This article originally appeared on VICE CanadaIf you've been watching Corner Gas, hockey, or The National lately, you've probably seen the Canadian government's new anti-weed ad. The commercial, which is obviously targeted toward boomers who lovingly recall their free-love/get-high days, has a stern message: If your teenager smokes weed, his or her brain will melt.The ad, which a Reddit user noted has been " disliked into oblivion on YouTube," is a bizarre piece of work for a couple of reasons. For one, it's funded by "Healthy Canadians," a group that boasts a stunning 259 YouTube subscribers as of press time.
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But Healthy Canadians is, in part, a branch of Health Canada, a government agency that has spent the better part of this year building a corporate medical marijuana system while simultaneously preventing medical marijuana users from growing their own weed. This medical system, known currently as the MMPR, is counting on those same baby boomers they're pumping evil-weed propaganda at to become patrons of the legal weed revolution. And yet, even though the MMPR is in place, it's clearly not being supported politically by the conservative government.With an already stringent set of restrictions on how Canadians can get access to the MMPR, and given the very recent history of Health Canada forcing medical patients to dispose of their homegrown weed by mixing it with kitty litter (lest they be turned over to the RCMP), it's no stretch to say that this government is only half-interested in capitalizing off the upcoming "green rush" of marijuana industries.With a federal election coming up, Trudeau will be running a platform with marijuana legalization front and center. Some conservative media outlets say he's the guy to beat, so is it any wonder that this current government is stuffing anti-weed propaganda down our throats while we're checking out the latest hot sauce company to make $50,000 on Dragon's Den?
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