What would a modern liberal say about the Canadian government legalizing cannabis? Before answering this question we should look at what modern liberalism is. Modern liberalism is a variant of liberalism. Liberalism is an ideology that believes no one, not even the government should interference with the freedom of other individuals, they therefore believe in negative freedoms. One other belief is that the individual is more important than society which causes them to have a strong belief in individual freedoms. Since liberalism grew during the age of enlightenment, they believe that humans should use reason to break bondage from ignorance. Liberals believe in justice in that each to his own doing. If I am hard working, I should be rewarded but if I cause harm to another individual I should be punished. They also believe that the individual should be a tolerant towards what others believe in, while still maintaining their own beliefs. Liberals think that the government should be small and not interfere with the market. They believe that government should provide safety nets but it should be minimal. People today that subscribe to these core themes are known as classical liberals
Modern liberals also believe in these core themes; however they disagree on how they should be applied. They also added their own beliefs that classical liberals do not subscribe to. Modern liberals believe in negative freedom, however most believe that with this freedom they should use it a positive way to enlighten themselves. They therefore believe in positive freedom. Like liberals, they also believe that individual is important. However they believe that it is important to help out the society and those who need help by embracing collectivism. Mode...
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...for marijuana would result in the hemp industry to grow. Hemp is known to be a strong fiber than can be made in many things and it can also help the environment. Since liberals are big on reason and being enlighten they will say that there are many studies that show marijuana is a drug that has mixed results. There are studies that show that marijuana is a harmless drug while others say that marijuana does cause harm. Liberals would say that although many studies show different results, we need to do more studies that show a definitive answer on whether marijuana is harmful or not. If marijuana where to legalized modern liberals would put laws to makes sure that kids don’t get a hold of marijuana, to put heavy regulation, and make sure that with the money that is being saved and made goes to improve the economy, fund programs and pay off any debt we have
Today, the definition of the term “liberal” is relatively uncontested, and its content is relatively well defined. A liberal today is someone who advocates for governmental solutions to various problems, not for unaided individual freedom. Liberals today trust and call for governmental action, not for the type of self-determination supported by Hoover. Contemporary liberals believe in individual freedom, but they typically advocate f...
In January of 1919, the 18th amendment, the prohibition of alcohol, was ratified due to progressive movements. It was soon repealed in 1933, when crime increased and issues spread throughout the country. The concept of “gangsters” was established and unsafe alcohol became apart of America’s diet. This problem is now evident in this country today. Marijuana, an all natural plant that is known to get someone “high,” or to alter the state of mind, has been illegal since 1937 when the Marijuana Tax Act was put into action. But, this has caused problems throughout the country, just like the prohibition of alcohol. Making marijuana illegal has affected the social and cultural aspects of America negatively, by increasing the crime rate, making our country somewhat unhealthier, and weakening the economy.
I believe that the Liberal view will be politically successful for the rest of the 21st century. I think that this political ideology has the people’s best interest as its main priority and that is the most important ideal of any political ideology. I feel that this ideology is on the rise instead of the decline due to that fact that its focus is on life, liberty, and property. I feel that any issue that has a strong basis for human rights will last for a long time.
...es more paper than a regular tree, so people who consume the hemp products is another way to help the forest grow, and allow the animals to footing instead of extinct. Moreover, legalizing marijuana is able to create a lot of jobs for many people for production because hemp can be used to make oil, clothing, soaps, lip balms butter, and rope. Therefore, legalizing marijuana will be made the society safer and more valuable.
The controversy of legalizing marijuana has been raging for quite a while in America. From some people pushing it for medical purposes to potheads just wanting to get high legally. Marijuana has been used for years as a popular drug for people who want to get a high. All this time it has been illegal and now it looks as if the drug may become legal. There has been heated debate by many sides giving there opinion in the issue. These people are not only left wing liberals either. Richard Brookhiser, a National Review Senior editor is openly supportive of medical marijuana yet extremely conservative in his writing for National Review (Brookhiser 27). He is for medical marijuana since he used it in his battle with testicular cancer. He says "I turned to [marijuana] when I got cancer because marijuana gives healthy people an appetite, and prevents people who are nauseated from throwing up. "(Brookhiser 27) Cancer patients are not the only benefactors from the appetite enhancer in marijuana, but so are any other nauseous people. Arizona and California have already passed a law allowing marijuana to be used as a medicinal drug. Fifty Six percent of the California voters voted for this law. "We've sent a message to Washington," says Dennis Peron. "They've had 25 years of this drug was, and they've only made things worse." (Simmons 111) The Arizona proposition garnished an even wider margin of separation between the fore's an against in a sixty five percent support tally. Ethan Nadelmann insists that " these propositions are not about legalization or decriminalization. They're about initiating some non radical, commonsense approaches to drug policy." General Barry McCaffery disagrees saying, "I...
On August 2nd, 1937, United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937. The law was passed only 83 days after being introduced in the House of Representatives as House Resolution 6906. This law sought to place prohibitive regulations requiring medical professionals to obtain a one dollar tax stamp in order to continue prescribing cannabis sativa as medicine. However, physicians who wished purchase the tax stamp were also required to divulge an abnormal amount of detail regarding the patient, the condition being treated, the amount prescribed and the date of the prescription. Failure to follow these strict rules while prescribing marijuana resulted in harsh penalties to both the medical professional and the patient. According to the text of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, “Any person who is convicted of a violation of any provision of this Act shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both, in the discretion of the court.”
Justin Trudeau has stated that Stephen Harper and his Conservative government were “trapped in policies based on ideology rather than policies based on evidence and that is harmful to Canadians and to Canada. (Bryden, 2014). Justin Trudeau believes it is more harmful to have it illegal like it presently is, and more beneficial to society to have it controlled and regulated by the government. This is not based on ideology, as he states but rather evidence and what’s good for the Canadian people. With that being said, the ideology behind liberalism is that it “seeks to liberate the individual and maximize each individual’s freedom and potential” (Dyck, 2011, p. 218), and that it is “based on a belief in the rationality of the individual”, “liberty, and self-fulfillment” (Dyck, 2011, p. 229). One can see how the parties goal to legalize cannabis also ties into liberal ideology, as it would give much more individual freedom, and liberate the individual from the constrained system that is currently
In order to understand our modern liberalism we must first understand classical liberalism and where it all started. Classical liberalism started in the 17th century and lasted until the 19th century. Liberals set this ideology in a way to challenge and oppose the Power of kings and government. It limits
There is actually a political party in Canada called the Marijuana Party of Canada, and it has many supporters. These supporters believe that the only route to take is full decriminalization of marijuana, which is not likely to happen. One argument of these supporters is that the current penalties for marijuana possession are too harsh. Realistically, there is not chance that marijuana will ever be completely decriminalized in Canada, as the effects from this would be damaging to Canada’s relationship to ...
Ever since the federal criminalization of marijuana in the United States in 1937, there has been a large underground drug market (Paul). Much like how the prohibition of alcohol simply forced imbibers underground, those who chose to partake in marijuana are forced to stay away from the prying eye of the law because of present marijuana laws. This means the drug world is concealed from the average citizen, hiding the dangers of drug deals gone wrong, police shootings, and other dangerous occurrences. In a way this allows the government to mask the fact that their well-funded ‘War on Drugs’ is ineffective, a ‘War’ with a budget of roughly twenty billion dollars; which is not profoundly effective in the curbing the use of drugs (Jillette). If the average citizen does not know what is happening, in the eyes of the American zeitgeist, it is not happening. Criminalizing a harmless drug to cut down on its use simply turns its users into criminals, making the crime rate go up and clogging prisons with non-violent criminals. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco and the laws pertaining to it should reflect that.
Those opposed to the legalization of the cannabis plant in a September 11th 2003 article claim that with legalization of cannabis will come further problems. They say that legalization would lead to greater drug use especially with children as well as drug trafficking from legalized areas. They claim the tobacco and alcohol cause enough problems and there is no reason to add a new product into the mix. The claim is also made that drugs such as cannabis lead to poverty, crime, and violence. They argue that although the drug war cannot be completely successful it is worth it to slow down drug trade and that truly very few people are brought up on a simple possession charge of cannabis. Finally they make the claim that if cannabis and other drugs were legalized it would prevent court ordered addiction treatment. I understand the basis of all these claims and understand where they come from. Many arguments are made generally about the legalization of all illegal drugs including cannabis and I do agree that drugs other than cannabis should be kept illegal for all the reasons listed above. Where I find fault with the expose is the unfair grouping of cannabis into the article.
Many people crave the moment where they can just sit down, relax, and enjoy some free time. They could perhaps take a nice walk in a park, or possibly sit down and enjoy a movie on T.V. However, a large sum of people nationwide chooses to participate in a certain recreational activity to find their relaxation: smoking Marijuana. In fact, “Washington and Colorado are the first to allow adults to use the drug for recreational purposes” (Legalizing Marijuana, par 1). Unfortunately for half of our nation’s population, the use of the plant, Cannabis, was deemed illegal. “Before 1937, marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and smoked in the United States. Since that time, all of these activities have been illegal, but many groups and individuals have fought to decriminalize marijuana” (Rich, par 1). I find this preposterous! I believe that the federal government should look at what the people want, and pass the law making Marijuana legal, but of course having regulations to go along with it. Not only shall it please the people of the United States, but our economy could greatly benefit from legalizing Cannabis and it is an aid towards medical treatment. It would be to our nation’s best interest to have legislation legalize marijuana at not only the state level, but as a national level as well.
Liberalism is an ideology and due to the changing views of historical persons, who have each viewed themselves to be Liberals, is difficult to define precisely. There are five agreed defining tenants of Liberalism. The most important of these, percolating through the ideology, is the ‘Importance of the Individual’, and closely interlinked with this is ‘Freedom’, which leads on to the concept of ‘Individual Freedom or liberty’. Liberals believe that humankind is a rational species, and thus ‘Reason’ is a third tenant. Furthermore Liberalism advocates that the principle of ‘Justice’ and Toleration’ are fundamental in the well being of society and each of these aspects relates directly back to the quintessential first tenant. Liberalism, according to Habermas “emphasizes individual freedom from restraint and is usually based on free competition, the self-regulating market, and the gold standard; c: a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness of the human race, and the autonomy of the individual and standing for the protection of political and civil liberties.” As an individualist, rather than a collectivist ideology the individual is placed as the building block of society. J. S. Mill says ...
Classical liberal ideas often form the basis for opposition to the use of government to attain social objectives. They stress instead reliance on private initiatives or the free market to determine the best outcomes. Liberals believe in the government action the allows equal opportunities and equality for all. Liberals have a more fact-based, rather than faith-based, ideology. They are not so motivated by self-serving but actually negative emotions, such as prejudice, greed and fear, and thus can see the great advantages to a society of justice for all The basic duty of the government is to protect the common good and private rights of individuals. They consider the governments duty to help protect the individual and human rights. They emphasize the need for the government to solve their problems. Liberals are usually called the "extreme left"; social wealth, oriented toward change and more government. Liberals credit in socialism, meaning they value social equality in jobs, race, wages, education. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security are all apart of Liberal beliefs. Liberals also reflect that more people should be working and participating in government projects like voting. Each person should get what they need: wealth, food, shelter, education. They also trust that
...only could marijuana be utilized to treat a variety of illnesses, but patients would no longer have to take pharmaceuticals with side effects and they could treat their ailments in a pleasurable way. With recreational marijuana legal dispensaries would no longer have to fear raids from the DEA, which would lead to more dispensaries opening and businesses thriving. Instead of having a few dispensaries making millions there would be many dispensaries making a decent profit, so employees can make a decent salary as opposed to six figures which would certainly help lead the state into prosperous times. One might say that drugs are dangerous and they kill people every day; however this is not the case with marijuana. According to drugfacts.org in the five thousand years of marijuana’s documented use there has been zero deaths caused primarily by marijuana. (drugwarfacts)