U.S.-Canada trade threatened.

Tosho · Post by **Tosho** » 2002-10-19 01:16pm

http://www.washtimes.com/20021018-1359875.htm

A short summary: The U.S. is telling Canada that it will slow trade between the two countries if Canada slackens its marijuana laws.

Heres a question. Why does the U.S. think it tell other nations what to do regarding their laws on drugs? Further more about the U.S.'s fear that if Canada slackens it laws on marijuana it will lead to more marijuana consumption in the U.S., I hope it does, it will be another crack in the U.S.'s
Gestapo-like laws against marijuana.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2002-10-19 01:23pm

these idiots need to shut the fuck up and try it out!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-10-19 01:26pm

Assholes. They use their size and power to bully other countries into doing whatever they want. And when someone dares say the US is a bully, they say "who, us?"

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-10-19 01:46pm

The lengths to which our gov't goes to demonize marijuana is amazing. Personally, I think it stinks and I hate smelling it. But, if you wanna smoke some in your house, its none of my business.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2002-10-19 01:48pm

Tosho wrote:Heres a question. Why does the U.S. think it tell other nations what to do regarding their laws on drugs?

Those nazis in the national government suceeded in tell the states how to run their business. Why not other countries? Case example, my home state of Louisiana. For the longest time we were the only state in the union to have the drinking age at 18. A bunch of congress wives got together and said no more. Congress threatened to pull our highway funding if we didn't change to 21. Will, sure enough we had to change. Recently they pulled the same crap over on California with their medical marijuana laws. Now they're trying to screw with Canada, big suprise there.

I say Canada should hold it's ground. It will help our states who are trying to do the same thing.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2002-10-19 01:48pm

i guess they´re protecting the breweries.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2002-10-19 01:52pm

Just to add, you'd think that if we used trade threats over something so trivial as marijuana, we'd have completely cut off China by now with their human rights violations and all.

Oh yeah, that didn't happen.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-10-19 02:37pm

You also think we would have added China to the list of Axis of Evil, but we would not want to piss off a major trade partner either. Especially one with nukes.

Mabye Canada should build a couple of nukes, and tell us to go fuck ourselves when we threaten them over weed.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-10-19 04:47pm

WTF should we care about Canada's marijuana laws? This is asinine...

Evil Jerk · Post by **Evil Jerk** » 2002-10-19 04:59pm

Blackmail, is it?
What utter shitheads.

Enlightenment · Post by **Enlightenment** » 2002-10-19 06:11pm

I wonder how many decades of biased and rigged NAFTA hearings it'll take to deal with this crap. Dealing with US trade harassment is what NAFTA is supposed to be for. Funny that the dispute resolution mechnism rarely seems to rule against the US....

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2002-10-19 06:15pm

The US assfucks who are trying to bully us can go fuck themselves.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-10-19 06:16pm

One of the parts of the US Goverment I.. DONT trust

Post by **Kuja** » 2002-10-19 06:18pm

I second that. NAFTAs full of dickheads, just like the US gov.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2002-10-19 06:20pm

Before we get too deep into U.S. bashing, I would like to say:

I'M AN AMERICAN AND I DON'T GIVE A FUCK IF CANADIANS WANT TO SMOKE DOPE! I COUND'T GIVE ANY LESS OF A SHIT!

Thank you

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2002-10-19 06:29pm

I'm an American, and I think this is stupid.

However its not the first time anything like this has happened.

California had been using fuel that came from Canada that had an aditive called MTBE. This additive, if it got into the ground water, would completely ruin the entire ground water supply by leaving a nasty smell and taste that would never be removed. After several ground water supplies had been contaminated, California banned MTBE from its fuel. Canada sued California saying it went against Free trade (NAFTA). Canada succeded in their lawsuit and forced California to accept MTBE fuel.

Lesson learned? Even though the US and Canada are friends, we have screwed eachother in the past, and will do so in the future.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2002-10-20 11:34am

This particular tactic on the part of the U.S. is basically the same tactic the U.S. government used to force all the states in the U.S. to change the drinking age to 21 (in that instance the Feds were going to withhold federal $ for highways).

Government in the U.S. constantly uses coersion to get states/people/etc.. to do what it doesn't legally have the right to do. It does have the right to control where it sends tax dollars so it can stick it to people/states that don't follow it's wise policies.

Now they've just extended the same tactic into our relationship with Canada.

Personally I'd like to know who is so concerned about Canada possibly weakening it's marijuana laws that they'd pull this bullshit. Aren't there other more important things to worry about?

I guess what I really want to know is who in the U.S. government has such a hard-on for marijuana? Is there some guy somewhere that has a bunch of government bigwigs by the balls just so he can keep marijuana laws from making sense? There must be some huge eleaborate conspiracy behind the anti-marijuana paranoia of the U.S. government. Why else would there be such a reactionary headuptheass response whenever anyone doesn't think it's a good idea to throw marijuana users in jail?

Then again this is the U.S.. It doesn't take much to get "Joe-six pack" to agree with the government about the "dopeheads" (as long as he can keep getting his beer and cigarettes).

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-10-20 11:45am

Alyeska wrote:I'm an American, and I think this is stupid.

I have not met an American yet who agrees with this behaviour, yet the politicians seem to believe the people are behind them. Then again, the only Americans I run into are people on-line, who are able to type. This naturally excludes 99% of fundies, so I may not be seeing a representative sample of a country in which 44% of the population thinks the Earth is less than 10,000 years old (Gallup poll).

However its not the first time anything like this has happened.

California had been using fuel that came from Canada that had an aditive called MTBE. This additive, if it got into the ground water, would completely ruin the entire ground water supply by leaving a nasty smell and taste that would never be removed. After several ground water supplies had been contaminated, California banned MTBE from its fuel. Canada sued California saying it went against Free trade (NAFTA). Canada succeded in their lawsuit and forced California to accept MTBE fuel.

You make it sound as if only Canadians use MTBE. In fact, according to the EPA, MTBE has been very widely used in American-made fuels since the 1970's. California was the only state to prohibit it, and since NAFTA is based on federal rules, they could not do so. Yes, MTBE is bad. So is gasoline.

Lesson learned? Even though the US and Canada are friends, we have screwed eachother in the past, and will do so in the future.

I hardly think the MTBE situation is comparable to the marijuana situation. MTBE is widely used in most of America; the fact that California tried to exceed federal standards and eliminate it is a curiosity (and a NAFTA violation, since it gave certain key local producers an advantage with no federal standards justification), but if it's that bad, they should enact a federal standard on it.

Besides, Canada never threatened trade action because of internal American affairs; it was a legitimate matter of trade tariffs. The marijuana situation, on the other hand, is a case of America using blackmail to alter internal Canadian policies which do not directly affect the US in any way.

Antediluvian · Post by **Antediluvian** » 2002-10-20 12:30pm

This is bullshit.

The US government thinks they can tell Canada what to do in it's internal affairs?

All that power has obviously gone to their head.

Fucking unbelievable.

Tosho · Post by **Tosho** » 2002-10-20 12:38pm

http://www.legalize.com/petition/petition.cgi

For any fellow Americans interested.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2002-10-20 12:39pm

There is only one answer.

REVOLUTION!

Tosho · Post by **Tosho** » 2002-10-20 12:41pm

Cyril wrote:There is only one answer.

REVOLUTION!

VIVE L'REVOLUTION!!

Stuart Mackey · Post by **Stuart Mackey** » 2002-10-21 02:16am

Well Im not surprised, America preachs free trade, but only when its free for America and screw the other guy.

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2002-10-21 02:30am

IRG CommandoJoe wrote: WTF should we care about Canada's marijuana laws? This is asinine...

Exactly. If a canuck wants to kill himself, why the hell should we give a shit? Why should other canucks be penalized becaome some idiot wants to get high?

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