The federal Liberal party caucus has discussed decriminalization of all drugs and I think it’s a great idea.  Portugal did it in 2001 and it’s been a huge success and if I were in charge I’d go one step further and legalize all drugs. I know a lot of people who feel strongly against it so I’ll list out my points on why it’s what I’d do.

• There will always be a demand, keeping drugs illegal just empowers gangs and organized crime.
• It gives users legal recourse against dealers and suppliers of drugs. If it’s bad, they can be sue and get proper restitution.  Right now if a dealer or supplier rips someone off, typically the only response is violence.
• It allows drugs to be regulated, no more horror stories of drugs being cut with dangerous chemicals.  One will know exactly what they’re taking instead of right now where no one knows for sure.
• The war on drugs has been a colossal failure, costing thousands of lives & money trying to enforce it.
• It’s a government revenue bonanza, Colorado is an example and in a day where governments are struggling to finance their operations, taxation on drugs could bring in a large amount of money.

I could go on, but I see this as a very positive step…

The war on drugs may move to a new battlefield in Canada, if Liberal MPs get their way: the 2019 federal election campaign.

They’re pushing the Trudeau government to go much further than legalizing recreational marijuana. In a priority resolution they hope will be adopted at the Liberals’ policy convention in April for inclusion in the next election platform, the national caucus is calling on the government to eliminate criminal penalties for simple possession and consumption of all illicit drugs.

Source: The Globe & Mail

While I may be mistaken, it seems the older generations take a much harder line on drug use, mine (I’m a gen X’er) are a bit more liberal on that and millennials even more so.  At this point I think we can agree that after 30 years the war on drugs hasn’t worked, perhaps it’s time for governments to try something else.  For the record I’m not a drug user, I don’t drink or smoke (cigarettes or marijuana) so it doesn’t affect me in any way but when I see the human toll on what we’ve done so far, I think it’s time to move on.