and, what is my final takeaway on the situation regarding marijuana policy?

you'll recall that i was what might be called a weak proponent of marijuana legalization, up until that point. i didn't really consider it a serious political issue, frankly - but i would have argued in favour of it, if pressed. i was and am still more interested in marijuana as an industrial material than i am as a drug. while i voted for the liberals in 2015, i was driven by climate change policy, rather than marijuana policy. in the more recent ontario election - where the conservatives ran on market liberalization and probably won a lot of votes for it - i voted for the green party, which is just demonstrating a level of consistency around the issue.

so, i voted for it, and i weakly supported it, but i never considered it a ballot issue.

you'll also recall that the woman that caused me so much misery, that forced me to live for months in abject discomfort, was actually a medicinal user, not a recreational user - and i actually think that this is at the crux of the problem. i don't think that marijuana is a medicine, and i don't think that it should be treated like one, and especially not for people suffering from depression, where studies have shown that marijuana addiction doesn't relieve depression, but actually causes it. if marijuana has a medicinal use, it is in physical pain relief, and should be taken in the form of pills, rather than smoked.

while i called the police on this woman not once but twice, it was done out of complete disinterest for her well-being, as she had demonstrated none for mine. i had at that point repeatedly asked her not to smoke in my air supply, and she completely ignored me. while i did not expect her to get arrested, i didn't really care if she did, either; my sole, singular concern was in generating documentation for a court process, and if she ended up in jail as a consequence, that wasn't my problem. she could choke on her own filth, for all i care. but, what i wanted was the report to take to court - and i had no interest in what happened to her, otherwise.

so, what the takeaway from that is is as follows:

1) the idea of "medicinal marijuana" should be completely abolished. marijuana, like alcohol, is a recreational drug that should be available, but heavily regulated.
2) there needs to be stronger restrictions on where marijuana can be used. most importantly, marijuana should be completed banned from any kind of apartment building, or shared living space. i would also support restrictions on outdoor marijuana use in residential areas. these restrictions should be enforced with heavy fines.
3) marijuana use should be permitted in smoking sections at bars, concerts, etc - and the social conditioning should be to try to direct it towards social use, rather than use in alienation.

i don't think the issue is whether you can smoke it or not; the issue is about where you can smoke it. as a non-smoker, my self-interest is in ensuring that my mental and physical health is not affected by the habits of other people; it is protecting the rights of non-smokers that needs to be the focus of the law, not the rights of smokers.