This is what legalization looks like.
The RCMP will continue to eliminate mom and pop cannabis shops, like we’ve seen in Sechelt, Deroche, Nanaimo, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and in other communities.
Soon, the Vancouver Police will begin shutting down this city’s dispensaries after bureaucrats pick and choose which businesses they prefer.
Legalization is about buying from Tilray, Canopy and the other licensed producers (LPs).
Visit any community in this country and you see the same thing — Walmart, Canadian Tire, Tim Hortons, Boston Pizza and other corporate chain-stores.
Local mom and pop small-businesses are few and far between because they’re suffering from excessive bureaucratic red-tape and a complicated tax-code.
The cannabis industry won’t be any different.
“Tax and regulate” means creating conditions where the rich and politically well-connected have a competitive advantage over smaller firms with less capital and fewer political strings to pull.
Legalization is simple, take it out of the criminal code. But the Trudeau government is purposely dragging its feet while the RCMP finish the job the Harper government tasked them with.
Harper didn’t have the political capital to destroy BC Bud.
The Allard injunction stopped the LPs in their tracks, while the former Prime Minister’s unpopularity reminded us that politicians in Ottawa shouldn’t be dictating rules to free, consenting adults in British Columbia or elsewhere.
Now, all of that has changed.
People are once again looking to Ottawa politicians and bureaucrats for guidance on local issues.
While Stephen Harper embodied disgust and dishonesty, Justin Trudeau is the same iron fist but wrapped in a velvet glove.
Trudeau commands trust and patience, while the police continue to fight the drug war, and the LPs continue to expand their markets at the only “legal” supply.
I was serious about Harper being the better choice.
He was a constant reminder that “we” are not the government, it is not “us” nor does it share the same values and goals.
While British Columbia gets raided, Manitoba and Ontario are discussing how their monopoly liquor stores are the best means for sales.
This is what legalization looks like.
It’s about having a cartel of producers and sellers, just like in the other sectors of the economy.
Stephen Harper began the process of legalization by setting up the LPs, and now Justin Trudeau will finish the job up by looking handsome and saying nice, superficial things.
There is a continuity of government in Canada. Your vote takes a backseat to the money-making interests that are working to capture and control this billion dollar market.