I recently visited Niagara Falls (wonderful view, BTW) and a vague and foggy memory struck me about Canada.
I seem to recall that weed is either legal there or decriminalized. I also seem to recall that some laws are being put before some local state governments (Hawaii?) in order to either legalize or decriminalize weed in the US.
Is any of this true?
On another note, my poor memory actually has nothing to do with the topic as I haven’t taken a puff in over a year, and before that it was several years. My lack of interest in the subject has lead to an atrophy of my knowledge regarding what the current state of things are and since visiting Canada my interest in finding out has increased.
Nope, not legal. For a brief period of time it was, due to a court decision that set a precedent (cite), but that has since been repealed.
Medical marijuana is legal, but people are still being put in jail, because they’re not getting it from government sources. Since the government source marijuana is crap, many people buy from other vendors, who grow quality weed. The situation is much the same in the U.S.
Also, the US is fighting at the State and Federal levels. California’s state law allows the cultivation of medical marijuana, but the Federal government doesn’t recognize that law, and disallows the medical marijuana defence for any busts.
Honestly, the US did better than Canada ever did, back in the 70’s. There were 11 states where marijuana was decriminalized.
So, um, in answer to your question, no. Not that I’m vehement about it or anything.
New York State does enjoy decriminaliztion, and has since about 1978. Under 7/8ths of an ounce is a violation, and only warrents a ticket, not an arrest.
Marijuana is not yet decriminalized in Canada, though legislation has recently been introduced to replace the existing penalties with small fines of up to a few hundred dollars for possession of amounts under 15 grams. Amounts over 15 grams would be subject to a larger fine or up to 6 months in jail, at the discretion of a judge. Criminal law in Canada is a federal issue, so the law would take effect in all provinces. As of now, possession of marijuana is still illegal in Canada.
However, some individual police departments may have chosen not to actively pursue arresting and charging people for possession of small amounts of marijuana. I am not sure whether the Niagara Regional Police (responsible for the city of Niagara Falls and the surrounding region) or the Niagara Parks Police (responsible for the parkland under the jurisdiction of the Niagara Parks Commission) have taken such a position. The Niagara region has a particularly significant problem with marijuana grow operations due to its proximity to the US border, which may affect the way police would deal with possession. (Any changes made to the laws regarding possession would not affect the illegality of producing marijuana, and in fact many proposals call for heightened punishments for producers and dealers.)
Norml has a map where you can click on a state to find out the state marijuana laws. I was surprised to find out how many have quietly decriminalized at least user-amounts (as opposed to dealer quantities). Of course, federal laws trump state laws, so even in New York State you face a $1000 misdemeanor fine and one year in prison for a first time possession charge.
There’s also information for Europe, but it’s not in a very user friendly format.
I can’t find any easy info on Canada, either as a whole or the provinces individually.
Decriminalization means that it is still against the law, but only punishable by a fine, and you don’t get a criminal record. Sort of like a parking ticket.
Legalization means the product is legal. You could have it legal like chocolate bars, where everyone could walk down the street smoking a big fatty, but we’re pushing for legal and controlled, like alcohol.
Don’t some Canadian provinces have marijuana cafes? British Columbia does (at least in Vancouver). I’ve seen stored selling marijuana & paraphanelia quit openly in Montreal. Criminal laws are passed in Ottawa but isn’t it up the the provinces to enforce them and prosecute the offenders?
Not exactly. Unlike a parking citation an ordinance violation may show up on court record searches during a background check. You probably don’t want an employer to know you got a ticket for smoking pot at a rock concert.
Bad allusion on my part. Thanks for the clarification, pkbites.
Hadrian, you’re absolutely right about the enforcement part. There’s a place in Toronto that was selling pot quite openly right over the counter for a time. Definitely not legal, and they’ve been shut down, but I don’t know about the details. From what I gather, they’re getting a slap on the wrist.
Never bought anything from them (terms of my broker’s license require that I keep a clear record), but I gather it was quality stuff at decent prices. Oh well, we press on for legalization.
IMHO, it’s the last screaming vestiges of our Puritanical heritage in the U.S. These are the same folks who brought us alcohol prohibition.
Because of course as you know, if you have any fun at all, you’re going to go to hell, and we all need to be saved from ourselves. It’s the underlying guilt that we as a nation accept in terms of our sexuality and chemical substances. Violence is ok because it’s castigation, but the weakness of a few small men hundreds of years ago and the pervasive racisim of the early part of this century keeps us abhoring all types of pleasure.
The nightly news here had a story of a cafe in Toronto that was selling for years. The cafe is still open, but they have stopped selling marijuana.
I’m afraid we won’t help you find marijuana in Toronto, as it is illegal, and we don’t condone or aid in illegal activity on the Dope… Or we get bitch-slapped and thread closed by the Mods!
