2018 Cannabis in Canada – Over the years, cannabis has been an illegal drug in Canada.
Like always, change happens over time, and cannabis in Canada is now in the eye of it. Justin Trudoue, prime minister of Canada has set a date of July 1, 2018: cannabis ruled as a legal substance. Having the opportunity to speak out about this subject, I looked out to see how people felt of this new change. I prepared myself for this study wondering what others would have to say about this. It would be nice to say that I chatted with the population of Canada, but that is not a realistic endeavor. So I chatted with the ones I could, and researched the ones I couldn’t.
The country was pretty divided over cannabis in Canada. No one really seamed to make that much of a fuss.
But the ones that did had some rather insightful questions and problems that this new law would create. And they were: economy & justice system.
As an active user myself, I could see why the country was split over cannabis in Canada. For me, the concept was quite easy. Smoke it or don’t, respect everyone’s idea about it. And for the most part others seemed to believe in the same thing. This legalization isn’t new many countries are changing. And for the most part it’s going quite well.
For me, I could never see any financial gains to taxing the plant. The health benefits out weighted the finical side of things. Being 25 and a single mum, I use it more for medication than recreational use. In my past life I used it more as recreational then medication. All the same I enjoy the smell the taste and the feeling it gives me. Most of everyone I chatted with felt the same. A few would rather eat the herb but that was niter here nor they’re for this topic.
A senior economist at CIBC World Markets extrapolated from Colorado’s sales figures to come up with a $10 billion estimate of the Canadian demand for legal cannabis, and projected provincial and federal governments could rake in $5 billion per year in tax revenue. Chris Damases editor of the BCMI report had this to say
“I don’t think the numbers are that high. “Many people who write about cannabis have a vested interest in promoting the industry.”
Now again speaking as a user I see a beauty and lots of others see a market in the plant. Us “stoners” have even started to master the craft of rolling joints into art. Check out shesmokesjoints (instagram) her page is filled with amazing hand crafted rolled joints, and beautiful video edits of her smoke tricks. Not only is she a beautiful person but also she makes smoking pot look well… beautiful. She isn’t the only fellow user to take this by storm and enter a whole new world of writing editing and photography. Many other users and non-users photograph people smoking started pages even opened their own dispensaries. Just growing the plant is art enough. It’s not hard to see that there is a very large market for this.
But what Chris Damases is talking about is not the investment of fellow users turning pot into a job. It’s the government taxing the product and the issue of what party gets the piece of the pie, so to speak. We all know the government is rather money hungry. A lot of it comes down to money. And how much will I get. . So just how much will we be seeing come off? To the little information that was allowed to be reveled to the public. I found this:
“Under the current proposal, the federal government would impose an excise tax of $1 per gram of marijuana or 10 per cent of the final retail price, whichever is higher, with half the revenue going to provinces and territories”
Reading more into it, we’ve have also found a lot of words like “need more information” and “ need to go over the numbers.” Nothing more has been released on this subject. Whatever the numbers may be, the government doesn’t feel ready or want to tell all.
Over in Québec Canada, Union president Mathieu Lavoie from Quebec Canada. Hopes more resources will be in place at correctional facilities to handle the legalization of marijuana, because guards are worried about increased violence. (Radio-Canada) he also states ” Violence in prison is often linked to debts, whether that’s drugs or gambling,” Benson said. Benson also stated “If we can just make smoking a privilege and ask people, ‘you want to smoke? You have to make some effort in your rehabilitation process,'” . I can imagine that legalizing will bring out some angry inmates. For criminal Justin lawyer Andrew Barbackie stated: “I would foresee for the first couple of years it’s going to be a nightmare, really.”
The conclusion on cannabis in Canada
The reality of it is: change is never easy. And I expect with the first two years we will be experimenting with all kinds of ideas on how the system should work. From how much you can have on you at one time. To who much you can grow. The tools they use to detect diving under the influence. A good friend of mine questioned me this “ can you really get an appropriate reading from a road side test not every body is the same”. an amazing point to be made. I hold my weed much different then my partner my brother and my girlfriends. Is it really fair to state a rule of thumb when not one human is alike? All questions we will receive the answer to as the months press on. As for now Canada waits penitently. And the stoners keep smoking.
Author: Megan Thiessen
For more information, check out our section on current marijuana laws
