Pubdate: Wed, 28 Oct 2015
Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.pentictonherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/664
Author: John Thompson
Page: A9

REVENUES BELOW EXPECTATIONS

Dear Editor: Oh the political perils of pot, let alone its health and 
safety implications.

All of those voters who went for Justin Trudeau's legal pot promise 
will have to remain underground for a while yet, but this won't slow 
down the dedicated tokers one bit.

The Canadian Press article in the Oct. 26 edition of the Herald 
outlines some of the complications with the legalization of marijuana 
in Colorado and other U.S. states. It isn't as easy as it seems at first blush.

It's also worth rechecking what Health Canada says about the hazards 
of pot. No surprises there. It's at least as dangerous as tobacco, 
which we have worked vigorously to suppress for the past 40 years, 
and considerably worse. Imagine what the government warning label 
might look like on a package of legal marijuana.

We may need to reconsider our signature on several major 
international drug control agreements including The Single Convention 
on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Drugs of 
1971, and the UN Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs 
and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.

These require signatories to limit and even prohibit the possession, 
use, trade and distribution of drugs outside of medical and 
scientific purposes.

Backing away from these would seem at odds with the Liberals' 
eagerness to sign on to some of the other UN agreements. But hey, 
most of these UN conventions are non-binding, aspirational declarations anyway.

Sometimes it's a sunny smile from world government, but sometimes 
it's an angry frown. What to do? The cynical among us might conclude 
that the whole marijuana thing was a throwaway election promise in 
the first place, maybe just a "smoke screen" to get the pot users vote.

Recreational marijuana users already have pretty much what they want; 
good supply and quality, acceptable pricing, and virtually no-fault 
possession and use. All that's missing is the blessing of big nanny government.

There are expectations of huge tax revenues from this, but maybe not. 
The Colorado experience is showing that the net effect can be 
something of a disappointment. Economics 101 says that government 
enterprises are never profitable unless they enjoy a monopoly, and 
it's unlikely they will ever quash the competition from "God's little acre".

Those who plan to roll their celebratory doobies with those yellow, 
full-page Conservative election ads from last week need to know that 
newsprint is full of harmful carcinogens. That darn Harper can still bite.

John Thompson

Kaleden
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom