CALGARY, Canada—After years of campaign promises, delays and contentious Senate debates, marijuana legalization is finally coming to Canada on Oct. 17. The milestone will make Canada the second country—and the largest—to legalize the drug for recreational use; Uruguay made the same move in 2013. It therefore offers unique opportunities for other countries to learn from the resulting triumphs and pitfalls. The Cannabis Act was originally tabled in the spring of 2017 with the goal of legalization by Canada Day—July 1—of this year. Demands for more research input and coordination with the various levels of government and industry stakeholders slowed the [...]
In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and managing editor, Frederick Deknatel, discuss the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the implications for U.S.-Saudi ties. For the Report, Anna-Catherine Brigida talks with WPR’s senior editor, Robbie Corey-Boulet, about the dangers facing Salvadorans deported by the U.S., many of whom are returning to a country they barely know. If you like what you hear on Trend Lines and what you’ve read on WPR, you can sign up for our free newsletter to get our uncompromising analysis delivered straight to your inbox. The newsletter offers a free preview [...]
Ahead of Brazil’s elections last Sunday, the far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was widely expected to finish first in a crowded field. With more than a dozen people running for the presidency, however, few thought he would come as close as he did to winning an outright majority in the first round. The final tally gave the controversial former army captain 46 percent of the vote, setting the stage for a runoff on Oct. 28 against Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers’ Party, whose preferred candidate, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is in prison and was barred from [...]
