This is a bit off-topic but I was at a Liberal policy thingy (for lack of a better term) on Monday and got into an argument with a fellow participant (and blogger) about marijuana legalization. I could do a lengthy post on this but that would probably mean looking up facts and figures and, well, I don’t really feel like doing that. Unless you favour a return to alcohol prohibition, there’s no reason you should oppose this. People will smoke pot regardless of whether it’s legal or not and at least by legalizing it, it’s easier to regulate the content and who has access to it. Better to have the government as Canada’s drug dealer because the government won’t sell to minors or push buyers on to harder stuff (a safe assumption now that Andre Boisclair has left politics). And, it’s probably better that the government be making billions off of this, rather than the criminals (although, given how money is spent in Ottawa, I guess this point is perfectly debatable). Those radical unelected pot heads in the Senate agree. So do a majority of Canadians, apparently (admittedly on a poll where the decriminalization option wasn’t given). Going further, Foreign Policy had a good article on the world drug trade that pushes for legalizing pretty much everything.

So, rather than get into a huge debate on the benefits of marijuana legalization, I’m going to pose an open question. Given the jokes and ridicule it would generate, would this be a politically viable position for any of the major parties (or the NDP) to take as an election issue? Failing that, would it make sense for a party to push this forward once in the comfy confines of a majority government?