Ottawa

Will our weed ever be as free as our grapes?

The Liberal leader reignites the marijuana debate

Justin Trudeau has now confirmed (again) his party’s stated policy on marijuana. He’d previously expressed support for decriminalization.

Last month, Ken MacQueen made the case for legalizing marijuana. Included therein is polling that shows a majority (57%) of Canadians want to legalize the drug, but of course that has to be translated into the current political math. A Forum poll in December 2011 put support for Mr. Trudeau’s position—legalize and tax—at 40%. Decriminalizing the possession of small amounts—which would seem to be the preferred option of Thomas Mulcair—was supported by another 26%. Thirty-one percent wanted the law left as is or penalties increased and presumably those people would side with the Conservative party, which is, of course, profoundly saddened by Mr. Trudeau’s remarks. The most interesting part of that Forum poll might be that support for legalizing or decriminalizing was highest among those aged 55 to 64.

The best part of all of this is that reporters now have an excuse to shove microphones in the faces of politicians and ask them if they’ve ever smoked weed and, if so, when they last did so. Possibly some form of mandatory drug testing is in order.

In other news, Conservative MP Dan Albas was recently feted by the BC wine institute for his work to repeal a prohibition-era law against the transport of wine across provincial borders.

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.