Marijuanna

[maplesyrup]

The Liberals are going ahead with basically the same bill as before to decriminalize possession of small amounts.

CBC has an informative web page all about it:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/marijuana/

It appears that the majority of Canadians are supportive.

[Slavik44]

-Marijuana use reduces learning ability. Research has been piling up of late demonstrating clearly that marijuana limits the capacity to absorb and retain information. A 1995 study of college students discovered that the inability of heavy marijuana users to focus, sustain attention, and organize data persists for as long as 24 hours after their last use of the drug. Earlier research, comparing cognitive abilities of adult marijuana users with non-using adults, found that users fall short on memory as well as math and verbal skills. Although it has yet to be proven conclusively that heavy marijuana use can cause irreversible loss of intellectual capacity, animal studies have shown marijuana-induced structural damage to portions of the brain essential to memory and learning.

-Chronic marijuana smokers are prey to chest colds, bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial asthma. Persistent use will damage lungs and airways and raise the risk of cancer. There is just as much exposure to cancer-causing chemicals from smoking one marijuana joint as smoking five tobacco cigarettes. And there is evidence that marijuana may limit the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease.

-Another concern is marijuana’s role as a "gateway drug," which makes subsequent use of more potent and disabling substances more likely. The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found adolescents who smoke pot 85 times more likely to use cocaine than their non–pot smoking peers. And 60 percent of youngsters who use marijuana before they turn 15 later go on to use cocaine.

If anyone was wondering if the liberals were doing the Governments Job of protecting Canadian's should get there answer right here, as you said a majority of peopel support it. This is the Liberals these are their morals, if you don't like them they have others. The supreme court of Canada kept Pot illegal for a reason, remeber we are talkign about a supreme court that has continual shown it's left wing stance often, perhaps they had a reason to "say no to weed".

[udawg]

I find it interesting that the goverment switches its standpoint from programs to discourage drug (including marijuana) use, which have been costing taxpayers money for years, to suddenly deciding to legalize simple possession.

Marijuana should not be legalized, because it undermines all the education programs that have been in place, and are actually starting to have an effect. I don't have a problem paying taxes for programs like DARE, but when the government undermines these efforts by legalizing possession, that's when I begin to get upset.

I know several young people who no longer fear carrying it around with them. Legalizing possession has made using marijuana easier and less risky for these teenagers. And we all know about the risks of drug use in young people. (Slavik44's post is quite comprehensive.)

I don't understand why the government undertook this initiative in the first place... all this does is open the door for further drug legalizations. Drug use is one of the biggest problems with young people today, so they make it easier? It's still illegal for young people to drink alcohol... does this mean that we've decided, as a nation, that alcohol is worse than other forms of drugs?

I hope somebody can clarify the government's reasoning, because it doesn't make any sense at all to me.