Tag: Justin Trudeau

Canadians More Worried About Trump Than Legal Marijuana

A new survey explored Canadians’ feelings on topics ranging from Trump and national health care to housing, climate change, and cannabis legalization.

When it comes to the issues that worry Canadians, the impending legalization of marijuana is keeping fewer citizens awake at night than Donald Trump.

That’s among the findings from a new poll from Abacus Data, which surveyed 1,500 Canadians about their political choices and concerns as they approach the 2019 federal election.

Nearly half of participants said that they were “extremely concerned” about the U.S. president, while just 18% gave the same response about cannabis legalization.

Abacus Data conducted the survey online with 1,500 Canadians aged 18 and over from August 15 to 20, 2018. In regard to the federal election, respondents echoed statistics recorded earlier this year, with Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party netting 37% of the potential vote and Conservatives earning 33% of the vote.

Trudeau was viewed in a positive light by 43% of participants, and 41% believed that the country was moving in what they viewed as the right direction.

In regard to political issues concerning Canadians, Abacus Data listed nine topics, ranging from Trump and national health care to housing, climate change, border crossings and cannabis legalization.

Responses were somewhat varied according to demographic and political affiliation: voters under the age of 45 listed climate change and housing affordability among their top concerns, while those over 45 ranked health care and affordable housing as second and third of their most pressing issues.

Climate change and health care also saw high numbers from liberal voters, while conservatives leaned towards border crossing and debt among their top three concerns.

However, there were two factors which received a near-unanimous response across age and party lines: Donald Trump was listed as the top concern for voters both under and over 45, as well as with liberals and supporters of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Trump also topped lists for voters in major cities and smaller communities, and among respondents from specific territories like Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Only conservative voters listed Trump at a lower position on their lists, where he placed 5th, while border crossing was given as their most pressing concern.

Demographics were also largely in agreement in regard to cannabis legalization, which was listed last among the nine issues for voters under and over 45 years of age, liberals and NDP voters, big city residents and those in smaller communities.

Again, conservatives placed cannabis higher than other groups, but even in that demographic, it was ranked relatively low at 6th out of nine, below health care, housing and even Trump.

As High Times noted, the response to cannabis legalization echoed similar results from polls in 2017 that found that 68% of adults favored legalization, and in 2018, where 42% of adults voted in the positive for legalization.

View the original article at thefix.com

30 August 2018
Canada Legalizes Marijuana In Historic Vote

Residents are expected to be able to purchase marijuana from licensed producers as early as mid-September 2018.

Canada became the second country in the world to legalize marijuana after the passage of its Cannabis Act in a 52-59 vote on Tuesday, June 19.

Canadian adults will be allowed to carry and share up to 30 grams of legal marijuana in public and cultivate up to four plants in their homes. The country’s provinces and territories will be allowed to draft their own rules for sales, which have been projected to echo the billion-dollar windfall enjoyed by the marijuana industry in the United States.

The government is giving its provinces 8 to 12 weeks to set up their own regulations on sales and more, and residents are expected to be able to purchase marijuana from licensed producers as early as mid-September 2018.

Prior to the passage of Bill C-45, Uruguay was the only country on the planet to legalize marijuana for sale and use. In the U.S., 29 states and Washington, D.C. allow the medical use of marijuana, while nine and D.C. also allow recreational use. Canada introduced the Cannabis Act in 2017, which passed the House of Commons in November of that year before reaching the Senate for final approval.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed the intention of C-45 in a June 19 Twitter post which read, “It’s been too easy for our kids to get marijuana – and for criminals to reap the profits,” he wrote. “Today, we change that.”

Once the bill receives Royal Assent—a ceremony in which Canada’s governor general, Julie Payette, will officially approve the measure—only adults ages 18 or 19 years or older (depending on the province or territory) will be allowed to legally purchase “cannabis, dried cannabis, cannabis oil, cannabis seeds or cannabis plants” from licensed retailers, both at brick-and-mortar locations and online.

According to the BBC, edibles will not be available for purchase by the proposed September launch date, but are expected to reach markets within a year’s time to allow the government to establish regulations for such projects.

They can also grow up to four plants per household—not per person—for personal use as long as the seeds are bought from a licensed supplier, and make cannabis-related products in their home as long as the plants do not use dangerous organic solvents.

C-45 will also establish a new offense of up to 14 years in prison for selling cannabis to minors, as well as “significant” penalties for individuals who involve minors in cannabis-related offenses or drive under the influence of cannabis, and will impose restrictions on how marijuana is promoted to young people, such as through the use of celebrity or animal/cartoon character images.

Provinces will also decide where cannabis will be sold to the public. As CNN noted, Alberta will make it available at more than 200 private retailers, while buyers in Ontario will only find it in state-run stores, and Newfoundland/Labrador residents will be able to purchase cannabis along with their groceries at the Loblaw supermarket chain.

With Canadian sales of marijuana in 2015 estimated at about $4.5 billion—nearly the same amount spent on wine—cannabis industry observers have suggested that the country may see annual revenue as high as $5 billion.

Canadian finance minister Bill Morneau said that the excise tax revenue will be split 75/25 between provincial government and the federal government for the first two years after legalization.

View the original article at thefix.com

22 June 2018
Canada Moves Closer To Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

Canada is taking a countrywide approach to avoid the issues that have unfolded in the United States, according to one Canadian senator.

Canada is one step closer to becoming the first major global economy to legalize recreational marijuana, with the Senate passing a legalization plan on Thursday.

The plan and all its amendments will now move on to the House, according to the BBC. If approved there, legal sales are expected to start within 12 weeks, meaning it could be legal to purchase marijuana in Canada by the end of the summer.

According to one Canadian Senator, Canada is taking a countrywide approach to avoid the issues that have unfolded in the United States, where cannabis is legal in some states but prohibited under federal law.

“We’ve very much learned from the early mistakes made by some U.S. states and other jurisdictions,” Canadian Sen. Tony Dean, an independent who sponsored the bill in the Senate, told USA Today. “We know we have a national challenge with cannabis. We have some of the highest youth consumption rates in the world, an illegal cannabis market worth upward of $6 billion annually, we know it’s harmful for kids, especially younger kids… and we had a government that wanted to tackle those issues.”

Having a national system will allow the Canadian government to address these issues above board, according to Roy Bingham, the CEO and co-founder of cannabis data firm BDS Analytics.

“Canada is creating a normal industry. What we have in the United States is a very abnormal industry,” he said. “In Canada, you see tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical companies, all these mainstream industries interested in getting involved.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ran on a platform of marijuana legalization in 2015. The senate measure will make recreational use and sale of marijuana legal, but it will leave the specifics of the cannabis laws up to each province or state.

Marijuana firms, researchers and public health experts will all be watching Canada closely to see how the market for legalized cannabis unfolds.

“It’s going to be a bit of a science fiction experience for a while,” Benedikt Fischer, an expert on substance use at Toronto’s biggest psychiatric hospital, told The Guardian. “It’s unique in the world, because it’s happening for the first time in a wealthy country. It’s not like in the U.S., where there are these state experiments. Most people kind of ignore Uruguay. And so the world is really looking at this.”

One issue will be setting the price of cannabis high enough to prevent new users from getting started with marijuana, but low enough to discourage black market sales.

“What I am mainly following … is who will be the new legal growers, and whether authorities manage to get some of the illegal growers to become legal growers,” said Tim Boekhout van Solinge, a Dutch criminologist.

Other issues including the impact of legalization on use of other drugs and dealing with impaired drivers, will also be closely monitored by policymakers and researchers from around the globe.

“They’re waiting to see if the sky’s going to fall,” said Jordan Sinclair, company spokesman for Canopy Growth, a medical marijuana grower in Canada. “[Investors] are waiting to see if all the stigma and all the demonization of this product that’s built up in 90 years of prohibition is true. It’s on us to demonstrate that it’s not.”

View the original article at thefix.com

9 June 2018