When will pot become a mainstream political issue?

[Sheilbh]

... not the case in Vancouver at least. Seems like people are getting gunned down every month.

Shit.  Yeah I can imagine that changes things.  I could be wrong but my impression is that there's less deaths, they're generally from stabbings.  I don't think they're associated by most people with pot.  Though I could be wrong.

[Sheilbh]

I used to like CdM, until he made noises about trying to deprive me of wine.

Wine snobbery is an entirely different issue.  One that requires an entirely different criminal code.

That should include attempted snobbery to catch Marty on bonus week.

[crazy canuck]

Sheilbh,

Here is a recent article you might find interesting

Eight B.C. mayors including Vancouver's Gregor Robertson have issued a letter urging provincial political leaders to support the regulation and taxation of marijuana.

In a letter released today by Stop the Violence B.C., the mayors expressed their support for the coalition's campaign to overturn marijuana prohibition in an effort to reduce crime.

"We see a seemingly endless stream of anti-marijuana law enforcement initiatives in our communities, yet marijuana remains widely and easily available to our youth," the letter reads.

"Based on the evidence before us, we know that laws that aim to control the marijuana industry are ineffective and, like alcohol prohibition in the US in the 1920s, have led to violent unintended consequences."

The letter, addressed to B.C. Premier Christy Clark, NDP Leader Adrian Dix and Conservative Leader John Cummins, is also signed by Burnaby's Derek Corrigan, North Vancouver mayor Darrell Mussatto, Lake Country mayor James Baker, Armstrong mayor Chris Pieper, Metchosin mayor John Ranns, Enderby mayor Howie Cyr, and Vernon mayor Robert Sawatzky.

"It is time to tax and strictly regulate marijuana under a public health framework; regulating marijuana would allow the government to rationally address the health concerns of marijuana, raise government tax revenue and eliminate the huge profits from the marijuana industry that flow directly to organized crime," the mayors wrote.

The eight mayors say they will be recommending that the Union of B.C. Municipalities support a motion in favour of taxation and regulation of marijuana.

"We also encourage politicians to speak their conscience, even if their views go beyond the silence coming from the political parties themselves," they wrote.

The letter comes as Vancouver city council is set to discuss a motion to endorse the Stop the Violence B.C campaign next week.

"This is not a partisan issue," Robertson said in a news release. "Widespread access to marijuana for our youth, grow-ops that provide funds for organized crime, and significant costs to taxpayers for enforcement are all compelling reasons to re-examine our failed approach to prohibition."

Council will vote on the motion next Tuesday (May 1).

Similar motions were recently passed by other B.C. municipalities, including North Vancouver.

Stop the Violence B.C. is a coalition of law enforcement officials, legal experts, public health officials and academic experts from the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria, and the University of Northern B.C

[crazy canuck]

I used to like CdM, until he made noises about trying to deprive me of wine.

Wine snobbery is an entirely different issue.  One that requires an entirely different criminal code.

Next you will be telling me Champagne is produced in California.

[katmai]

I used to like CdM, until he made noises about trying to deprive me of wine.

Wine snobbery is an entirely different issue.  One that requires an entirely different criminal code.

Next you will be telling me Champagne is produced in California.

[crazy canuck]

So, there is a hell.

[CountDeMoney]

So, there is a hell.

Wine snobbery's only saving grace is the fact that Maynard James Keenan owns a vineyard.  And a very good one at that.

[Barrister]

You know it's gotten to the point where prescription drug abuse is probably as big a problem as cocaine / crack.  I have my doubts about how effective legalization / decriminalization would be.

[CountDeMoney]

You know it's gotten to the point where prescription drug abuse is probably as big a problem as cocaine / crack.  I have my doubts about how effective legalization / decriminalization would be.

You've got to hit the doctors, hard. 

But you're also talking about a fundamental paradigm shift of thinking in today's clinical care environment, which right now is script-first-ask-questions-later.

[Tonitrus]

You know it's gotten to the point where prescription drug abuse is probably as big a problem as cocaine / crack.  I have my doubts about how effective legalization / decriminalization would be.

Well, a big difference is you cannot grow Oxycontin in your backyard....the main point with pot, is that it should be very easy to kill the profit motive.

[Barrister]

You know it's gotten to the point where prescription drug abuse is probably as big a problem as cocaine / crack.  I have my doubts about how effective legalization / decriminalization would be.

Well, a big difference is you cannot grow Oxycontin in your backyard....the main point with pot, is that it should be very easy to kill the profit motive.

You probably can't grow cocaine in your backyard either.

[Tonitrus]

You know it's gotten to the point where prescription drug abuse is probably as big a problem as cocaine / crack.  I have my doubts about how effective legalization / decriminalization would be.

Well, a big difference is you cannot grow Oxycontin in your backyard....the main point with pot, is that it should be very easy to kill the profit motive.

You probably can't grow cocaine in your backyard either.

I'm kinda iffy on legalizing pot.  Cocaine...nah.

[Jacob]

Shit.  Yeah I can imagine that changes things.  I could be wrong but my impression is that there's less deaths, they're generally from stabbings.  I don't think they're associated by most people with pot.  Though I could be wrong.

Not in Vancouver. There was an other shooting just a few days ago. There's been at least two people shot a year within a ten block radius of my house. Not a whole lot of stabbings going on, just shootings.

The peak was in 2009, but it's still ongoing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Vancouver_gang_war

When I was in Hong Kong doing research for Sleeping Dogs (Triad flavoured action game), the HKPD gang specialists I talked to said something like "you're coming to Hong Kong to research gangs fighting? We got nothing on Vancouver."

[Jacob]

You probably can't grow cocaine in your backyard either.

No, but you can trade your backyard grown pot for the cocaine someone down south grew in their yard.

[CountDeMoney]

When I was in Hong Kong doing research for Sleeping Dogs (Triad flavoured action game), the HKPD gang specialists I talked to said something like "you're coming to Hong Kong to research gangs fighting? We got nothing on Vancouver."

Met some Vancouver detectives a couple years ago.  Man, they had some hardcore tales to tell.

Interesting factoid they mentioned:  Vancouver also happens to be North America's biggest launch point for the sex slave trade to the Middle East.  For a lot of runaway blondes from the midwest, Vancouver's their last stop before a short life to Sheikh Rattle and Roll.