As November draws closer, our Canadian neighbors are paving a new road to cannabis legalization. Can the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, and her campaign keep up?
In a recent article in the New York Times, Dan Levin describes the scene in The Cannabis Culture Lounge in Vancouver, British Columbia. He talks of $3 buds, bongs for rent, munchies for sale, and the comfiest couches on offer for customers.
The establishment has been open for over a decade and began selling weed after Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister last November.
You Would Be Forgiven For Thinking Marijuana Is Legal In Canada, But It’s Not
Not yet, anyway.
PM Trudeau has promised to legalize recreational marijuana usage in Canada as soon as 2017. This would go beyond Canada’s strict medical laws, which currently allow patients to obtain their prescriptions from mail-order suppliers, or by growing a small amount privately.
Despite the legalities, marijuana dispensaries have started opening by the hundreds across the country.
A war between licensed medical producers and the new business owners is erupting in the midst of the uncertainty. The licensed producers complain of competition in a capitalist world; the other calls “cartel” on the nature of the existing model.
Trudeau’s people want recreation, but will he fall the way of Obama and fail to give them what they want?
This Is Not Just An Argument For Our Friendly Northern Neighbors
With the DEA deciding to maintain the Schedule I classification for cannabis, is America falling out of trend like a dorky kid on the playground?
In a recent shift in her campaign, Hillary Clinton’s policy advisor Maya Harris stated that:
“As president, Hillary Clinton will build on the important steps announced by rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule II substance.”
However, this does not mean she will keep up with Mr. Trudeau by promising to legalize the plant. There is no mention of marijuana on her campaign website, and this minor reclassifying move would have minimal effects in the real world.
At present, marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America. It falls just behind alcohol and tobacco despite a wealth of health benefits that neither of these two legal substances can boast.
The Health Benefits Of Cannabis Include, But Are Not Limited To:
- Treatment of glaucoma, promoting eye health and allowing users to maintain their vision.
- Reversal of the carcinogenic effects of tobacco (that legal stuff that gives us cancer).
- It relieves arthritis discomfort.
- Decreases anxiety, pain, and nausea.
- Improves symptoms of lupus.
- Slows progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Eases the agony of MS and other muscular spasms such as seizures and tremors associated with Parkinson’s disease.
- Studies have found that marijuana reduces the side effects of medication used to treat cancer and hepatitis.
- And more, more, more
With Olympians supporting the recreational movement, will 2016 be the year of the bud?
We are watching this space Mrs. Clinton, do your best and follow the science!
Here’s Clinton expressing her feelings on the issue of marijuana legalization:
