Canadian Conservative Leader Tells Joe Rogan Marijuana Should Be A ‘Personal Choice,’ Despite Voting Against Legalization

The head of the Conservative Party of Canada says using marijuana should be
a “personal choice”—even though he voted against the bill that legalized
cannabis nationwide in his country that entitled adults to freedom from the
threat of criminalization for consuming it.

In an interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that was released on
Thursday, Canadian Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre presented a
philosophical idea about cannabis policy that the host said he appreciated
as the two discussed their neighboring nations’ conflicting marijuana laws.

Rogan lamented the fact that while rules are being finalized to reschedule
cannabis under U.S. law—with the backing of President Donald Trump—the
reform wouldn’t federally legalize the plant as the Canadian government
achieved under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the Liberal Party in
2018.

“If alcohol is legal, marijuana is far safer—it should be legal. It’s
ridiculous,” Rogan said. “It’s also a personal freedom thing. Leave people
alone. No one’s robbing banks smoking weed and killing their neighbors.
It’s crazy.”

Poilievre interjected that it’s “a personal choice thing.”

When it comes to cannabis, the role of government should be essentially the
same as alcohol, Rogan said. That is, “Leave them alone.”

And the Canadian conservative leader agreed, saying “that’s my philosophy.”

“The bottom line is, if you cannot trust a man to govern himself, how can
you trust him to govern for others?” Poilievre said. “If you think that
human nature is so flawed that people cannot make decisions for themselves,
then how could you possibly trust human nature to make decisions for other
people—to impose decisions on their lives? And who watches the watchmen?”

“We’re constantly told we need to be kind of guided by these people from
ivory towers. But who are these angels anyway? They’re just human beings
like everyone else,” he said. “So when you give them more power, you give
them the power to impose their will on people, then that ultimately gets
abused.”

The two were aligning on a basic libertarian principle that treats
government power with skepticism and scrutiny, while upholding individual
liberty as an ideal that should not be infringed.

“So even you’re right—even when somebody is doing something that I don’t
agree with, and I would think it would be better for all of us if they
didn’t do it—the mal that is done by giving me the power to impose my
decision-making on them is worse than the benefit of trying to direct them
towards a better decision,” Poilievre said. “That’s my philosophy. It’s
pretty simple. I think all the best things in life are simple.”

“You know, we overcomplicate things. Government is way too complicated. You
know, I think we need to get back to the simplicity,” he continued. “The
greatest speech in the English language was Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address—271 words. Einstein compressed mass and energy into a
five-character equation. Bruce Lee was an advocate of simplicity.”

“Simplicity is is a virtue, and I think we have to get back to simplicity,
especially in government,” Poilievre said. “Simpler, clearer, easier to
manage.”

Rogan, evidently enamored with the lawmaker’s stated philosophy, said, “I
think your message resonates with me,” and if he was Canadian, he’d “vote
for you 100 percent.”

But philosophy aside, if Rogan *had* voted for Poilievre ahead of the
Parliament’s vote to legalize marijuana, he would’ve cast his ballot for
someone whose stated belief in personal freedom to use cannabis didn’t
translate into support for the kind of reform that’s actually given
Canadians that choice. Poilievre voted against the legislation, as
StratCann noted after the interview with Rogan aired.

And while he’s said that a Conservative Party in control of the Canadian
government wouldn’t move to reverse legalization under his leadership, he
also sharply criticized a local pilot program in British Columbia to
decriminalize possession of all currently illicit drugs, saying in 2023
that the policy change made the city of Vancouver a “hell on earth.”

Meanwhile, eight years after Canada enacted marijuana legalization, a
nationally representative survey found that support for the reform is
increasing over time. Relatively few Canadians want to legalize other
drugs, however.

Roughly two-thirds of Canadian adults (65 percent) now say they agree with
cannabis being legal, according to the survey from Research Co. That’s up
three percentage points since the firm last polled on the topic in 2024.

A survey released last year also showed that a majority of Canadians feel
the marijuana sector that’s emerged since cannabis was legalized nationwide is
an “important contributor” to the country’s economy.

Canadians seem to recognize the value of the cannabis industry to the
country’s overall financial health, with 59 percent describing the sector
as a valuable component of the economy in the poll conducted by Abacus Data
and commissioned by the cannabis company Organigram Global. That includes
69 percent of recent Liberal voters and 58 percent of recent Conservative
voters.

When the research firm previously asked Canadians that question last April, 57
percent agreed about the importance of the marijuana market relative to the
national economy, so this represents a slight increase.

Observers have also been watching how broader adult-use legalization
impacts medical marijuana in Canada, noting, for example, patient
enrollment rates declining after legalization was enacted but before
retailers opened for business.

A study released in 2024, meanwhile, found similar marijuana use rates and
support for legalization in both the U.S. and Canada despite the countries’
different national approaches to regulating the drug.

Another report found that marijuana legalization was “associated with a
decline in beer sales,” suggesting a substitution effect where consumers
shift from one product to the other.

Meanwhile, a separate survey out of Canada that was financially supported
by the government recently found that youth marijuana use rates have
declined after the country legalized cannabis—contradicting concerns voiced
by prohibitionists.

A separate Canadian government report found that daily or near-daily use
rates by both adults and youth have held steady over the last six years
after the country enacted legalization.

The post Canadian Conservative Leader Tells Joe Rogan Marijuana Should Be A
‘Personal Choice,’ Despite Voting Against Legalization appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.