Conservatives introduce mandatory sentencing for 5 marijuana plants

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I'm not sure I get what the problem is. Growing marijiuana is part of drug traffiking no? Harsher penalties may help deter criminal and gang activities. Why would anyone be against this?

It doesn't work. They've been trying exactly the angle you support for decades and it doesn't work and everyone knows it.

Why would anyone be for this?

[Pastiche]

The Conservatives have a few themes, one of which is to be “tough on crime.” But there is a difference between being tough on crime and being stupid about crime, a difference the Conservatives have not learned. Most of the policies are useless or counterproductive, as almost every expert in the field will attest. And they will cost way, way more than the Conservatives have blithely suggested, as the Parliamentary Budget Office is about to explain in a report next week. But these deeply simplistic policies apparently sell well in a society bombarded by news media coverage of crime in the face of falling crime rates.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1559391/

Bang frickin on.

The whole 'tough on crime' wedge panders to the stupid and the fearful or both and there's no shortage of them.

[rubecube]

Stupid, useless, pointless bill.

[To Be Quite Honest]

This proposition will blow in their face.

[Delthefunky]

I hope this blows up in the conservatives faces and they learn how people really feel about marijuana. Where's Marc Emery when you need him!!

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by Pastiche

Bang frickin on.

The whole 'tough on crime' wedge panders to the stupid and the fearful or both and there's no shortage of them.

I remember doing a study for the Belleville police department back in the 90s. The police wanted to know what the citizens thought of the police and crime in the area in general. The vast majority of people thought "there is little to no crime in my neighborhood" but "crime is rampant throughout the rest of the city". The funny thing is that this opinion was held in every district of the city. And the respondents were near unanimous in saying that they believed crime was up, but police statistics show exactly the reverse. My guess is that the only thing that was really up was TV coverage of crime, creating a paranoid public willing to demand that their tax dollars be spent fighting an imaginary problem.

[flylock shox]

The idea of mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes is completely impractical.

The federal government would have to double their current staff of prosecutors just to deal with the massive increase in their caseload as a result of no one pleading guilty to drug offences. Either that or prosecutors and police would have to start making serious policy decisions as to when to charge and when to let things slide, and would have to do so on a much greater scale than is already the case. The only logical result would be the effective legalization of simple possession and small scale PPT offences: it simply wouldn't be possible to go after anyone other than medium to large scale offenders.

This is either political posturing, or complete detachment from reality on the part of the Conservatives. Neither would shock me.

[Hemi-Cuda]

this is the one major issue i had when the conservatives took power. under the Liberals marijuana was about to be decriminalized and we could have been one step closer to legalization. but soon as Harper took over all that went out the window and the drug policy in this country has gone backwards

now i don't even smoke, but it's painfully obvious to any rational thinker that there really isn't any good reason for weed to be illegal when both tobacco and alcohol are. just legalize it, tax it, and let the police concentrate on real crime for a change

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I'm not sure I get what the problem is. Growing marijiuana is part of drug traffiking no? Harsher penalties may help deter criminal and gang activities. Why would anyone be against this?

You actually believe harsher penalties deter criminals? The US kills you for being a murderer, and yet they have murders every day. Harsh penalties do not deter criminals... if anything, they get more dangerous because they don't want to be caught. If you know you're going away for life, you might be a bit more inclined to shoot that cop coming towards you....

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

this is the one major issue i had when the conservatives took power. under the Liberals marijuana was about to be decriminalized and we could have been one step closer to legalization. but soon as Harper took over all that went out the window and the drug policy in this country has gone backwards

now i don't even smoke, but it's painfully obvious to any rational thinker that there really isn't any good reason for weed to be illegal when both tobacco and alcohol are. just legalize it, tax it, and let the police concentrate on real crime for a change

Unfortunately a lot of the sheeple out there take their moral code almost directly from the legal code. Marijuana is wrong because the law says it is. Pretty dumb (and dangerous) way of thought in my opinion. My Mom is dead set against marijuana use, but can't come up with any reason for that other than 'it's against the law'. Sad.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Delthefunky

I hope this blows up in the conservatives faces and they learn how people really feel about marijuana. Where's Marc Emery when you need him!!

In the process of being extradited to the US by this conservative government for a business that revenue canada has been collecting taxes from for over 10 years.

[HOOT]

Decriminalize, don't legalize!

I don't want the government controlling the weed I smoke.

[FlamesAddiction]

It's this kind of thing that makes it hard for me to get behind the Conservatives. I actually like a lot of what they stand for and try to accomplish, especially on the economic side of things, but then they go and do something like this. I am too much of a social liberal. At least the old Mulroney and Clark Conservatives were relatively socially liberal.

I don't use pot, but I see no good coming from clogging up jails with people who do.

[peter12]

I hate stoners and the whole stoner culture. That said, a smarter bill would have been to decriminalize smaller amounts, like 5 plants and under, and ratchet up the penalties on the big growers.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by SebC

Actually your wallet does. Spending ballooned under the Conservatives, even before the downturn.

I did have a smiley.

But, yes, it ballooned. So did GDP and government revenue.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Decriminalize, don't legalize!

I don't want the government controlling the weed I smoke.

Do you have issues with the government 'controlling' the liquor, caffeine, or sugar you drink? I don't... if anything regulation allows for an explosion in variety and quality.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by peter12

I hate stoners and the whole stoner culture. That said, a smarter bill would have been to decriminalize smaller amounts, like 5 plants and under, and ratchet up the penalties on the big growers.

Not very practical for the Conservatives to be talking decriminilization, for the law & order platform they ride previously mentioned in the thread.

So I guess what you're implying is... the Conservatives aren't capable of making the 'smart' decision in this area due to their standing policies... makes sense to me!

Oh, and I hate people who hate stoners.

[Frank MetaMusil]

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Going after downloaders and pot smokers. Talk about a sure way to make sure you don't get re-elected.

Drug addicts and people who are stealing digital media vote? I would think they are to busy finding a reason to say 420 and watching their torrents.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Drug addicts and people who are stealing digital media vote? I would think they are to busy finding a reason to say 420 and watching their torrents.

I think you just insulted a good portion of the forum.