually much worse than life with it, at least if the government is relatively westernized. However, the sad truth is, by the very nature of its charge, government is primarily tasked with *restricting* freedoms. Like the freedom to broadcast radio long distances without a license, or the freedom to drive without a license.
There is no true freedom, and there never was. I don't think there ever will be. Perhaps in death.
There can never be true freedom, because everything humanity touches turns into a festering pile of garbage.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 01 2018, @04:59PM
What's not true about your freedom? Just because it's not absolutely pure and free of constraint or consequence doesn't mean it's fake freedom.
Except, of course, when that doesn't happen.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Virindi on Monday October 01 2018, @05:08PM (3 children)
There is often freedom on the 'frontier'. Over time a 'frontier' goes through a transition period and during that time residents are accustomed to not having to follow rules, and resources are still limited, so law enforcement is restricted to only pursuing the egregious cases. Over time as the population rises and resources increase, people become used to having to follow millions of rules and get approval for everything they do.
But during that middle time between anarchy and bureaucracy, there can be a happy medium of relative safety and also the practical liberty to go about your life without having to get someone else's approval.
Historical examples are plenty. Modern Alaska probably qualifies as in that middle ground. And, of course, the eastern US during the founding of the country (which likely has a lot to do with the attitude of the country's original laws). Thomas Jefferson thought that this attribute of the frontier was so important that the then-broke US should pay $573 billion 2016 dollars to buy more of it in 1803.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @07:59PM (1 child)
Freedom to die! Bushwacked, Dry-gulched, ambushed. And/or eaten. As Moses said, "There is no freedom without the law!" Or has somebody been watching too many "Firefly" episodes on Nexflac?
(Score: 2) by Virindi on Tuesday October 02 2018, @12:31AM
That is why I am talking about the period of time when the frontier transitions towards civilization. Sheesh, why does every comment on this site these days sound angry?
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday October 02 2018, @01:50AM
Freedom on the frontier is usually freedom to infringe on other peoples rights. I'm not too up on Alaska but the American war of secession was largely about infringing on others rights. From the anger at the Royal Proclamation of 1763 (the tyrant declared all his subjects were equal and even allowed Papists to join government) to a revolt that saw fellow colonists tared and feathered and their stuff stolen. There was also a good chunk of the colonies whose lifestyle revolved in others having zero rights based on the colour of their skin.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday October 01 2018, @06:19AM
(Score: 1, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Monday October 01 2018, @05:30AM (15 children)
There is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. If we don’t make a fair deal for the U.S. after decades of abuse, Canada will be out. Congress should not interfere w/ these negotiations or I will simply terminate NAFTA entirely & we will be far better off. FAR better. Remember, NAFTA was one of the WORST Trade Deals ever made. The U.S. lost thousands of businesses and MILLIONS of jobs. We were far better off before NAFTA -- should never have been signed. Even the Vat Tax was not accounted for. We make new deal or go back to pre-NAFTA!
And by the way, I honor the right of every nation -- even Canada -- to pursue own customs, beliefs and traditions. The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship. We only ask that you honor our sovereign rights in return.
Unfortunately Justin from Canada has been very dishonest & weak. Lots of false statements from this guy. He's charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers. Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal. According to a Canada release, they make almost 100 Billion Dollars in Trade with U.S. (guess they were bragging and got caught!). Minimum is 17B. Tax Dairy from us at 270% -- INCREDIBLE. Flooding our markets with steel and aluminum. So many of our steel mills & aluminum smelters shut down. Big threat to our National Security. Then Justin acts hurt when called out! He put a tremendous tax on our Quiche. On the Quiche we sell to Canada.
I think Canada is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn't think of Canada, but they're a foe. I think that getting along with Canada is a good thing. But it's possible we won't. And that's OK. We're getting stronger and stronger, militarily. It was my great honor to sign the National Defense Authorization Act, beautiful ceremony at Fort Drump with the Apache helicopter. That's $717 billion for my military. Including a nice raise for my troops. A 2.6% raise for my great, and very brave, soldiers. We're giving America's warfighters the firepower they need to win any contest. And we're doing Space Force. Our adversaries are weaponizing space. They want to jam transmissions. We'll be catching them very shortly, believe me!!!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @02:59PM (14 children)
I know you're just a fucking troll, but you'll read this anyway, so here goes:
A country which owns 50% of the entire world's wealth, with only 5% of the population, claiming that it has been somehow "taken advantage of" by the rest of the world is not only obcenely ludicrous, it is unbelievably and disgustingly arrogant.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @04:17PM (12 children)
Why is that ludicrous? Sounds like the same argument people make about the high percentage of jewish people in positions of wealth and power...
Are you impying that just because some group is more successful than others they must be running a scam? Why cant it be that the US has social and economic policies that encourage accumulation of wealth moreso than found elsewhere? Policies that other countries *choose* not to follow and even call the US backward, etc for?
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @04:59PM (10 children)
Interesting mods here. People disparaging the US based on questionable logic are insightful while those asking for clarification are flamebait.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @05:08PM (9 children)
Because it is a willfully ignorant troll post.
The US has abused its military and economic power to scam other countries. Economic and political hit jobs to ensure that foreign governments remain friendly to US corporate interests. That is not skill, that is not some brilliant societal structure, that is imperialism and it is nothing new.
Sometimes people refuse to even engage with such low level arguments, especially around here where these discussions occur all the time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @05:27PM (8 children)
And where did it get that power to begin with?
-- This is the type of thought you are going to need to have to go beyond preaching to the choir. Your argument as it stands makes no sense to non-rabid people. The rabid people are irrelevant, since nothing will change their minds anyway.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday October 01 2018, @05:54PM (7 children)
Recently? Well, at the end of World War II, the US economy was the only one not in a complete shambles. This, along with the Marshall Plan, allowed the US to gain a massive cultural foothold across almost all the Western world. The roots of this go back further, of course, to at least the Monroe Doctrine internationally, and arguably to the country's founding and its insistence on genociding the natives and taking their land. Point is, the US got its power through a combination of luck, shrewed diplomacy, and what can at the very least be called genocidal expansion.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @06:00PM (6 children)
And what part of this is being considered the US scamming the other countries by the anon?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday October 01 2018, @06:20PM (5 children)
...are you stupid? When you're the only country with an economy that isn't a total basket case, everyone else will either suffer alone or dance to your tune if they want help. You don't see how establishing a cultural hegemony over more or less the entire Western Hemisphere and then some would allow the kind of "scam" you're talking about?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @06:32PM (4 children)
Here is the result: Rabid libtard detected, redirecting power from rational argument subsystems to trolling and stealth.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @09:25PM (3 children)
If it needs to be explained to you that the "might makes right" mindset is morally wrong, then you're a perfect example of the prehistoric, animalistic, social-darwinist caveman mentality that human civilization has been trying for centuries to evolve beyond. To people like you, imperialism is a "good thing", the same way "greed is good". You are primitive. You'll eventually go the way of the dinosaurs, and you know it. That's why you hate "leftists" so much, a.k.a. those that will replace you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @09:47PM (2 children)
Nope, just wanted an answer to my question about how the Marshall plan and US coming out of WWII with limited damage was a scam.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday October 02 2018, @02:10AM (1 child)
Let me break this down for you in tiny little pieces: the US's luck, and it WAS luck, was not a "scam." The Marshall Plan, however, was a masterful piece of political brinksmanship, notable for being probably the most benign of its kind ever enacted, but still put into place with the aim of essentially turning all Europe into an American vassal (see: NATO). The US is far, far less friendly with other (read: brown) people: witness, as just one example, what was done in Iran in 1953.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 02 2018, @02:43AM
So, the US did not get its advantage due to "scamming" according to you, it was "luck" and "masterful" decisions/behaviors by the elites of that nation.
Great, please explain that to the other AC who claimed it was via scamming or tie that in so we can get back to the original point.
(Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday October 02 2018, @01:56AM
Because it is all bullshit. The free trade agreement between Canada and the USA saw tons of good Canadian jobs go south to the States, increasing stock prices and then the Americans decided to send their jobs south to Mexico in search of profits, and when that wasn't profitable enough, they made China a most favoured trading partner and sent jobs their.
To blame the countries that you bully into unequal trade deals for your captains of industry sending your jobs away is weird to say the least.
And fucking Trump, who can't even pay his fucking debts, and his supporters, to claim that being crooks is strength, well I guess that is the Christian way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @04:58PM
You can't tag all of the USA 1% just because a lot of 1%ers live there. Let's go back to the definition of 1%er: 1% of the people own 99% of the wealth. If anything the trade wars are 1%ers in each country fighting each other.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @06:08PM (1 child)
this is one good example of why i won't vote for trump. fuck your seditious drug war.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 01 2018, @06:29PM
Hmm. I swear I remember Trump saying drug legality should be up to the states: Here we go:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kriskrane/2018/07/11/why-president-trump-could-be-marijuanas-savior/ [forbes.com]
https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/congress-will-pass-legalization-bills-next-year-lawmakers-say [leafly.com]
Make it politically advantageous for him to support federal legalization and I am sure he will do so. I mean the DNC has been dangling this issue in front of their voters for so long, I don't believe they actually want it to happen anymore.