Canada to legalize marijuana by 2018

[Adelaide]

I'm surprised it took this long as well. However, it's virtually legal now. There are countless storefronts here in Toronto that sell weed.

I think I read that they busted the "King and Queen" of pot a couple weeks ago? Owned a bunch of stores.

[Bethere]

What are cops going to do if they can't bust marijuana smokers?

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[OGIS]

Good for Canada! Using science , pharmachology and real world evidence to make choices. You won't see much of that $#@! going on in America. It's all about who pays and very unemprical emotion.
While you are correct that the Candadian federal government has more authority to do this that ours does, please note that our feds never let not having authority stop them in their controlest quest.

If the US is not careful, it will fumble the Cannabis Ball.

American weed is supposedly the best in the world. Certainly most of the current 2300+ distinct strains of cannabis have certainly been created here in the good ol' USA.

And even more important, 'Merica, through its hamfisted War on Drugs, unintentionally created a black market need for the expertise to breed into the plant more "bang for the buck" (higher THC counts) which would reduce the size of smuggled cargo. And this need created a bumper crop of self-taught underground hippy geneticists, many of whom went on to be university students and world class plant geneticists.

We got the weed. And we got the brains. We could farking export cannabis to the farking world. And we could be the world center of medical research on cannabis.

But we don't have the law. And not having the law on your side means that 95% of your effort and genius is necessarily directed to not touching that ill-defined "third rail" that brings the DEA down onto your head.

The main victim, of course, is research. With weed listed as a Sch 1, it is virtually impossible to get hold of any to study it.

And that means that countries like Canada, and Israel... and even the UK (GW Pharmaceuticals, anyone?) may become the centers of R&D for the development both of tailored strains of marijuana, and of the possibly dozens or scores of medicines that might be created from the plant.

How many trillions of dollars is all that worth?

[OGIS]

Good for Canada! Using science , pharmachology and real world evidence to make choices. You won't see much of that $#@! going on in America. It's all about who pays and very unemprical emotion.
While you are correct that the Candadian federal government has more authority to do this that ours does, please note that our feds never let not having authority stop them in their controlest quest.

If the US is not careful, it will fumble the Cannabis Ball.

American weed is supposedly the best in the world. Certainly most of the current 2300+ distinct strains of cannabis have been created here in the good ol' USA.

And even more important, 'Merica, through its hamfisted War on Drugs, unintentionally created a black market need for the expertise to breed into the plant more "bang for the buck" (higher THC counts) which would reduce the size of smuggled cargo. And this need created a bumper crop of self-taught underground hippy geneticists, many of whom went on to be university students and world class plant geneticists.

We got the weed. And we got the brains. We could farking export cannabis to the farking world. And we could be the world center of medical research on cannabis.

But we don't have the law. And not having the law on your side means that 95% of your effort and genius is necessarily directed to not touching that ill-defined "third rail" that brings the DEA down onto your head.

The main victim, of course, is research. With weed listed as a Sch 1, it is virtually impossible to get hold of any to study it.

And that means that countries like Canada, and Israel... and even the UK (GW Pharmaceuticals, anyone?) may become the centers of R&D for the development both of tailored strains of marijuana, and of the possibly dozens or scores of medicines that might be created from the plant.

How many trillions of dollars is all that worth?

[Tahuyaman]

Have they announced the taxes yet? I imagine it will be more than the normal sales tax.

My home state (Washington) legalized marijuana. Shops sprung up immediately. I checked one out once. It's about the same price as it was in the 70's.

[resister]

Legal shrooms!

[Tahuyaman]

Who cares what they do in Canada.

[OGIS]

My home state (Washington) legalized marijuana. Shops sprung up immediately. I checked one out once. It's about the same price as it was in the 70's.

How recently?

There's an interesting article in (IIRC) Bloomberg about the recent ginormous drop in weed prices. Reason: every Tom Dick and Harry grower has expanded their grow ops, thinking that they can corner the market with their crops. Classic free market response to regulation dispersal.

https://www.leafly.com/news/politics...-could-plummet

For California, I think the numbers were $2,600 per pound down to just under $800 a pound, in less than 18 months, or maybe it was 12 months. That's just brutal. I understand there is currently a dropout and consolidation of growers happening... which may result in a coming shortage and high prices.
Here in OC, many of the 40, 50 or 60-odd dispensaries are trying to hold the line on prices - bottom shelf at around $8-$12 per gram, mid at around $14-$20, and top shelf going up to whatever. I've seen custom grown sativa flower with guaranteed analysis of 26% THC coated with hash oil (concentrated THC) and kief (pure THC crystals) going for $60 per gram.

But here and there are mavericks, and I've seen prices as low as $3 per gram. And the scary thing? It's (usually) perfectly serviceable weed.

But even the less-than-perfect stuff has its virtues. I bought a high-CBD strain for my wife's back pain. http://thepoliticalforums.com/thread...ue-(Harle-Tsu)

The seeds are worth their weight in gold. I'm talking with a couple of people who know people who know growers to see if I can donate some seeds and get a future donation of a pound or so of Harley Sue flower back

[Adelaide]

Who cares what they do in Canada.

The United States have a lot of things in common. Canada tends to legalize (or decriminalize) things a lot earlier than the United States, but sort of sets a precedent. If most Canadians are at the point of accepting legalization, it's probably also try that many Americans hold the same view to some extent.

[donttread]

I am surprised it took this long, honestly.

Well, I support a certain level of devolution even if I think Canada is doing this right. The US simply doesn't and can't function the same way the Canadian federal government can.

We are different and always will be , however the American government could be more practical and evidenced based .

BTW, what do you mean by "I support a certain level of devolution"?