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Big pot users, Canadians renew legalization fight
Tue Jul 10, 5:57 PM ET
TORONTO (Reuters) - A U.N. report showing Canadians use more marijuana than people in any other industrialized country is more evidence that the drug should be legalized, activists said on Tuesday.
The 2007 World Drug Report found that 16.8 percent of Canadians between 15 and 64 used marijuana, otherwise known as cannabis or pot, at least once in the past year, four times more than the global average of 3.8 percent.
That compared to an average 10.7 percent in North America and 5.6 percent in Europe, said the report, issued by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in late June.
"This shows people are more open about it. They don't see anything wrong with it," said Robin Ellins, whose shop in downtown Toronto sells products as diverse as cannabis lollipops and T-shirts made of hemp, as well as a wide range of smoking accessories.
Ellins said he and other activists have been trying to push the government to legalize marijuana smoking for years. He said the report adds fresh momentum to their campaign.
"Smoking marijuana is safer than drinking coffee and less harmful than alcohol and tobacco," he said.
Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world with 160 million people using it at least once in 2005, the U.N. report said.
Papua New Guinea topped the marijuana list with 29.5 percent of the population using it, followed by Micronesia, Ghana, Zambia and Canada, according to the annual finding.
Canadian media report that the number of people arrested for smoking marijuana rose dramatically in several Canadian cities last year after the Conservatives took office and killed a bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
Laws on possession of marijuana in Canada are generally more relaxed than those in the United States.
A U.N. report showing Canadians use more marijuana than people in any other industrialized country is more evidence that the drug should be legalized, activists said on Tuesday.
Only the people who have smoked it should be allowed to say if it is safer than alcohol. And let me tell you it in fact is.
Marijuana will never impair someone the way that alcohol can. You cannot get poisened from smoking too much in a day. You can however die in a day from drinking too much. You cannot drive or function in any way shape or form when you are drunk. You can however after smoking. The only thing a smoker may do is get really hungry. You arent gonig to find a smoker out there beating his wife and kids because he is high. Alcoholics will do that on a daily basis.
Marijuana should be legal because it is a stone cold FACT that it is a safer drug than alcohol. The only reason it is illegal is because the govt doesnt think they can control it like Alcohol. It's all about money.
It's nearly legal in Oregon as well. If you are just a user caught with less than an ounce, you get no more than a ticket and your stuff taken.
Only the people who have smoked it should be allowed to say if it is safer than alcohol. And let me tell you it in fact is.
Marijuana will never impair someone the way that alcohol can. You cannot get poisened from smoking too much in a day. You can however die in a day from drinking too much. You cannot drive or function in any way shape or form when you are drunk. You can however after smoking. The only thing a smoker may do is get really hungry. You arent gonig to find a smoker out there beating his wife and kids because he is high. Alcoholics will do that on a daily basis.
Marijuana should be legal because it is a stone cold FACT that it is a safer drug than alcohol. The only reason it is illegal is because the govt doesnt think they can control it like Alcohol. It's all about money.
Of course it's harmful - physiologically and psychologically. But that's no reason to make its use criminal. It should be legalised and use regulated as far as possible. People should be educated in its use. We live in societies steeped in hypocrisy where we allow the use of tobacco and alcohol but criminalise the use of marijuana.
so why do libs want to ban smoking, but say it is OK to smoke pot?
so why do libs want to ban smoking, but say it is OK to smoke pot?
nobody wants to BAN smoking...just restrict the places that it can be done and require individual accountability for its negative effects.
I, for one, would not allow smokers to file insurance claims for smoking related illnesses. You smoke...you get emphysema.... you cover the costs of treatment out of pocket. Can't afford it? tough shit.
same thing for head injuries incurred while riding a motorcycle without a helmet.
Insurance companies would go nuts. They would argue for higher premiums for smokers or people who want to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, not a complete loss of those clients surely. I don't know much about the insurance business but it seems to me to operate like a bookie, it works the odds and it lays them off when necessary.
