Canada's Trudeau, Liberal Party Leader, Endorses Legalization, Taxation & Regulation
On Tuesday, July 23, 2013, Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (yes, he is the eldest son of the late Pierre Trudeau) announced in Kelowna B.C. that he is no longer in favour of decriminalization. Trudeau came out lock, stock and two smoking bongs in favour of FULL LEGALIZATION.
Legalize, Tax and Regulate. In Canada, that will inevitably mean that marijuana is destined to be sold by crown corporations owned and operated by the various provincial governments in their liquor stores. All hard spirits in Canada are sold in liquor stores operated as state run monopolies owned by the Provincial governments. (There are no privately owned liquor stores in Canada other than in the far North).
While it's all government run and Canadians universally complain about the high cost of booze compared to the USA, the stores are generally top-shelf retail space, brightly lit and well maintained. This is a pre-existing government controlled prime retail channel that is deeply imbedded into the Canadian marketplace. It's a brain-dead easy choice for the government to make and comparatively easy to sell to voters. When they say "we will check for ID and make sure we don't sell to kids" - voters will believe them.
It also means that, because the government will be doing the buying - they will control who they will be buying from (and what they will be selling). This may not be so good if you live in Alberta, but if you live elsewhere in Canada, -- it probably means an assortment of corporate packaged marijuana the likes of which nobody has ever seen before -- anywhere. This will be a legitimate target for investment by Big Business. Expect Seagrams, brewers like Molsons/Coors, and Imperial Tobacco to jump in with both feet.
This is a big deal, because Trudeau is currently safely ahead in the polls. Moreover, as the next election draws nigh in 2015, the Conservatives will by that time have been in power for nine years. That's generally the length of time that parties in federal politics stay in power until Canadians agree it's time for a change.
So not only is he currently ahead, Trudeau is a moderate to "quite likely" favorite to win. The NDP will support legalization, so even if Trudeau only wins a minority government, this is still likely to become law.
Nothing is for sure, but the odds are more likely than not that if the Liberals win the next Canadian federal election, sometime in 2016, Canada will withdraw from that part of the UN Treaty on Drugs that governs cannabis and will go fully legal, to buy, sell, possess (and grow for personal use) - all subject to provincial regulation and taxation. For REAL.
The video of Justin Trudeau's speech is here (The Link is to YouTube).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BetOS0y9mNg
Trudeau was later offered a chance to "clarify" his views by the Globe and Mail (Essentially, Canada's New York Times) and Trudeau doubled down on it a few days ago. He's not kidding. He means it.
Conversely, the regions of Canada where legalization is not quite a majority opinion among likely voters are regions where the Liberals rarely win at the polls. There is essentially little downside to Trudeau's sticking to this policy -- with plenty of upside, especially in B.C. and in the Atlantic provinces of Canada, where the Liberals currently enjoy an overwhelming 45% support of all voters - a 20 point lead over their next closest opponent. In Atlantic Canada, support for legalization is at 64%.
Delegates to the Liberal Party of Canada in its last national convention voted 77.5% in favour of legalization as part of the Liberal Party's national policy platform. While this is not binding on the party leader, it is clear that Trudeau has the enthusiastic support of the party faithful - and he's going for it.
To be clear to international readers, the Liberal Party is not a fringe party in Canada. It is a moderate centre-left party which considers itself Canada's "natural governing party". The Liberals have been in power in Ottawa more often than any other party in the history of the country -- indeed, with more years in power in the 20th century than any other political party in any developed country.
This is akin to Barack Obama saying he will legalize cannabis by executive order without having a congressional vote of any sort to get in the way of it and mess it up, and without any of the fifty states being able to still make cannabis illegal for purposes of state law.
In Canada's Parliamentary system, the Prime Minister and Cabinet rule the roost - and practically speaking, with control of Parliament, the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet have complete power over all amendments to the Criminal Code. Further, there is no concurrent provincial jurisdiction over the criminal law in Canada. If Trudeau legalizes cannabis federally, it's legal for all purposes coast-to-coast and no provincial statute can override it. However, as a legal product, the provincial governments would control how it is sold, what is sold, who supplies the product and, if sold through a government monopoly like Ontario's LCBO, the ultimate price at which it would be sold. Provinces also control the age at which someone can purchase cigarettes, alcohol and, presumably, cannabis. Depending on the particular province, the so-called "age of majority" for purchasing alcohol is 18 or 19 - not 21.
So we're not kidding around here. Trudeau's announcement is, to date, the single greatest sign that full legalization of cannabis is soon coming to a Western nation.
I've been predicting this for a while now. People have been scoffing at me for a while now, too. Please, continue to scoff until it happens -- but understandably, we're pretty chuffed.
On Tuesday, July 23, 2013, Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (yes, he is the eldest son of the late Pierre Trudeau) announced in Kelowna B.C. that he is no longer in favour of decriminalization. Trudeau came out lock, stock and two smoking bongs in favour of FULL LEGALIZATION.
Legalize, Tax and Regulate. In Canada, that will inevitably mean that marijuana is destined to be sold by crown corporations owned and operated by the various provincial governments in their liquor stores. All hard spirits in Canada are sold in liquor stores operated as state run monopolies owned by the Provincial governments. (There are no privately owned liquor stores in Canada other than in the far North).
While it's all government run and Canadians universally complain about the high cost of booze compared to the USA, the stores are generally top-shelf retail space, brightly lit and well maintained. This is a pre-existing government controlled prime retail channel that is deeply imbedded into the Canadian marketplace. It's a brain-dead easy choice for the government to make and comparatively easy to sell to voters. When they say "we will check for ID and make sure we don't sell to kids" - voters will believe them.
It also means that, because the government will be doing the buying - they will control who they will be buying from (and what they will be selling). This may not be so good if you live in Alberta, but if you live elsewhere in Canada, -- it probably means an assortment of corporate packaged marijuana the likes of which nobody has ever seen before -- anywhere. This will be a legitimate target for investment by Big Business. Expect Seagrams, brewers like Molsons/Coors, and Imperial Tobacco to jump in with both feet.
This is a big deal, because Trudeau is currently safely ahead in the polls. Moreover, as the next election draws nigh in 2015, the Conservatives will by that time have been in power for nine years. That's generally the length of time that parties in federal politics stay in power until Canadians agree it's time for a change.
So not only is he currently ahead, Trudeau is a moderate to "quite likely" favorite to win. The NDP will support legalization, so even if Trudeau only wins a minority government, this is still likely to become law.
Nothing is for sure, but the odds are more likely than not that if the Liberals win the next Canadian federal election, sometime in 2016, Canada will withdraw from that part of the UN Treaty on Drugs that governs cannabis and will go fully legal, to buy, sell, possess (and grow for personal use) - all subject to provincial regulation and taxation. For REAL.
The video of Justin Trudeau's speech is here (The Link is to YouTube).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BetOS0y9mNg
Trudeau was later offered a chance to "clarify" his views by the Globe and Mail (Essentially, Canada's New York Times) and Trudeau doubled down on it a few days ago. He's not kidding. He means it.
Canadians currently favour legalization with 56-58% in support. Importantly, the issue is a significant policy winner in B.C. with support in that region at 60% (especially popular in the south part of the province - which is why Trudeau announced it in Kelowna) and will probably tip the scales in favour of the Liberals in many of those ridings. Legalization is smart and savvy politics which Trudeau hopes to use to secure victory in the lower mainland of BC - enough to form a majority government.
Conversely, the regions of Canada where legalization is not quite a majority opinion among likely voters are regions where the Liberals rarely win at the polls. There is essentially little downside to Trudeau's sticking to this policy -- with plenty of upside, especially in B.C. and in the Atlantic provinces of Canada, where the Liberals currently enjoy an overwhelming 45% support of all voters - a 20 point lead over their next closest opponent. In Atlantic Canada, support for legalization is at 64%.
Delegates to the Liberal Party of Canada in its last national convention voted 77.5% in favour of legalization as part of the Liberal Party's national policy platform. While this is not binding on the party leader, it is clear that Trudeau has the enthusiastic support of the party faithful - and he's going for it.
To be clear to international readers, the Liberal Party is not a fringe party in Canada. It is a moderate centre-left party which considers itself Canada's "natural governing party". The Liberals have been in power in Ottawa more often than any other party in the history of the country -- indeed, with more years in power in the 20th century than any other political party in any developed country.
This is akin to Barack Obama saying he will legalize cannabis by executive order without having a congressional vote of any sort to get in the way of it and mess it up, and without any of the fifty states being able to still make cannabis illegal for purposes of state law.
In Canada's Parliamentary system, the Prime Minister and Cabinet rule the roost - and practically speaking, with control of Parliament, the Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet have complete power over all amendments to the Criminal Code. Further, there is no concurrent provincial jurisdiction over the criminal law in Canada. If Trudeau legalizes cannabis federally, it's legal for all purposes coast-to-coast and no provincial statute can override it. However, as a legal product, the provincial governments would control how it is sold, what is sold, who supplies the product and, if sold through a government monopoly like Ontario's LCBO, the ultimate price at which it would be sold. Provinces also control the age at which someone can purchase cigarettes, alcohol and, presumably, cannabis. Depending on the particular province, the so-called "age of majority" for purchasing alcohol is 18 or 19 - not 21.
So we're not kidding around here. Trudeau's announcement is, to date, the single greatest sign that full legalization of cannabis is soon coming to a Western nation.
I've been predicting this for a while now. People have been scoffing at me for a while now, too. Please, continue to scoff until it happens -- but understandably, we're pretty chuffed.
kakuwedding and your spam!
