What I want to do here is try and help people see the good of marijuana. It's absolutely not a dangerous plant, in fact it's practically harmless and has been used for the last 5000 years and there has not been one single death from it's use. So why is it illegal?
In 1923 parliament was coming up with the first controlled substance act since the opium ban about 15 years earlier. Marijuana wasn't even included in the original draft, then out of no where, with no public debate, vote, or scientific study marijuana was made illegal. There were absolutely no social problem from its use, and the average Canadian didn't even know about smoked marijuana, it was mostly used for medicine, rope, and textiles. Now, in order to figure out why it was added to the bill we have to look south of the boarder. In America, the prohibition of alcohol was just ending, the "drug czar" at that time was named Harry Anslinger and in order for him to keep his job, they needed to create another prohibition, so they turned to drugs. Ansliger was also the head of a textile company called Dupont, they were the first company to manufacture oil based, synthetic textiles. His synthetic textiles were expensive, time consuming, and not very strong. Everything that his company was manufacturing was being made out of hemp which was cheaper, faster to make, stronger then synthetic plastics, and a hell of a lot better for the environment. Anslinger knew all of this about marijuana and knew as long as people were using it for textiles, his synthetic crap would never fly. In order to eliminate that threat he created a social problem, saying the Mexicans who smoked it were becoming violent towards white women, and therefore should be illegal for the "protection of the people". All of this was bullshit, we all know now that marijuana makes you a more peaceful, easygoing person who would rather make a friend then beat the shit out of them. Ever since then billions of tax dollars have been wasted fighting a "war on drugs" which doesn't work. There are now stronger, cheaper, and a lot of new hard drugs in Canada because of this "war". If we legalize it, it would end all the social problems in Canada and the US, generate billions of dollars in taxes, and it would free up a lot of room in prisons. No non-violent drug offender should be put in jail for what they choose to put in their bodies, especially pot. Currently the legality of the prohibition of marijuana is up in the air in Canada, a lot of judges are starting to relize that, saying the prohibition is unconstitutional. It's only a matter of time before it is officially declared legal by the supreme court, so until that time comes,so I act like it is legal. I freely walk the streets smoking a joint, or carry one of my bongs with me, and I encourage everyone else to do so as well. Gandi said himself that if you feel a law is unjust then openly defy it, prohibition of marijuana was based on lies, and doesn't work, so therefore is unjust and will continue to break it until Canada comes up with a reasonable drug policy based on harm reduction and education just like every independent study suggests. Even the Canadian Senate recommended legalization, so just do it already!
