I'm not a user but have a question for people with more experience. I recently had a few very bad experiences at the movie theatre where (a) the entire outside area smelled of what I think was weed, and (b) the person next to us in a very full theatre reeked of it. We had to leave because it was a really bad odour. Is Toronto going a bit overboard in the short term while people are experimenting or is this just the way it is going to be? I.e. we stop going to movies, etc. I'm not being judgemental .. want to try to be open about it. What does one do in this situation?<p>I see drunk people from time to time too but I can avoid them fairly easily. MJ seems harder to avoid. I also had a run in at a beach recently where I was there to watch the sunset. The MJ user also seemed to be there for that reason .. I just moved away. Harder to do in a packed theatre.
I see many comments here about the health and social effects of smoking marijuana and there's of course a very valid point in each of those discussions - smoking (anything) is not good for your lungs and smoking around unsuspecting non-smokers is disrespectful (and gets them high, because weed smoke is active even in the air!).<p>But there's another angle that I'm curious about: the mentality shift that it will generate in society as more and more people start using the herb - for recreation, medication or as an industrial plant.<p>It's a very powerful plant, people have been using it for thousands of years, because it grows everywhere and has lots of industrial uses.<p>And of course we've all been indirectly influenced by it: by listening to the music, lyrics, books or movies created by artists who were high.<p>It's a great companion for both the consumption and production of all types of entertainment, from videos to video games, design and even coding !<p>So in a way it's even more useful today than it has ever been, which is why, sooner or later it will get legalised in a lot more places.<p>Like so many things, if abused, It's addictive and makes people lazy and demotivated, but the value it brings to its users ( and indirectly to the huge information and entertainment (and food!) industry) is quite high :)<p>I'm just curious how will society change after, say, 50 years of legal weed ? Will we still be trying to fight wars or will everyone just chill down, smoke the herb and play their sitars in peace ? :)
>But the provinces will have the right to decide how the marijuana is distributed and sold. Provincial governments will also have the right to set price.<p>I don't look forward to the potential outcome of this. Most provinces have long been saddled with alcohol monopolies that keep prices quite high, particularly when compared to neighbouring US states. I can easily see provinces setting up similar, monopolized retail systems for weed.<p>Canada already has a huge black market in untaxed cigarettes, and if provinces are not careful with prices/taxes, the already-existing black market in marijuana will live on.
I fail to see the reason for the delay... Just stop enforcing, period. There is no reason to continue enforcing something that you KNOW is going to be legal soon. Its just letting the last of of the money feed into the judicial system...
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-27/canada-pot-stocks-surge-after-report-of-legalization-date" rel="nofollow">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-27/canada-po...</a><p>A lot of institutional money in marijuana right now, its hard to hedge so this will make alot of people breath a bit easier now.
This is great news! I wonder why we can't legalize all drugs?<p>I have a side tracked question about this:<p>Let's say you were in prison for dealing Marijuana. What would the status of your case be now considering that it would be legalized?<p>(as in, would you still have to serve your term even though the crime you did is now considered legal?)
I'm all for legalized marijuana, I just wish we could do away with <i>smoking</i> it in public (and cigarettes). I have no problem with it but the smell.
If we have been wrong about prohibition of marihuana for so long, then it seems reasonable to ask "are we not wrong about all drug prohibition"?<p>Like honestly, who really cares if people make a personal decision to take cocaine or ecstasy or whatever? It's not something I'd do, and doesn't seem good for your health, but apart from that, it's not harming anyone other than the consumer. And if all drugs are freely available and manufactured professionally then they would be much safer and more predicatable and far less likely for people to overdose due to variances in strength of street drugs.<p>Cheap, clean freely available drugs mean that addicts don't have to dedicate their lives to their habits and thus are more likely to hold together ordinary family life and jobs.
I don't smoke marijuana but I welcome it primarily because I hope that freely available marijuana will mean people are less inclined to try meth.<p>People want to get high, and if they can't get some pot down at the shop, then I think they are more likely to try much more dangerous drugs.
They are actually rushing to get it introduced by 4/20 (I'm not kidding): <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-rushing-to-draft-marijuana-legalization-bill-ahead-of-420-sources-say/article34431990/" rel="nofollow">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-rushing-...</a>
It's always 'later', and 'later' it never happens as promised.<p>Look at Uruguay. It is legalized - but no pharmacy sells, it's incredibly hard to find legal marijuana, and so the illegal market still thrives.<p>The medicinal model of the USA is still probably the most successful legalizaton case worldwide.
I'm Canadian and live in the US.<p>I think it should be legal, since I don't see any reason not to legalize. I'm just worried that this + Trump/Sessions in charge will make things more difficult at the border.
I am sceptical of these kinds of changes. Why is it that governments are going to such trouble to essentially eliminate tobacco, but they are permitting another problematic drug? And it's usually the same side of politics who wants to get rid of tobacco, as wants to introduce marijuana! On the face of it it's strange.<p>I guess the only thing good about this is it might make it easier to see whether cannabis might cause schizophrenia in certain at-risk populations. :/