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Canadian policy will impact North Dakota, U.S.

Canada’s decision to become just the second nation in the world to entirely legalize marijuana will have a profound impact on North Dakota, other border states and the nation as a whole.

According to Associated Press, “Canada’s Senate gave final passage Tuesday to the federal government’s bill to legalize cannabis, though Canadians will have to wait at least a couple of months to legally buy marijuana as their country becomes the second in the world to make pot legal nationwide.

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government had hoped to make pot legal by July 1, but the government has said provincial and territorial governments will need eight to 12 weeks following Senate passage and royal assent to prepare for retail sales,” AP continued. “Trudeau’s government is expected to decide a date that would legalize it in early or mid-September.”

There are strong ethical, political and medical arguments on both sides of the recreational legalization debate. N.D. voters strongly supported medical cannabis when it hit the ballot, driven in large part by the ailing and elderly interested in a more natural, effective means of managing chronic pain. Recreational use is making its way through our ballot initiative process, while it has already passed elsewhere. Even those opposed to the recreational use of the drug frequently eye it as a lucrative means of raising funds for massive societal needs – like healthcare.

That said, the legal status in N.D. is what it is. Keeping marijuana off the streets (already an unwinnable war) will get a lot more complicated if it is made entirely legal in Canada. The U.S. border with Canada is vast, encompasses hundreds of miles of minimally monitored wilderness, and is nowhere near as militarized as our southern border. It’s already a tempting target for smugglers of all sorts. Once marijuana can be purchased legally in Canada, it is much easier to establish smuggling routes.

For good or ill, Canadian legalization will cause problems in North Dakota. They might be problems we already face and will face moreso in the future – but it nevertheless will increase challenges today.

Canada has every right to make this change and, in fact, is probably more in tune with much of the world in policy terms. But what Canada does, it does not do in a bubble. Inevitably the impact will be felt here in N.D., where Canadians are our near neighbors, frequent guests and friends. At the very least, the coming policy is something with which we will have to deal.

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