Canada Really Wants to Legalize Weed - But First It Needs to Deal with the UN Rachel Browne - VICE News
go to original February 11, 2016

Canada's new Liberal government is pushing its pot-friendly ideas on the rest of the world, and one government backbencher hopes the country could be a driving force in getting the United Nations to reconsider its treaties that ban the drug.

Ottawa might not have a choice, as it finds its plans to legalize marijuana at odds with three UN treaties on the matter.

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, an MP for a riding in Toronto's east end, argued alongside a senator from Mexico that all nations should pursue alternatives to imprisonment for people caught possessing marijuana for personal use.

"Resources better spent on healthcare are now being spent on incarceration, and incarceration alone is redirecting people away from healthcare," Erskine-Smith told hundreds of government representatives from around the world on Tuesday. "We ought not to throw scotch-users in jail, and we ought not throw the book at marijuana users."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to "legalize, regulate, and restrict" access to marijuana for recreational use in Canada, though the government still hasn't said exactly how or when legalization will take place.

Erskine-Smith is one of the first voices from the governing party to talk directly about the issue since Trudeau formed government in October.

"If Canada can do this right, and we can build up evidence to show that regulation of marijuana works in a way that prohibition doesn't, we have an opportunity to lead by example," he told VICE News in an interview after the debate.

Read the rest at VICE News

Related: Recreational Pot Shops Are 'Blazing a Trail' in Canada (VICE News)

Related: Liberals Introduce ‘Sea Change’ to Canada’s Refugee System (RCI)

Photo: Government of Canada

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