He is one of the most liberal leaders of our time and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now has his sights set on legalizing marijuana in Canada. German Lopez with Vox reports:
The policy was a big part of the Trudeau and the Liberals' campaign:
"We will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. Canada's current system of marijuana prohibition does not work. It does not prevent young people from using marijuana and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug."
If marijuana were legalized in Canada, it would be a first among wealthy nations. In the US, four states and Washington, DC, have legalized pot, but it's still illegal at the federal level. The only other country to fully legalize marijuana is the tiny developing country of Uruguay. And although some countries — the Netherlands and Spain, in particular — have relaxed enforcement of their marijuana laws, none in the developed world have outright legalized it.
Lopez adds Trudeau is bringing attention to three outdated world drug treaties.
From the 1960s through the 1980s, much of the world, including the US, signed on to three major international drug policy treaties: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Drugs of 1971, and the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. Combined, the treaties require participants to limit and even prohibit the possession, use, trade, and distribution of drugs outside of medical and scientific purposes, and work together to stop international drug trafficking.
Of course, there will be debate. But Lopez believes if Canada can legalize pot, it could change the international platform on drug policies around the world.
Read the full story here.
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