Trudeau said in a recent speech, “The Liberal party is committed to legalizing and regulating marijuana. Controlling it in a way that is going to protect our kids and remove criminal elements from it. And we’re going to get started on that right away.”
Trudeau’s stance is a dramatic shift from his predecessor, who not only rolled back medical marijuana legislation for Canada’s medical marijuana program but also claimed that marijuana is “infinitely worse” than tobacco.
Some are wondering whether Trudeau’s understanding of the
marijuana debate and Harper’s total disconnect from public sentiment with regard to the topic contributed to the dramatic outcome of the recent election where Trudeau’s party took over after nine years.
The American cannabis market is growing, state by state, with a number of recreational adult use provisions on the ballot for Nevada, Michigan, Massachusetts, Florida, to name a few. But imagine a candidate being elected because of his position on medical marijuana and not in spite of it.
Trudeau’s plans for marijuana in Canada are strongly supported by the cannabis community but more important are the implications for what the marijuana movement means to citizens. When a politician is put in office in part because of where he stands on the marijuana issue it is a good indication that we are that much closer to meaningful reform of laws related to cannabis, not just in Canada but all of North America.