Mr. Speaker, I am far from convinced that legalizing so-called soft drugs is the solution, and I will explain why.
Legalizing them would probably get organized crime out of the fields of Quebec and the rest of Canada. There are, however, products that are substituted for this very high quality cannabis, and I am talking about cocaine and heroin. Lowering the price of top quality Canadian cannabis would bring down the price of substitute drugs as well, possibly resulting in a situation where organized crime would go after a greater share of the market, because the price of hard drugs had dropped.
What is lost in terms of profits, because some drugs have been legalized, could be made up for in increased numbers of hard drug users.
So I think this bears looking at. But I am personally coming around to the idea that it would not be the solution, far from it, and it might make matters worse. I think it is too easy to say that we are unable to do anything, because we are not putting in the necessary financial and legal resources, and to say that we will legalize what we cannot control
It is the thin edge of the wedge to take everything we are unable to control and, when we are unable to find a solution, legalize it.
I think this is something we should avoid doing.