Justin Trudeau says marijuana should be legalized

[Vinny01]

I think there is a lot of money in weed for the government. I think the pro's outweight the cons. I am not sure how many new stoners will be around now that they can legally buy pot. I also think once the government gets a hold of it all the stoners that have been begging to get pot legal will not be so excited when they have to pay $20 a gram or whatever they will charge (rest assured it will be more than the street cost today).

Pot is no more dangerous than tobacco or booze. It can cause problems when consumed in excess but smoking a J when you want to unwind after a long week of work is fine by me. I think it will do more good for the Canadian economy than bad for society.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Trudeau wants to legalize it and Harper wants the US War on Drugs approach. Even if Trudeau is being disingenuous, at least its not going to cost us billions for nothing.

[Tinordi]

Justin Trudeau is such a crappy politician. He's supporting policies that are now popular! Can you believe it?! I bet he's only doing this because it will improve his chances of being elected! What a sell out.

From the Captain Crunch school of political analysis.

p.s. I don't support Harper but man that guy has principles! I mean look at such principled conservative policies like uhh, hrmm, agh, increasing the deficit... and uhm... bailing out the auto industry... and uhh cutting the most efficient taxes and leaving the most inefficient ones (gst) and lets not forget trying to get rid of the Senate by stacking it with cronies we can use to fundraise for us.

[nik-]

Yeah, the Conservatives going down the US road in terms of drug laws is really odd. I don't know how a policy maker could analyze their methods and determine that it was the best course to follow. It's obviously failed.

I wish they would have just stuck to economics.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

p.s. I don't support Harper but man that guy has principles! I mean look at such principled conservative policies like uhh, hrmm, agh, increasing the deficit... and uhm... bailing out the auto industry... and uhh cutting the most efficient taxes and leaving the most inefficient ones (gst) and lets not forget trying to get rid of the Senate by stacking it with cronies we can use to fundraise for us.

I'd take consumption taxes over income taxes 9 times out of 10.

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by nik-

I'd take consumption taxes over income taxes 9 times out of 10.

sorry that's what I meant

[nik-]

but you're mocking leaving the gst ... and I assume referencing income tax reductions with the "efficient" ones?

I'm confused.

[Tinordi]

Yeah cutting the efficient tax GST and leaving inefficient income taxes was just baseless populism and electioneering. Something Captain is criticizing Justin for except that Justin's marijuana position is supported by alot of criminology research whereas there isn't an economist on earth that would support his cutting of the GST.

[Canuck-Hater]

I think this story can be filed under the "who the hell cares" section. I'm referring to Trudeau smoking a joint of course.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

I think there is a lot of money in weed for the government. I think the pro's outweight the cons. I am not sure how many new stoners will be around now that they can legally buy pot. I also think once the government gets a hold of it all the stoners that have been begging to get pot legal will not be so excited when they have to pay $20 a gram or whatever they will charge (rest assured it will be more than the street cost today).

Pot is no more dangerous than tobacco or booze. It can cause problems when consumed in excess but smoking a J when you want to unwind after a long week of work is fine by me. I think it will do more good for the Canadian economy than bad for society.

What's your reasoning for this? It's way cheaper to grow pot in open fields than in basements. Nearly every cost associated with the growth and distribution would be massively reduced. Cigarettes are 1/10 of the cost and I'm pretty sure weed grows as fast as anything else.

I don't think the government would have any success with that approach, since all the infrastructure is already in place to grow and sell at much cheaper prices.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Matata

What's your reasoning for this? It's way cheaper to grow pot in open fields than in basements. Nearly every cost associated with the growth and distribution would be massively reduced. Cigarettes are 1/10 of the cost and I'm pretty sure weed grows as fast as anything else.

I don't think the government would have any success with that approach, since all the infrastructure is already in place to grow and sell at much cheaper prices.

Agreed. The biggest users of pot are usually not large income earners and if the government charges more than the street price then the pot heads will simply purchase from illegal distributors as they always have which kind of defeats the purpose of legalizing pot.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sorry to interrupt the back-patting and camaraderie, but are you actually attacking Trudeau for agreeing with something popular now? I get that you two aren't ever voting for him, but this is beyond absurd now.

But what would the WRA do? I am surprised you havent dropped that nonsense on us yet.

As for the weed thing..im all for legalizing it and whanot, but the disingenuous reasoning Pierre light has for doing so is a freaking joke. Obviously its all made up when you put the timelines together and as such does that not matter at all?

If he would have just said "it seems like its what Canadians want even though I have been against it through my political career therefore my stance has changed" I could have some respect for the weenie, but the stuff he comes out with as reasoning is just bothersome...and this is regardless of anything the Cons do or dont do towards it.

[nik-]

There's no way they would charge less than current prices. I think a lot of people would be willing to pay a premium (albeit small) for a legal avenue.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Agreed. The biggest users of pot are usually not large income earners and if the government charges more than the street price then the pot heads will simply purchase from illegal distributors as they always have which kind of defeats the purpose of legalizing pot.

You realize you can say literally the exact same thing about alcohol right? And actually yes users would pay the premium, because I would think the premium means getting a guaranteed product (believe it or not drug dealers are not the most reputable people around) and assurances about the quality in the product. When I was in Amsterdam the weed there is certainly higher priced than the street, but its also better quality and is readily available.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by transplant99

But what would the WRA do? I am surprised you havent dropped that nonsense on us yet.

As for the weed thing..im all for legalizing it and whanot, but the disingenuous reasoning Pierre light has for doing so is a freaking joke. Obviously its all made up when you put the timelines together and as such does that not matter at all?

If he would have just said "it seems like its what Canadians want even though I have been against it through my political career therefore my stance has changed" I could have some respect for the weenie, but the stuff he comes out with as reasoning is just bothersome...and this is regardless of anything the Cons do or dont do towards it.

Well since you asked I can only assume they would launch a huge "Just say NO!" campaign complete with advertisements comparing an egg in a frying pan to your brain on drugs. They would probably spend millions of dollars telling everyone how terrible these plants are and then build bigger prisons to house all of the criminals who engage in these horrible crimes. They would gladly tell us that the problem today is that we're not tough enough on crime. We need more prisons, more police officers and basically more tools to fight this increasingly important war on drugs.

Sound about right? Hope that helps with what you were looking for!

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Matata

What's your reasoning for this? It's way cheaper to grow pot in open fields than in basements. Nearly every cost associated with the growth and distribution would be massively reduced. Cigarettes are 1/10 of the cost and I'm pretty sure weed grows as fast as anything else.

I don't think the government would have any success with that approach, since all the infrastructure is already in place to grow and sell at much cheaper prices.

LOL...no way the government gets involved and prices stay the same or get any cheaper.


This will scream tax tax tax at whomever is in power...prices will soar and then you will see penalties for illegal growth and distribution RISE as well.

Look no further than the absurd amount of taxation on liquor as a guideline of what they will do for weed.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well since you asked I can only assume they would launch a huge "Just say NO!" campaign complete with advertisements comparing an egg in a frying pan to your brain on drugs. They would probably spend millions of dollars telling everyone how terrible these plants are and then build bigger prisons to house all of the criminals who engage in these horrible crimes. They would gladly tell us that the problem today is that we're not tough enough on crime. We need more prisons, more police officers and basically more tools to fight this increasingly important war on drugs.

Sound about right? Hope that helps with what you were looking for!

No its exactly what i suspected..and you would be wrong about them...again.

This topic was covered a couple years ago and it was stated that it would be up to what the people of Alberta wanted.

But good try.

Weird though that just a few short years ago, Trudeau's stance was closer to what you describe than anything the eveil boogeymen of the right said they would do eh?

Absurdity comes in many forms I'd say.

[Devils'Advocate]

Of course. If the government ran something compared to if free enterprise ran something, of course the market would be much cheaper. See health care costs between the US and here. There is absolutely no waste in their system whatsoever.

In this case the government will charge whatever the government can charge without pushing people to producing their own. Just like cigarettes. Once you go over a certain price, people start buying smuggled/illegal cigs. But the laws for production, distribution of MJ will be similar to smuggled cigs and selling home brewed alcohol.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by transplant99

No its exactly what i suspected..and you would be wrong about them...again.

This topic was covered a couple years ago and it was stated that it would be up to what the people of Alberta wanted.

But good try.

Weird though that just a few short years ago, Trudeau's stance was closer to what you describe than anything the eveil boogeymen of the right said they would do eh?

Absurdity comes in many forms I'd say.

I don't know. I've never really been one of those "evil boogie man" kind of portrayers. I generally try to stick to critiques of actual policies and things like that. I guess that's one of the reasons people are usually fine to argue with me here; we don't agree but its a civilized conversation and there's no ill will. At the end of the day we all just have our differences in opinions and can get along just fine.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Slava

I don't know. I've never really been one of those "evil boogie man" kind of portrayers. I generally try to stick to critiques of actual policies and things like that. I guess that's one of the reasons people are usually fine to argue with me here; we don't agree but its a civilized conversation and there's no ill will. At the end of the day we all just have our differences in opinions and can get along just fine.

Larf.

You just described it to a "T" what that would entail if it was accurate.

I have no problem with anyone being whatever they are on the political spectrum, but when you claim to be neutral and unbiased as you have repeatedly when its so easily apparent you are anything but, it needs to be called out. But thats fine, I get it and have no problem with it.

How do you feel about Trudeau actually lying about why he has changed his position in regards to legalizing weed then? Does that reflect on him in any way particularly? Do the ends justify the means in this case because its apparent Canadians would like this change? If the Cons did a sudden about face in the same direction, would there be no backlash because of the flip flop aspect?