The Canadian election last week brought the Liberal Party to power in their government, and one of the party’s first campaign promises is to legalize and regulate marijuana, which would make it one of the first major countries to legalize the plant.
Only four US states and one country fully legalized recreational marijuana, and no, it isn’t Jamaica. Uruguay is the progressive country when it comes to marijuana legalization.
Many countries either decriminalized marijuana or legalized the possession, but not sale, of this mostly harmless drug, but few places on Earth want to go the extra mile to legalize and regulate weed in the same fashion as cannabis.
Why haven’t more countries legalized marijuana for recreational use? A Gallup poll found 58 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana on Oct. 21, 2015. At the very least, the United States should legalize the drug.
Aside from ignorant anti-marijuana propaganda, legalizing marijuana would violate international laws and treaties. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 is a treaty state parties signed promising to outlaw the production and supply of narcotic drugs, including marijuana.
The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances supplements the above treaty by mandating parties to cooperate in tracing and seizing drug-related assets.
Canada signed both of these treaties, so the Canadian government’s promise to legalize marijuana opens interesting questions about international law, national law and treaties in general.
Should other countries get to dictate how the Canadian government runs its own country? Will the Canadian government have the legal authority to legalize marijuana? Finally, if Canada can break these treaties without ramifications, then what’s to stop other countries?
If the Obama Administration’s stance on Colorado’s legalization is any indication, the Canadian government shouldn’t face any problems legalizing marijuana. America is one of the most influential parties in the United Nations, and Canada is one of our closest allies. I highly doubt we’ll stop a country from governing itself.
If we do try to stop Canada, we’ll look like possibly the biggest hypocrites in the world. Four states legalized marijuana, and the government so far is turning a blind eye to them. On the other hand, America doesn’t always mind hypocrisy.
Canada legalizing marijuana might set off a chain reaction. All those countries with decriminalized or lax marijuana laws might follow Canada’s lead in full marijuana legalization. The United States might could be one of those countries.
Bernie Sanders said he’s open to legalizing marijuana, and Rand Paul is open to at least decriminalizing the drug on a federal level. In the — unlikely — chance either of those candidates becomes our president in 2016, we could possibly see a transformation in our nation’s drug laws.
At any rate, all eyes are on Canada to see if they’ll legalize marijuana. And if they do, I’ve heard Montreal’s a beautiful city for vacation, just saying.
Cody Sibley is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Opelousas, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter at @CodySibley.