When the federal government tried to phase out the old medical cannabis regulations by having over 30,000 patients destroy their home gardens, the response led to a Charter challenge.
Without this court case, the RCMP and Health Canada bureaucrats were more than willing to enforce this blatant violation of rights.
Destroy the garden, mix the cannabis with kitty litter, put it out on the curb and wait for the garbage-man to pick it up.
Likewise, whenever the police bust an illegal “grow-op” or raid a peaceful dispensary, the cannabis they confiscate usually gets destroyed. Or it’s filed away as evidence never to see the light day again (assuming that our trusted public servants don’t take it home and smoke it themselves).
So when I hear of licensed producers (LPs) growing more cannabis than is in demand, my first thought goes to destroying that cannabis — for health and public safety reasons, of course.
Health Canada admitted that there is an “overall sufficient supply of marijuana for medical purposes to meet the current access needs of registered clients” and so there is no reason for the LPs to stockpile so much cannabis.
With over 7,000 kilograms of cannabis in their inventory, one wonders why more LPs haven’t slashed their prices to $1 a gram.
Not that LP cannabis is worth even that much, but you’d think basic economics might come into play here.
If I have 200 grams and sell it for $10 a gram but hardly anyone buys and I’m stuck with, let’s say, 150 grams along with the additional costs like storage — then why wouldn’t I slash my prices to sell the remaining 150 grams?
Of course, if I can’t make my money back selling it at a much lower price, then it might make sense to bear the storage costs and wait it out.
But since the LPs are a creation of Ottawa, and since Ottawa has no problem violating property rights in order to achieve certain ends, why not force the LPs to destroy their excess supply?
Just like patients who may have to destroy their gardens, or cops that destroy grow operations, if the LPs excess supply is not being sold, then we can’t wait around for Justin to legalize in hopes that the LPs can sell to recreational consumers.
Think of the children!
Having all that cannabis sit in some old Hersey factory is just plain unsafe. What if a tornado or a wicked winter storm comes through and knocks down the building and sends cannabis flying throughout the community?
Would you rather see 1,000 kilograms get loose and into the hands of children, or 5,000 kilograms?
Of course, this line of reasoning is ridiculous. Then again, so was the Liberals’ legalization.
The Liberals didn’t campaign on legalization because you are a self-owning adult human being that has the right to consume cannabis.
They campaigned on “keeping it out of the hands of children” and what better way to do that than coercively shutting down dispensaries, banning home-growing, and giving the LPs the exclusive right to produce and sell.