Mounties gearing up for battle
Where have I heard all this before…
Canada’s Growing Marijuana Problem
[…]tens of thousands of illegal “grow-ops” remain in Canada. Estimates suggest marijuana may generate up to C$7bn (C$3.5bn; US$6.1bn) a year in BC, the sunny province thought to be at the heart of the industry.
Looks like terrorism, corporate crime, corruption, and so forth has been licked up north.
“Cannabis is the biggest issue facing law enforcement now,” says Inspector Paul Nadeau of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Canada’s new Conservative government says people like Frank [who grows maijuana] are a menace to society, putting drugs on the streets and fuelling organised crime – and it has vowed to get tough on them.
But critics accuse the government of being wilfully blind to the historic failures of law enforcement, and ignoring public opinion and the findings of expert committees in favour of a policy of demonising marijuana – a policy they liken to the short-lived Prohibition of alcohol in 1920s and 30s America.
And the real reason for the crackdown:
Mr Oscapella suggests Canada is fearful of crossing the US government, which he says has threatened to slow bilateral trade worth about US$1bn per day.
Oh Canada! GROW A BACKBONE! … and take a hit of this!
Bush’s lapdog in the UK looks to get retired from office, soon. At least he’ll have a new toy in the Great White North to fondle. Until the corruption scandal dies down that got Harper elected — as the same sort of built-in lame duck as Chirac.
if it were not for the US Canada would have decriminalized pot years ago… In Vancouver people already smoke it on the streets (in plane view), and its easier to smoke in a joint in a pub/club than a cigarette
but don;t worry I am sure the war on terror… er i mean drugs will be won soon enough… you guys sure know how to pick your battles
Just out of curiosity how does one become a Canadian citizen? I might want to move to a less fascist debt ridden country, eh.
I go all over Canada, I don;t smell dope on the streets. Berkeley is worse.
yo, Improbus, check this out…
http://www.canadianalternative.com/gettoknow/whycanada.cfm
BYW, Improbus, some of your finest Marines, Airmen, Army, and Navy personnel are already here (due to something they objected to happening about 3 years ago).
Come join them!!
Well, we’ve aserted rights for gays here in Canada, and the States hates that, so hopefully we can find a backbone on this issue here. Wasting legal time and money on busting people for something akin to drinking is ridiculous. (Which personally I don’t do, but I also don’t care if you do.)
(Of course economically, we have a lot more to loose, and the US is much less resonable. See the softwood lumber dispute. Even after we won the battle multiple times, the US still won’t obey laws and agreements because it doesn’t benefit them. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/softwood_lumber/)
Blame Canada is a great song.
I think that the former government of Canada would disagree with your point that Canada has stamped out corruption and corporate crime.
Um, JS, I was being sarcastic, referring to the next paragraph where the Mountie official said marijuana was the biggest law enforcement problem in the country.
Anyone who actually lives in Canada knows its only a matter of time till we actually decriminalize pot. PM Harper might hold it off for his mandate, but the next time the Liberals get in power …
About time! They those canadians needed to throw good money at this hamless problem. Murder, arson, robbery? No time for that, we have more important things to deal with.
Seriously though, I dont suport marijuana like I dont suport any other recreational drug. Its just the irony that nobody has smoked themselvs to death yet there are may out there who drink themselvs to death or live with cronic liver problems from a legal drug. Why dont they just slap a hefty tax on it and make some money? It would be better than the budget hole we have in the states with the “War on Drugs” (lol). Hey canada, got any Tech jobs, I may be joining you.
When I immigrated to the US from Canada, I admited that I had been arrested for pot eight years earlier. Even though the case had been dismissed, the INS wanted proof that it was dismissed. When I contacted the Canadian justice system I got the whole runaround. No one could find the case. I finally ended up talking to the RCMP and was told that “they don’t keep the records for pot because they are not important enough”. It took a lot of convinceing to get the INS to go along with that.