Legalization was never about the right to cultivate cannabis, it was always about regulation and control.
When the question was put to Justin Trudeau whether Canada could be to cannabis what France is to wine, the prime minister answered in the negative.
However — “I have no doubt that Canadians and entrepreneurs will be tremendously innovative in finding ways to create a positive economic benefit from the legalization and control of marijuana, but our focus is on protecting kids and protecting our streets.”
Legalizing cannabis, says the nation’s PC principal, is not about “creating a boutique industry or bringing in tax revenue.”
I suppose they don’t need the tax money, Justin can just run up the deficit and have future taxpayers pay for his economic ignorance.
Legalization isn’t about cultivating a “boutique” farmers market either, where an authentic middle class that already generates billions in revenue and creates thousands of jobs apparently amounts to nothing.
Justin’s approach is strictly ideological. “[I]t’s based on two very simple principles, the first one is: young people have easier access to cannabis now in Canada than they do in just about any other country in the world…”
Perceived as a problem for taxpayers, Justin mistakenly believes the federal bureaucracy will be effective at eradicating the issue.
Never-mind the failures of state control in Liberal Ontario, where alcohol, despite its controlled regulated regime, is still drug choice number one among teenagers.
And politely disregard how simple fines and penalties are enough to deter private business owners from breaking the law and selling to minors.
Justin could just launch a massive propaganda campaign without destroying BC Bud.
He says, “Whatever you might think or studies seen about cannabis being less harmful than alcohol or even cigarettes, the fact is, it is bad for the developing brain, and we need to make sure it’s harder for underage Canadians to access marijuana.”
Making sure it’s harder to access cannabis doesn’t involve penalizing adults and collectivizing a robust west coast farmers market.
All Justin Trudeau is promising is a continued black market in cannabis, especially for teenagers.
Authorities will have more power to investigate cannabis users accused of exchanging with anyone under 25.
“We need to make sure it’s harder for underage Canadians to access marijuana,” says Justin Trudeau, “and that will happen under a controlled and regulated regime.”
No, it won’t. A controlled and regulated regime won’t overturn market conditions without a hefty amount of law enforcement to back it up.
A simple propaganda campaign would work wonders, look at the war on tobacco.
The only thing strict controls on nicotine did was cartelize the industry into Big Tobacco, thereby downgrading the product to its lowest denominator and generating a black market.
A restricted regime that places emphasis on kids and streets will only burden entrepreneurs. Those same entrepreneurs Justin expects to be “tremendously innovative” in spite of hefty controls and regulation.
But there are “two principles” behind Justin’s plan: “The other piece of it is, there are billions upon billions of dollars flowing into the pockets of organized crime, street gangs, and gun-runners, because of the illicit marijuana trade.”
Billions of dollars aren’t flowing into organized crime “because of the illicit marijuana trade.” Cannabis is illegal and so organized crime enters the market in search of profit.
Legalizing home-growing and letting provinces foster their own “boutique” market is literally all it takes to make cannabis cultivation undesirable for gangs who profit from black market activities.
Besides, billions of dollars aren’t generated solely from gangs, there are farmers, extraction crews and dispensaries involved.
But Justin has yet to acknowledge this peaceful faction of the cannabis trade.
Instead he’s mixing up cause and effect, spewing emotional arguments about the children.