Cannabis referendum coming to BC.

[konadog]

Remember the HST signature drive that lead to the referendum? There is another in the works with the goal of essentially decriminalizing cannabis in BC. Sensible BC and Dana Larson are leading the charge.
( http://sensiblebc.ca/ ) Whether or not you indulge I hope you'll add your voice to the cause of ending the costly, unfair and baseless prohibition against pot smokers. The signature drive will be in the early fall.
Thanks everyone

[FalcoColumbarius]

Funny, really?
I remember there was this phone-in television political debate between Ed Broadbent, Pierre Trudeau & Joe Clark in 1979. People would be calling in about various political issues ~ "if you get into power, what will be your policies regarding this or that?" sort of thing. One guy phoned in and ask all three what their respective policy would be regarding the decriminalisation of marijuana. Their response was that no matter which of the candidates got into office, marijuana would be decriminalised. That was 1979, it's now 2013 and it appears that nothing has changed and the right wing Americans have set the benchmark for us more liberally minded Canadians by not only decriminalising marijuana but legalising it. How extraordinary! Bada-bing, bada-boom ~ just like that.

My question is ~ why?
I have heard concerns of how would we regulate such an act and wouldn't this just make the criminals all that much more wealthier? Mind you they were saying that back when there was a strong protest to the liquor prohibition ~ what about all those guys with stills in the toolies? For one, I suppose if such an act were carried in parliament the criminals (whom only grow pot) would be themselves decriminalised, de facto, so to speak. Besides, who would want to seek out dealer connexions when they could just pick some up at the store on the way home. I suppose a potential concern would be road blocks and how would the powers that be measure or regulate a driver's level of intoxication. Having said that I'd imagine that they would figure something out pretty fast. I keep seeing images from Cheech & Chong movies at this point....
Like..... whoa..... man

Falco.

[yojimbo]

I expect the real problem is figuring out how to tax it

[FalcoColumbarius]

Well, they didn't have a difficult time taxing tobacco...

[yojimbo]

That's not exactly what I meant, when they started taxing tobacco, booze, fuel, etc, it was much less, actually saying that I'm looking at it from the UK taxation levels, but anyway, if they taxed it at a comparable rate to tobacco here, they would drive production back onto the black market as it is now. MJ is somewhat allowed here for personal use, and before that it was lowered in its classification, mainly I expect to massage statistics in order to lower the statistical drug use numbers. If however they were to tax at a similar level, where its something like quadrupling the cost to the buyer, then I dont see many people preferring the legal option. The other taxes started off low and have crept up over the year, this would be new, and hence the problem.

[nxski]

I wonder how they would tax it if you were to grow it yourself!? It seems that if it were decriminalized or legalized the obvious choice would be to grow it yourself. This would no longer require buying through the black market or paying exorbitant taxes on it.

[almac]

referendums really don't matter in BC.
look at the HST referendum over a year ago...
and guess what? we still have an HST.
if this is the way the BCLiberals want my vote; they won't get it.

I would vote for Mickey Mouse, before i voted for BCLiberal.
they are dictators.

[konadog]

I expect growing your own would be treated like beer and wine which we can make ourselves and for friends, but not for profit. The vast majority will still want to buy - hardly anyone makes beer and wine compared to those that buy. Growing takes space and knowledge and effort. Like running a delica on veggie oil, it has to be an interest and a hobby beyond the end use. Most will still just want to be able to go to the store to buy a bag a weed and leave the production to someone who likes that sort of thing. Personally I don't think it should be taxed beyond sales tax at all. We don't tax coffee, and that's about the level of impairment of smoking pot. Either way, if the government wants tax revenue from it, the price will have to be at or below the current standards, which should be no problem when growers are free to produce and market above board.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I believe one can still grow their own tobacco, as well. Sorry guys but I just had to post this:



Falco.

[nxski]

IPersonally I don't think it should be taxed beyond sales tax at all. We don't tax coffee, and that's about the level of impairment of smoking pot.

That's a hard one to state, I think the impairment from smoking weed is far more than coffee (no matter how much I drink) as well as alcohol if you were to drink just one beer. The problem with this is that a very small amount of weed can get you high whereas a very small amount of alcohol does not make you drunk. A very large amount of weed also makes you high but a very large amount of alcohol will bring you into a much worse state of impairment or potentially death.

If we're talking addiction level, then I could see stating that marijuana and coffee are similar and alcohol is worse.

[konadog]

I'm saying there is no "impairment" with smoking pot at all. The bad press and misinformation about the effects of pot are are carryover from the "Reefer Madness" days and not based on reality at all. Lots of pot-heads are skiers, mt. bikers, climbers and so on and on. And I know that when I was in uni the kids who were smoking pot before exams were the ones getting the top marks. The empirical, scientific research supports this as well.

[nxski]

I'm saying there is no "impairment" with smoking pot at all. The bad press and misinformation about the effects of pot are are carryover from the "Reefer Madness" days and not based on reality at all. Lots of pot-heads are skiers, mt. bikers, climbers and so on and on. And I know that when I was in uni the kids who were smoking pot before exams were the ones getting the top marks. The empirical, scientific research supports this as well.

Do you smoke pot? (I'm not expecting an answer, but it doesn't sound as though you do) Some people can function quite well on it but I don't know of anyone who smokes pot and feels it doesn't impair you. Driving while high, for instance, has been shown to be relatively unproblematic while going through the motions, but as soon as something out of the ordinary occurs, it is difficult to judge the appropriate reaction. I've done my share of experimenting and can tell you that I do not act the same way high as I would normally, regardless of the task at hand. Drinking 12 cups of coffee a day, as I often do, yields very little affect on my operating system though.

[psilosin]

I'm saying there is no "impairment" with smoking pot at all. The bad press and misinformation about the effects of pot are are carryover from the "Reefer Madness" days and not based on reality at all. Lots of pot-heads are skiers, mt. bikers, climbers and so on and on. And I know that when I was in uni the kids who were smoking pot before exams were the ones getting the top marks. The empirical, scientific research supports this as well.

maybe top marks in basket weaving or pottery...

[konadog]

I'm saying there is no "impairment" with smoking pot at all. The bad press and misinformation about the effects of pot are are carryover from the "Reefer Madness" days and not based on reality at all. Lots of pot-heads are skiers, mt. bikers, climbers and so on and on. And I know that when I was in uni the kids who were smoking pot before exams were the ones getting the top marks. The empirical, scientific research supports this as well.

maybe top marks in basket weaving or pottery...

Precisely the type of stereotyping I mean. Assumptions and folklore which lead to the current witch hunt against cannabis users.

[yojimbo]

Heh, I used to hang around pot smokers, to suggest there is no impairment is silly, some of them could only just manage to remember to breathe while under the influence, but thats subjective. Back in the days of 'pot smokers' as in the 60's or 70s thing were different, I believe the product is significantly different now with much higher levels of THC.