Newly elected Liberal Party in Canada plans to legalise cannabis

Canada voted in its first new leader in nearly a decade in a general election that handed Justin Trudeau's Liberal party an absolute majority -- and dealt a stunning blow to incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Justin Trudeau, Canada's next prime minister, ran on a promise to legalise cannabis and recently released the following press release outlining the party’s policy position on cannabis:

"We will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana."

“Canada’s current system of marijuana prohibition does not work. It does not prevent young people from using marijuana and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug.

"Arresting and prosecuting these offenses is expensive for our criminal justice system. It traps too many Canadians in the criminal justice system for minor, non-violent offenses. At the same time, the proceeds from the illegal drug trade support organized crime and greater threats to public safety, like human trafficking and hard drugs."

To ensure that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals, we will legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.

"We will remove marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code, and create new, stronger laws to punish more severely those who provide it to minors, those who operate a motor vehicle while under its influence, and those who sell it outside of the new regulatory framework."

"We will create a federal/provincial/territorial task force, and with input from experts in public health, substance abuse, and law enforcement, will design a new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied.”

The states are leading the way to becoming the first place in the world to completely legalise cannabis back in 2012, Canada now seems to be the runner up, if the liberal party with follow its promise, Canada can be the first North American country to follow this legalisation nation wide."

Canada legalising cannabis is not just good news for Canadians who enjoy cannabis, but can be an important step worldwide for legalisation, and a major step in stopping the war against drugs.