US Drug Czar Suggests Trade Sanctions Against Canada for Decriminalizing Pot
 

WAH WAH WAH

And the award for most upset crybaby bullying tactics goes to:
John Walters

Hey dude, read the sign on your door. It says: "U.S. Drug Control Policy Director"...not sure if he knows this but Canada happens to be a soveriegn nation....so GO FUCK YOURSELF

:GFYBand

:thefinger

********************

U.S. fuming over Ottawa pot proposal

BUFFALO, N.Y. - A Canadian proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana is causing concern in the United States.

A committee of the House of Commons recommended Thursday that possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana no longer carry a criminal record.

Instead, people would face a civil penalty, such as a fine.

But U.S. Drug Control Policy Director John Walters warned that relaxed marijuana laws will wind up harming Canadians.

"When you weaken the societal sanctions against drug use," he said, "you get more drug use. Why? Because drugs are a dangerous addictive substance."

He said when U.S. attitudes about drug use were more lax in the 1980s, drug use soared.

"Don't repeat our pain," he said. "Learn from it if you can."

Possible trade retaliation

Robert Maginnis, a drug policy adviser to the Bush administration, warned that the U.S. would not look on any changes kindly.
"It creates some law enforcement problems and I think it creates some trade problems and some perception problems especially in the U.S. with regard to whether Canada is engaged in fighting drug use rather than contributing to dug use," he said.

Maginis said decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana would encourage more illegal trade in the drug and he warned that the U.S. would likely retaliate.

"We're going to have to clamp down even stronger on our border if you liberalize and contribute to what we consider a drug tourism problem," he said.

"I don't want to get to the point where we're calling for a boycott of Canadian products."

It could be worse.

You could be a peasent in South America where we fly over the jungle and spray poison on coca plants, villages, coffee beans and whatever else happens to be nearby.

Guess they had to do something with all that leftover Agent Orange they had left over from Nam.

Yes, avoid our mistakes, because the War on Drugs (tm) has gone SO WELL.

Drugs are even cheaper than they ever were, AND we have more people in prison than any other nation in the world! Woohoo!

I tell ya, if they shot every last religious right wing nut in North America tomorrow, the day after they cleaned up all the corpses would be the best day the countries have had in 60 years.

Cheers,
Backov

What fucking busisness is it what we do in our country, I am totaly against decriminalizing pot but I'm also totaly against a foreign government giving us shit fo rit. MInd your own fucking bussiness Robert Maginnis and :321GFY

Caffine is an addictive drug too. We should destroy Starbucks.

Yes we are a sovereign nation who is dependant on the USA for a huge portion of our national income, our currency is dependant on theirs (which affects out trade and buying power internationally) and we have virtually no national defence aside from the USA.

There is a great cliche about "not biting the hand that feeds you..."

Just because most Canadians feel that the American policy on drugs is completely inane doesn't mean that ignoring their wishes is smart act of independance.

Last time I checked the Americans won the trade despute on soft wood lumber as well through bullying tactics....

Canada used to have chemical & biological weapon plants, but those were closed many years ago.
Canada has TONS of material to make nuclear bombs, but we don't make any.
We sell the material to the US.

To top it off, our army is a joke.

This always bothered me. Canada could be strong, but instead we are weak.
We depend on allies far too much.

Its sad to admit, but Canada can't do shit to resist being bullied.

So what then, we let them make our laws for us?

Don't we already??? :warning

[The Leader] ...maybe that seems more reactionary then intended....

My real point is that in making laws for ourselves we still have to live with the fact that we're economically attached at the hip to our neighbors.

Until we can stand up for ourselves on existing economic issues how can we possibly expect to pass laws which will destroy these ties to our neighbor?

Hurt pride or not - we have to suck it up and channel that energy into expanding our trade internationally and making ourselves less dependant.

Right now face it, we're a one pimp hoe when we could at least be an independant player. If we're going to cross the line between talking about and taking action against our pimp, then you can be sure we're going to get bitch slapped into line.

Is there anyone who still thinks pot should be illegal?

I do. We should lock all those dope fiends up. 10 years minimum for *any* amount, 30 to life for the second offense. No chance of parole either, all time must be served.

y the fuck does anyone give a shit if the next guy does drugs? that's THEIR choice. hell, i can handle my high(s) & i don't let affect my work so what business is it of anyone? especially the government!

i say they stop wasting OUR money on trying to tell US what we should do, how & when we should do it. stop fighting drugs, let the mofos who wanna kill themselves with the hard shit do it... fuck'em.

marijuana is an herb... it grows naturally in many areas of the world. it has many medicital purposes. you can't say that about most other "illicit" drugs. so bug the fuck off.... shit... i need a fatty right muthafuckin NOW!

Paul for Prime Minister! Seriously, you sound insightful.

Canada, sorry, just give the U.S. a few more years. Let a few more of the conservative old men die off and we might actually join you in progressive policies. As for this administration, it seems like they believe only in their way or the highway. That scares the shit out of me. :(

If we did, certain charges of obscenity most likely wouldn't have been laid.

I hate to tell you but it is going to be a while. All the people in power now, and those that vote for them, came of age in the 60's. Fucking hypocrites had their fun and they know pot is not dangerous but still will not legalize.

Paul I understand the points on both sites. It just makes me sick to think that our marijuana prohibition will continue forever because of the American tobacco companies, like the American prohibition is going too. There has to be a point where we stop being bullied and start to stand on our own two feet.

huh??

Well let's see, why do you think it's illegal in the USA?

Because it kills people.....no
Because it's addictive and people rob and steal to get it.....not
Because it's wose for you that alchool.....no
Because Big Tabacco think it will hurt their profits and they're one of the biggest political contributers.....ding ding ding


Has anyone ever read the legislation documents from when Maijuana was criminalized? It's unreal, almost as stupid as the argument for slavery, if not worse.

how would it hurt their profits?

people who smoke cigarettes are still going to smoke cigaretts

people who don't smoke cigs will smoke tobacco WITH dope

if anything, it seems people would smoke *more*

I vote it's because of that ridiculous puritanical streak that still runs through america (in this day and age - geez, what the fuck is wrong with people ...)

cigarettes = nicotine = stimulant

marijuana = THC = halucinogen



yep, i'd have to agree... its smoking but smoking 2 different things. BUT it would hurt their profits because (imo) marijuana is a much BETTER drug than tobacco. cigarettes stink & they're smell sticks. marijuana smells great & the smell just drifts away & leaves you TOTALLY blazed.... for a lot longer than nicotine i might add.

tobacco companies are mass murderers... even smokers gotta admit that shit. weed dealers? they spread PEACE OF MIND. :BangBang:

isn't america suppose to be a free country? they can't keep their fucking noses out of other countries business when it has nothing to do with them.

fucking idiots, mind your own business

Reefer Madness.

Tobacco industries are scared.

Paper companies are scared.

Cloth and Material companies are scared.

Hemp facts.

http://www.thehia.org/hempfacts.htm

Bottom line is its only a matter of time, no need to argue it.

Its only a matter of time.

*bowl*

I don't really think tobacco companies have to be scared. shit, almost all of my stoner friends smoke too. I don't think many current smokers are just gonna give it up and turn to pot. And I bet anyone who tries smoking pot would be just as willing to try ciggarettes as well.

The worlds gonna go to hell anyways, there's nothing we can do about it. Might as well have a good time while we wait. So let's legalize.

Alcohol companies are scared too ;)

:smokin

It's a huge business opportunity as well. All these industries that are scared of the legality of marijuana could actually make alot of money if they were to get involved in it.

This guy knows what he's talking about. Everyone else just seems to be assuming. Do some research, whether it's true or not, tobacco and alcohol companies are scared it will hurt them, and they are the ones with a lot of influence in the USA.

It was brilliant minds like this that got pot illegal.

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others." - Harry Anslinger, testifying to Congress, 1937


Here is another dumb fuck:

"[In] my era everybody smoked and everybody drank and there was no drug use" - DEA Chief Thomas Constantine


I never thought that I would find myself in agreement with Ronald Reagan on anything but here he is right on.

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. -- Ronald Reagan

Listen, we only want to do Canada right. Obviously they cannot govern themselves and allowing them to do this only dumbs down the population even more... which means we then have to spend more to pick up their slack. Then, once we absord them into the United States, we would like the transition to run as smooth as possible. Cmon people, we need to clean them up before we bring them in. Dont let them backslide. Did your mom let you choose what you wanted for dinner everyday? No. Why? Because you will just eat sugar smacks and drink cokes. Sure it seemed like a good idea at the moment, but when you are 15 and are having root canals and weigh 345 lbs... you'll had wished mom stepped in. America is mom.

Do Canadians need weed? No. Vote no on Prop 46. Do it fo the chidrens.

I say Canada has 3 choices on this

1) They should legalize the herb, with a few stipulations.

a) Legalize cultivation and tax the shit out of it. Use that money to fund the fight on the hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.
b)Caught driving stoned? Get your ride towed and impounded. Make sure it costs plenty to get it out. Drving high may be fun to some, it's "highly" dangerous.

2)Don't legalize, but make simple possession legal. Anything less than 1/2 pound is okay. Personal use only.

3)Leave everything the same. Cops will still not mess with you if you have a less that 3 grams or so. Growers get huge fines and crops burned. Dealers get fine and small time maybe(maybe). And miss out on all that tax revenue.

The u.s. getting their nose bent outta shape about this?
In my opinion the u.s. has MUCH bigger problems to worry about. You've got a president that is trying his best to start a war. Homeland terrorism. Kids shooting each other, repeatedly. Poverty. Domestic crime etc, etc, etc, etc
Still the u.s. gov. has time to worry with the neighbours smoking habits?
As far as I know, smoking weed doesn't kill people. It never sent anyone on a shooting rampage. It doesn't make someone go and rob a bank/store/milkman to get a dime bag.

I could really go off right now with all the many reasons I wouldn't want to be an american, and how the nation is its own worst enemy. This however this issue is not about that.

Canada will eventually legalize weed in some aspect. Deal with it or don't. You really don't have a choice.

If pot were legalized tomorrow who do you think would be selling packs of joints at 7-11? Although if it is just decriminalized (still not legal for a company to sell) then the tobacco companies couldn't profit from it. I think ultimately we'd be better off with decrim for small amounts of pot + decrim for small amounts of plants (enough for personal use). Although complete legalization (but still regulated like alcohol / cigs) would be fine too. Imagine going to the corner store and buying a pack of 20 joints for ~$10.

The only reason USA fears what we're doing with Pot is because then all the supports of pot in the USA (and there are some prettty powerful people who support it) would have more of foot hole to do the same thing in America.

Could you imagine how much the pro pot movement in the USA would gain ground if we canadians made it not a crime.

Then who am I? :(





:1orglaugh

The US drug Czar wants to stay in business, its in his best interest to fight it

that would be nice but 20 cigerattes are already $7.50. I bet 20 joints would cost you shitloads more then $10

They wouldn't be able to regulate it enough to justify legalizing it.

Big Tobacco... well...

Back when I used to smoke tobacco I never *dreamed* of growing tobacco plants (although I'm guessing it would probably be legal). Sure the tobacco companies and new corporations would enter the new pot distribution market, but with the mistrust (some/most) people who smoke pot have for the government & big buiz, making it legal would only open up a new underground (tax free/hard to tax) rogue industry.



People would spend good portions of their monthly dollars on pot that they could otherwise spend on taxable american products & services. Loss of revenue is bad. Hmm although munchie sales could skyrocket. I wonder what the math is on all this :1orglaugh.

If it was legal, people would be growing their own and supplying their friends and neighbors who also would like a more "pure" product from a trusted source for their herb.

i agree but, you know the Government will want their cut

'a) Legalize cultivation and tax the shit out of it. Use that money to fund the fight on the hard drugs like cocaine and heroin. '

no, use it for a scholarship program where anyone with a 75 average gets free tuition and books.

eat some suger

er, how do you know?

sounds like you're assuming

post the research

Ain't that the truth. Tobacco, Paper, Textiles and Alchohol industries were all partly responsible for the criminalisation of marijuana. They saw it as a threat. A few favours here and there from well connected friends, and a whole new indusrty is killed before it even got a chance to start. Sad.

Off topic, but good luck with your current situation. I hope things work out well for you guys.

I've always found it intersteing that the US outlawed Hemp at the same time prohibition ended.

Imagine that there are 1000's of federal employees how have been enforcing prohibition are out of work now...Hey says the chemical, cotton, de-forestation companies.....why don't we criminalize hemp.

Oh wait a minute...don't need to imagine it...it happened.

pot aint the same as crack,

its in line with alcohole and cigs,

infact both cigs and alcohole kill more people than pot does,

no one can argue with that,

and the only reason pot is iligal is because of big business and racist american laws and prohibition

smoke em if you got em

http://jasonangell.com/gfys.jpg
http://jasonangell.com/gfys3.jpg

peace

another thing, isn't hard drug use in european countries with legalized pot a lot less than it is in places like the states?