#Oh Caaa-nnabis, my home and native leaf...#

Former Member

Hey kids! I haven't been around for a while, but this one was just too good to pass up. In fact, I wasn't sure whether I should put this in the Drugs or Politics forums, but I figured this one would be more fun.
So, as a last ditch effort to leave a happy legacy before the next election, it looks like the Canadian PM, Jean Chretien, is going to "decriminalize" the possession of small amounts of pot (under 15 or 30 grams, depending on who you ask). Instead of arrests and wrap sheets, said users will be given hefty fines: I've heard everything from $150 Canadian (about 300 pounds) to $1000 C (about 2000 lbs.) I almost started shimmying in my seat at first, but here's the catch: they're going to get MUCH TOUGHER on the sellers and growers, in some cases as much as DOUBLING the possible jail time for convicts. For the local "weed community", this means that nothing has really changed: it's still a human rights issue, i.e. freedom to smoke the shit that's less damaging than cigarettes and alcohol. All that's going to happen now is that personal-use consumers are going to be paying WAY MORE for their party favors, because the jail-time risk for the dealer is shooting through the roof. Grumble grumble. :mad:
So, any thoughts? Is this decriminalization a good or bad thing? Mr. Roll, I'm sure you've got some good insights on this scene.Cannabis in Canada

Former Member

I heard of this move a while ago, they have been getting shit loads of problems from the US though havent they. They're pissed because most of the weed smoked in the north half of the US comes from Canada now a days.
Hasn't Vancover gone further than this already, I thought the police chief there said that they wouldnt do anyone for personal use of anything. I might be wrong though.

The weed I picked up in Montreal was very fine and preaty cheap too.

Former Member

I also heard this a while ago and heard that the US said they would have to get tighter on their borders with Canada if Canada relaxed their laws on drugs.

Former Member

Yes, that's exactly the issue, which seems kinda silly when you consider that in the article I attached, it mentions that weed is already decriminalized in some states. I can't verify this, but I have a feeling that the stricter dealer/grower laws were just cooked up to saticefy the American gov't. Of course, as you have mentioned, the idea has been floating around for years, it's just that this is the first time it's been official and made the news so much. In Vancouver, the police have been rallying to decriminalize for years because they're sick of having to haul in small-time users, which feels to them like a waist of valuable policing time and money. Hence the existence of cannabis cafes (where cigarettes are not allowed but weed is) much like the ones in Amsterdam. In most provinces the cops tend to be "unofficially lax" with such users, giving warnings, looking the other way, etc. But still, it's always a gamble, which is why a lot of us are pretty excited about this law going through, especially on the prairies where the cops aren't quite as foreward-thinking as the ones in BC, because this time it would be a FEDERAL law, instead of provincial.

Former Member

Re: #Oh Caaa-nnabis, my home and native leaf...#

Originally posted by PositivePain
for their party favors, because the jail-time risk for the dealer is shooting through the roof. Mr. Roll, I'm sure you've got some good insights on this scene [/URL]

i just made a small mention about the canadian situation in anything goes!
the way i see it is, you start doubling penalties for growers and dealers and you'll end up with a lot of growers and dealers dropping out as the risks are to high. as they drop out they will be replaced by far more ruthless people who will shoot any fucker that messes with them ...meaning the law ...rather than go down the hole for five years!
i hope your information is wrong. theres a huge gulf between drug dealers and cannabis dealers. the dope scene is mostly safe, decent people, freinds etc. the people that make these decisions do so out of fucking ignorance. a decision like this one is a direct invite to organised hardmen who are ONLY ...in it for the money. thats the big difference between drugs and herbs.

Former Member

Exactly,i have never met a person who is agressive selling cannabis,all laid back people but this new law will give the invitation for hard men as u say mroll who only want money and will use any means they see fit to get it.

Former Member

Governments can avoid these issues, which is worrying. Most governments work the same way, follow the leader kind of thing. Except now the leader [netherlands] seem to be backing out, even though everything was working out brilliantly over there....

lib dems for Britain

Former Member

Re: Re: #Oh Caaa-nnabis, my home and native leaf...#

Originally posted by morrocan roll

i hope your information is wrong. theres a huge gulf between drug dealers and cannabis dealers. the dope scene is mostly safe, decent people, freinds etc. the people that make these decisions do so out of fucking ignorance. a decision like this one is a direct invite to organised hardmen who are ONLY ...in it for the money. thats the big difference between drugs and herbs.

Sadly, I don't think my info is wrong. Aye, see this is the cloud on the silver lining. Apparently, they WILL still be distinguishing between "small time" and "big time" growers and dealers, but the penalties will still go up for both. For instance (my details are fuzzy on this one), I heard on the news last night that, say someone is caught with less than 50 (I think) plants, the standard sentence will change from 5-7 years to 10-14!!!! I mean what the fuck!!!!!!!!!! The official reason is that weed is still seen as a "social problem" and that rather than punishing "young victims" (i.e. small-time users, usually under 30) they'll hit the community where it hurts: the distributors.

Therefore, "kids" will be hurt even more by the fact that now, they won't be buying from Uncle Moe across the street, they'll be buying from Scarface MacGee who has shady connections to the Hell's Angels. GRRRRRRR. :impissed:

Former Member

Let's start a motherfucking petition! It's about time the herb was fucking legalized!

Former Member

Re: Re: Re: #Oh Caaa-nnabis, my home and native leaf...#

Originally posted by PositivePain

Therefore, "kids" will be hurt even more by the fact that now, they won't be buying from Uncle Moe across the street, they'll be buying from Scarface MacGee who has shady connections to the Hell's Angels. GRRRRRRR. :impissed:

and scarface magee will shoot any cops coming by to arrest him and YOU ...if you owe him any money or drop him in it!
being ilegal in the first place makes it a paradise of seriously easy money for the criminaly inclined but upping the anti always ups the violence. the more dangerous it gets the bigger the boys who move in.
but do these dumb fuckers ever listen ....

Former Member

Yea but no governement is going to listen to its people's call,just look at all the anti war demonstrations that took place,the government didn't give a fuck,they just went ahead with what they thougt was right in their eyes and will continue to do so no matter what the people think.There should be a vote in ur polling station whether Cannabis should be legalised and wait and see the results. I wonder when the day will be whenever the plant that was put here by God will be made legal.

Former Member

Originally posted by Shogun2002
There should be a vote in ur polling station whether Cannabis should be legalised and wait and see the results. I wonder when the day will be whenever the plant that was put here by God will be made legal.

Well said. You know what else is funny, the 'official' estimate is that about 1% of the population uses (i.e. present-tense) weed. Now, call me crazy, but I'm POSITIVE it's more than that. Hell, if my home town is any indication, it's gotta be sitting at at LEAST 15%. And that's a modest guess. I'm sure of it. I mean who the fuck did they poll to get that kind of a stat, anyway????????? In any case, I'm sure that number would be different if the question were phrased "what percentage of the population has ever, at any point in their lives, smoked up?" Besides, that shouldn't even BE the issue. It doesn't matter how small or big the number is. NO ONE should have to go to jail over weed.

Former Member

1% lol. No way,it's alot more than 1% nowadays anyway,everyone round my area and town smoke now,everyone u meet down town or anywhere are either smoking/got some or going 2 get some. No it would not be right for someone to go to jail for weed,what a pathetic excuse.

Former Member

Increasing the penalties for dealers could actualy have the oposite effect than your suggesting.
With tougher sentancing more people might grow their own and thus there might be less dealers. I do get your point though, there is a lot of money to be made smuggling the stuff to the US.
That and the materials needed for meth.

Former Member

That's a good point, bb. Speaking of the meth thing, there's been a HUGE wack of busts for that here over the last year. They keep finding these massive labs that are bigger than anything they've found anywhere else in the country. Of course, news anchors do like to exaggerate. One of them was apparently super-sophisticated, in an old warehouse in a mini-mall and all the neighboring shopkeepers where freaking out about it. I suppose those labs can be dangerous. Explosions and toxic chemicals and all that. Coke also seems to be picking up steam as the drug of choice around here. Personally I don't touch chemicals, but to each their own. Anyway what was my point...oh ya: I feel like I live in a very strange province. On the one hand it's ultra conservative, and our business-oriented provincial admin hates anything liberal, especial drugs and arty types like one would find in my town of Edmonton (dubbed the "leftist oasis" in Alberta). On the other hand, you've got this HUGE upswing in drug intake that's going on all across N. America, and Alberta is no exception. What's that old cliche? It's like trying to stop a run-away train.

Former Member

The problem with meth manufactoring is the people who do it, not really the process itself as such.
If your not careful then some of the ingredients can go up in your face in a preaty nasty way. That and I'm preaty sure that for every kilo of meth you make you have about 4kg of toxic waste.

Former Member

I know how to make crystal meth yay for me

Former Member

Its not very hard to learn how to do it, there must be 100,000 recipe sites on the net. the difficult part is getting the materials and then not killing yourself in the process.