Pubdate: Fri, 09 Dec 2016
Source: Daily Observer, The (Pembroke, CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Pembroke Daily Observer
Contact: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/letters
Website: http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2615
Author: Paul Kelly
Page: A4

REEFER MADNESS

When you look at the rainbow of sins that governments tax, you would
have to place marijuana in a pretty unique place.

Think of the vast array of ills government live off of and their
alternatives:

Gas taxes: are you not going to drive a car or heat your home? Or if
there was an alternative, could you use it. Governments control it
all. Don't want to pay taxes? Tough luck.

Gambling: Nothing beats a government run casino and lottery. Try setting 
up your own lottery and tell me how it goes. But first, look up Ponzi 
Scheme...it's in the criminal code.

Cigarettes: Remember not too long ago the huge black market in smokes? 
The government cut taxes on cigarettes and they entire empire collapsed. 
Try making and smoking your own tobacco - good luck.

Alcohol: Can you buy cheap homemade booze? Moonshine? Most would worry 
about the safety of it. I think most people have read enough stories 
about death and blindness from drinking such concoctions. People mostly 
stay clear.

In the main areas of sin, governments have got you coming and going on
the use of and undertaking of all of these activities.

There is a black market to all of these but I would wager that none of
it comes close to producing the billions of dollars in profits that
governments enjoy. Most people stay of the straight and narrow.

Make no mistake, for all of it self righteousness, governments need
the revenue to pay the bills. ($5.57 billion in liquor alone last year)

But now, it comes time to turn our attention to marijuana - weed,
grass, pot. A black market Canadian market that is valued between $7
to $10 billion.

I have no interest in it other than the fact that it has the markings
of being a huge legitimized growth sector in Canada in the next seven
years. (It could also go bust just as easily.)

If I wanted illegal smokes I likely could find some within a week.
Recall, I do not smoke. If I wanted to gamble, I most likely would buy
a lottery ticket. I don't do the track or casinos - I have no
interest. I would never bet on sports.

If I wanted illegal booze I most likely could find some - in a week or
so - but, again, I would be suspect. To me, the LCBO is the place to
get booze and Quebec for beer. (Admit it!)

But if someone wanted marijuana from a safe source, they could
probably find it in under an hour. (Once again, I am not looking. I
have no interest.)

I am not condoning. Not endorsing it. Not encouraging it in any way,
shape or form, not going to do it. But it's best to acknowledge reality.

I've been reading a lot about it and the entire market is really
undergoing a shake up. In Canada there are vending machines where you
can buy weed for $20 like it was a bag of potato chips, gum or a candy
bar (which also cost $20.)

Long gone are the dark shops dominated by males that sell water pipes
and rolling papers.

This past summer I was reading in Chatelaine (how mainstream is that?)
about shops that include weed, edibles, oils, creams, vapours and a
vast array of products that are "pinking " - making stores female
friendly - marijuana. There are celebrity brands and endorsements.

It's a fascinating field. My sense from reading about it is that there
is majority that Canada should just move on. Like with alcohol after
prohibition, what people do in their own homes is their own business.

Where the challenge is for governments is that the genie is already
out of the bottle. Marijuana is readily available. People grow their
own. No large operations. No elaborate infrastructure.

In effort to decriminalize possession, the Trudeau and Wynne
governments are going to have to start criminalizing a lot of people
who are already growing and selling it.

Wynne thinks that folks are going to head down to the LCBO for it - a
plan that I assure you will absolutely 110 per cent fail.

Buying booze in Ontario is already a painfully dull experience and the
trend here is to sell drugs through gatherings like Tupperware parties.

Trudeau has put former-Toronto-police-chief-turned-MP Bill Blair in
charge of the entire matter. Based on how he treated Toronto G20
protesters, I don't think that Blair will find the question of smoking
weed so 'groovy'.

It will be an interesting time for Trudeau. He may be very high on the
idea, but getting there might kill his buzz. Perhaps the whole thing
will go up in smoke.

But if he thinks he can overtake an existing billion dollar industry
turning it into a government bureaucracy I have to wonder what's he
been smoking.
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MAP posted-by: Matt