Yes, it should be legalized. Both in Canada and the US- but specially the US. However there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.
First of all, there is more then one kind of "weed". Here is some info about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis
These are the three species:
Cannabis indica
Cannabis ruderalis
Cannabis sativa
Of the three, the indica species is the softest. It just gives you a "buzz". It is much less addictive then alcohol and it makes you much less impared. It is also less powerful then any painkiller- including "Tylenol 3".
Cannabis ruderalis and Cannabis sativa, in the other hand, are way more addictive and impairing. Those are the ones that should be left illegal. The brazilian version is the sativa species- which causes us many problems.
Cannabis indica has also medicinal properties. It can be used as a naturopathic remedy to treat pain and depression. If legalized, it can be used in place of painkillers and depression medicines that has bad side effects. The problem is that the pharmaceutical industry wouldn't like that much. It would certainly not be in their best interests....
Anyways... currently, Cannabis indica can be "laced" with "dust" which is very problematic- it makes it worse then the other two. It could also be "laced" with "rock". "Dust" and "rock" are much greater problems then "weed". The resources that are used to prevent the trafficking of weed could be much better used preventing dust and rock. Meth, in particular, is a huge problem in the US, because it is so easy to make...
So... in short... it is better to legalize the good kind of marijuana and put the resources to getting rid of meth (which can, btw, kill someone in the first try!).
...
We can also talk about the implications of illegal traficking of weed...
First of all, there is more then one kind of "weed". Here is some info about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis
These are the three species:
Cannabis indica
Cannabis ruderalis
Cannabis sativa
Of the three, the indica species is the softest. It just gives you a "buzz". It is much less addictive then alcohol and it makes you much less impared. It is also less powerful then any painkiller- including "Tylenol 3".
Cannabis ruderalis and Cannabis sativa, in the other hand, are way more addictive and impairing. Those are the ones that should be left illegal. The brazilian version is the sativa species- which causes us many problems.
Cannabis indica has also medicinal properties. It can be used as a naturopathic remedy to treat pain and depression. If legalized, it can be used in place of painkillers and depression medicines that has bad side effects. The problem is that the pharmaceutical industry wouldn't like that much. It would certainly not be in their best interests....
Anyways... currently, Cannabis indica can be "laced" with "dust" which is very problematic- it makes it worse then the other two. It could also be "laced" with "rock". "Dust" and "rock" are much greater problems then "weed". The resources that are used to prevent the trafficking of weed could be much better used preventing dust and rock. Meth, in particular, is a huge problem in the US, because it is so easy to make...
So... in short... it is better to legalize the good kind of marijuana and put the resources to getting rid of meth (which can, btw, kill someone in the first try!).
...
We can also talk about the implications of illegal traficking of weed...