The Conservative government continually attempts to strike fear and outrage into the hearts of the Canadian people in its efforts to push a tough-on-crime agenda that has proven, time and time again, not to work.
In response to reports that Liberal party posters in favour of marijuana legalization were put up on Carleton campus, the prime minister’s deputy communications director, Stephen Lecce, claimed that Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s stance on marijuana is simply going to make it easier for kids to access pot.
Well, it looks like they’ve got our number. We admit it, folks—the Liberal Party supports the legalization of marijuana because we want more schoolchildren smoking pot.
It’s not because the criminalization of marijuana forces an industry estimated to be worth $20 billion into the hands of organized crime, rather than supporting the Canadian economy in a positive way.
Nor is it because forcing jail-time on nonviolent offenders alienates them from society and all but ensures they will commit more serious crimes when they’re released. Nor is it because the Liberals are tired of seeing promising young people labeled as ‘criminals’ for the rest of their lives simply for the crime of experimentation.
It’s certainly not because the current approach to marijuana has done nothing to keep it out of the hands of young people, and has simply made the entire industry more dangerous and destructive to society.
Nope, the only result of legalizing marijuana will be more kids smoking pot. This is especially tragic when considering no Canadian under the age of 18 has ever purchased or consumed marijuana under the current system. Ever.
Canadians are smarter than this. They know any teenager with the will to find marijuana can do so, often-times more easily than they can buy alcohol. Not only is marijuana less expensive than alcohol, drug-dealers don’t ask for ID.
Canadians also know how costly the current approach is. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse estimates that we spend up to $1.3 billion policing marijuana. This number could go up as the Harper government implements its mandatory minimum sentences for cannabis, removing judicial discretion from our justice system.
Spending $1.3 billion to ensure Canadians do not reap the benefits of a $20-billion industry, which could create thousands of jobs if legalized, does not seem fiscally responsible. Strange, for a government that attacks Trudeau for not focusing enough on the economy. Yet what’s worse is that this fiscal insanity has had nothing but negative results for Canadians.
I am a Liberal because I believe in evidence-based policy. In this case, the evidence is clear—the current approach is costly and does not work. Its time to find a better way, and I’m glad Trudeau agrees with that.
—Luke Bradley,
Carleton Young Liberals executive director,
Alberta Young Liberals communications director
