ProfDanBear

If you'd have asked me that on January 20th 2009 I would have said, 'less than four years'. Now... it seems unlikely in this administration, and I would be concerned that any Dem who wins in 2020 would have done so by cobbling together a coalition that includes a lot of moderates who don't care for President Trump, and would therefore be unlikely to support what is seen as a pretty left-wing move in the minds of many. That said, polling is continuously moving in the right direction for it to happen, and the number of states with legalization is growing each year. So..... ten years? Maybe. US support for legalization would help dismantle the UN drug control treaties that are currently being held in place to the detriment of many countries. Also, I'm not a political scientist, so I might be totally wrong about the 2020 election and the ensuing momentum.

Only on caffeine and life.

Great question! Yes, violent crime rates have dropped in places where we have legalized cannabis. This is due, it seems from the research, to the disruption of the black market. I agree that cannabis itself isn't going to make people more chill and then lead to less crime, but I will share this; I spent a year alongside police officers in the UK, going to the calls for help, walking the beats, and everything short of putting the cuffs on someone, and I don't recall a single incident where someone using cannabis was acting violently or causing a problem. We went to so many alcohol fueled domestic fights, bar fights, gang fights, etc. Take that for what it's worth.

All the products being sold have to have clear labeling indicating the amount of THC and CBD. They are basically all lumped together under this legislation, for now.

I think there were genuine concerns about not inadvertently introducing a new drug in to the society that would cause problems, but that concern is based on a notion that cannabis isn’t already in our society. Canadians who wanted to consume cannabis before today were probably doing so for the most part, though one survey showed about 47% of Canadians who never used cannabis would try it if legalized.

I think politicians did not want to promote access to young people as the research evidence showing harms from cannabis is clearest for young people who consume a lot. Mostly though, I think like many liberal politicians from Clinton to Obama to Trudeau, they were concerned about being labelled ‘soft on crime’. As an example, Mr. Trudeau appointed Bill Blair, the former Toronto Police Chief turned MP, to lead the legalization effort. That gave it a bit of political cover it wouldn’t have if he’d hired Bernie to take a leave from the US Senate and run the process for Canada. Though… that would have been pretty amazing to watch.