Chris Young/Associated Press
It was one of the biggest parties this country has seen for a long time. The one that began when the bud came down at the stroke of midnight.
And millions of Canadians celebrated the end of the Great War on Marijuana.
But not Andrew Scheer.
For him the whiff of weed in the air must surely have reminded him of Justin Trudeau, the leader who had the guts to legalize marijuana, and the man Scheer hates more than anyone else on earth.
So the party pooper who would be our jailer, just couldn't restrain himself.
I still have trouble believing it, but in just a few hours it will be Marijuana Freedom Day in Canada.
And although some of the old geezers in the blogosphere are claiming it's no big deal.
It is a big deal, for this reason alone.
If everything had gone according to plan, marijuana would have been legalized in this country on July 1, Canada's birthday.
But now it looks as if we will have to wait until at least Labour Day.
There is a slim but very real chance that it could take years before it is legalized.
And Justin Trudeau knows who is to blame.
I watched Andrew Scheer's appearance last night on Tout Le Monde En Parle, Quebec's biggest talk show.
And although I thought his French was (slightly) better than I had imagined it would be, his fifteen minute appearance can only be described as a bust, or a snooze fest.
If you understand French you can watch it here.
But if you don't, I think the looks on the faces of those trapped in the studio with him will tell you all you need to know.
As I'm sure you know by now, the sinister religious fanatic Andrew Scheer is on a crusade to try to turn Canada into a theocracy.
Two days ago I told you how he had humiliated the would be feminist Rona Ambrose, by arranging to replace her with a candidate who once called feminists "feminazis."
And has strong alt-right tendencies.
Which couldn't be more deeply disturbing or less Canadian.
But that's not the only depraved crusade Scheer is on.
We've been talking about legalizing marijuana in this country for about fifty years, since the Le Dain Commission delivered its report.
Which was completely ignored, as was another report produced by the Senate.
So I'm glad that our next Canada Day is also supposed to be Cannabis Day, the day the insane War on Weed finally ends.
But as that day approaches, those who would like that war to continue are becoming more and more vocal.
There is a touch of reefer madness in the air. Again.
Wednesday was National Weed Day or 4/20 day, when all over Canada and the world people gather to celebrate cannabis culture and smoke up.
So one has to commend the Liberal government for the timing of this announcement.
Federal legislation to legalize marijuana will be ready in a year, Canada's health minister told the UN at a special session of the General Assembly in New York today.
"We will introduce legislation in spring 2017 that ensures we keep marijuana out of the hands of children and profits out of the hands of criminals," Jane Philpott said in her prepared speech to delegates.
Even though the timing for legalization does seem to me to be a little on the slow side.
At first glance they may look like an odd couple. The hairy Rona Ambrose, and the equally hairy sloth from Australia.
But it turns out they are both peddling the same message.
And while until today I thought that Rona's Killer Weed ad was the worst anti-marijuana ad ever made...
You know, the one where that heap of glass tubing is supposed to be your brain after you smoke up.
Or at least the most ridiculous ad campaign since that old classic Reefer Madness...
As we all know Stephen Harper has an unhealthy obsession with marijuana, handcuffs, and Justin Trudeau. Not necessarily in that order.
He has no respect for science, and has never seen a scientist he didn't want to muzzle.
But even by his low standards this is criminally irresponsible.
Well I knew the depraved and increasingly desperate Stephen Harper would say or do anything to try to distract us from the Duffy trial.
And sure enough I was right. First came his latest attempt to resuscitate the Great War on Terror.
And now comes yet another attempt to revive the Great War on Drugs.
I don't know if you've noticed, but Rona Ambrose has recently stepped up the Great Con War on Marijuana.
By rerunning that old anti-marijuana ad, the one with dirty glass tubing representing the human brain on drugs.
And sticking us with the bummer bill.
I suppose it was too good to be true. Most things in Harperland are like that eh?
Any good idea that sticks its head above the ground is mown down by the ghastly Cons.
So one moment I'm pleasantly surprised by the RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, telling a reporter that marijuana use is not a big deal.
“I don’t think marijuana usage is as big a deal as it used to be. It’s still vulnerable to exploitation to organized crime, but you know, less and less as it becomes more and more commercially available,” he says.
And the next moment I'm forced to endure the sight of the hapless Con Peter MacKay claiming that the Commissioner is wrong, and marijuana is a deadly threat.
Oh no. How much more can I stand? Not the Great War on Marijuana. Again.
First the Harper Cons come out sounding like something out of Reefer Madness.
Now here comes Rosie DiManno to open up a whole new front in the War on Weed.
By declaring that marijuana shouldn't be legalized, because it makes you STUPID !!!
Well I'm glad to see that Justin Trudeau has come out in favour of legalizing marijuana.
For the noblest of reasons:
“It’s one of the only ways to keep it out of the hands of our kids because the current war on drugs, the current model is not working. We have to use evidence and science to make sure we’re moving forward on that.”
And I also see the Cons have come rushing out to denounce him for the lowest of reasons.
