British Columbia’s Health Officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, is on the legalization task farce.
Never-mind why BC would need a “Health Officer,” this man, like so many others on the panel, is keen on restricting marketing and advertising.
“I think my recommendation to the task force will be to have the kind of ban on advertising that we have for tobacco products in Canada, and not to be nearly as promotional as we are with alcohol at the present time.”
Why? Because we might hurt someone’s feelings?
Cannabis is safer than alcohol and tobacco. Nowhere in its history are lethal overdoses, a high probability of killing people while driving, or the creation of such a dependency that it destroys personal and social relationships.
Alcohol is openly destructive. There isn’t even a comparison.
Kendall is playing to people’s emotions and the irrational thinking behind them.
Like Tweed’s Mark Zekulin says, “People think it went too far (in Colorado). I don’t know if there were billboards, but there was probably too much cannabis in people’s faces. I’m not sure Canadians necessarily want to see that.”
Who is to say? Provinces? Municipalities, local civic associations, and private property owners?
Or the federal government which consists of politicians in Ottawa making decisions for 35 million people spread over 9 million square kilometres?
Kendall is throwing his own provincial economy under the bus. The same private-sector capital that sustains his tax-dependent job.
BC Bud plays a critical role in British Columbia’s economy, bringing in billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. Not to mention the positive externalities of the trade.
And Kendall wants it destroyed because of what? Perceived negative externalities? His idea of Canadian aesthetics?
If there’s any company posed for sales in the legalization market, it’s Tweed. So what does Mark Zekulin say about advertising and marketing?
“It certainly shouldn’t be advertised like a book or a box of cereal, but I think there is a need to ensure that producers can explain to the customers what they are getting, because it’s a very complex product.”
A “complex product” best served through a corporate gander hole, as medical patients have already discovered.
Meanwhile, the MMAR-protected growers are still at the discretion of Health Canada.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The legalization task farce may be an improvement over absolute prohibition, but outside of the state’s regulatory apparatus, prohibition is still enforced.
Through marketing and advertising, people will face incarceration.
Despite Blair’s promise that legalization “doesn’t mean everybody needs to be in jail,” the fact is, ignoring the state’s rules, fines, and penalties, eventually gets you there.
Dr. Perry Kendall is one of nine people that will decide how it happens.
So much for electing members of parliament to “represent” you.