What is the view on marijuana in Canada?

Question

having just got back from a trip to Vancouver, i've got to say i've never seen so much blatant pot smoking in my days lol. not to say that's a bad thing at all, but obviously pot is a lot more socially acceptable than it is in the states. i was blown away to be at a concert and see adults all around me just lighting up. not to mention my walk down Commercial Drive, of course i dont have to tell that to anyone from the area.

so what's the word? is it not such a bad thing, or am i just getting the wrong impression?

Answer 1

it's still criminalized.

so...it's illegal.

you are getting the wrong impression

Answer 2

A concert is a good example, but it's lots of young people and more of the extreme.  They do search at the door and will confiscate it, but finding those joints on 30,000 people is a needle in a haystack.  They will kick people out they find smoking, but normally don't go looking through the crowd for them.  I went to a concert in Vancouver where the over 50 grandma next to me had brought her granddaughter.  She politely asked my view of the pot use before she lit up herself.

The general Canadian attitude is against zero tolerance type campaigns like you get in the US.  Resources are better used to put real criminals in prison.  However, with more organized crime, marijuana grow opertaions, and international trade of BC pot for illegal weapons and harder drugs, there is a growing trend of the average citizen starting to be more annoyed.

Answer 3

Lol  .. first of all I  have to say that I am a 55 year old grandma, one of the "older crowd" that a previous poster referred to, and my views on marijuana are rather liberal.  I think sometimes the younger people forget that us in the "older crowd" are often aging hippies!!

It is not only in BC that you will find people smoking and going unnoticed.  My husband had a prescription for medicinal marijuana for the year before he died, and at first he felt very self conscious if he smoked in a public place, but it was not long before we realized that no one paid the slightest  attention - and we were not in BC.  He smoked openly in public and was never questioned.

Generally I think in Canada people are not overly concerned about marijuana for personal and recreational use.   With that said, I have seen and smelled quite a bit of weed in travelling througout the US too, but it is probably done more secretively there.

I have grandchildren who will soon be approaching the age where they will want to experiment with a few things.  I would much prefer that they experimented with a little weed than with alcohol - weed doesn't tend to cause violence.  I know many police officers who say the same thing.

We all have our crutches - coffee (mine), a glass of wine with dinner, chocolate, beer when watching sports, etc.  For some people marijuana is their crutch of choice, and there are much worse things in the world than that.  The big downside is that it is still illegal, so it can have consequences that have to be considered.

Answer 4

I live in the capital of "BC Bud"...lol...we are WELL known for growing it, selling it, and smoking it...There are apparently over 30,000 homes just in BC that are growing marijuana.

I live in Victoria and randomly see people openly smoking it downtown. You will most likely find someone with it at a house party, and definitely at a concert. You will also find it in just about every high school in BC.(other than private one's perhaps)...

It's not legal (as everyone else has stated-unless you have permission to use it for medicinal reasons) but most people (including cops) don't really care about recreational use. It's the hardcore gang-related growers/traffickers that they are going after....

So I would say that your impression is bang on...lol...

Kind of funny that smoking is banned in all public buildings, yet MANY people smoke up at concerts without any problem at all...

ps-most Canadians would consider the "hard drugs" such as cocaine, heroine ect no-no's...

Answer 5

You are probably getting the wrong impression. Marijuana is illegal in Canada, but there is a movement to attempt to decriminalize. As for Vancouver, that seems to be the marijuana capital for Canada. As for the concert, that is usual for most concerts, it just depends on who you go see.

Answer 6

It's probably because a lot of the people you saw use medicinal marijuana. But if you were caught growing some in your backyard - yeah, you'd get your answer then.

Answer 7

I used to think that people were very strict about it, until one day a girl rolled a j in class and everyone just went on as if this was a normal thing (including the teacher). i'm not even kidding.

I guess its just my school, because nowhere else in Canada would this be acceptable, even in the slightest.

Answer 8

Ya, most people dont care too much about pot, but only hobos do the harder stuff...mainly.