Thunderian
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- Mar 13, 2017
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It's the end of an era. Weed dispensaries are pretty mainstream already, but now the government is going to get into sales, and the commercialization of pot will kick into really high gear.
Being from British Columbia, I have a closeness to and awareness of the marijuana economy. I've always known people who grow it, sell it or use it, and I know that the price for pot hasn't moved much in the last quarter century. In 1990, the price for an eighth ounce of weed was $20-$25. The price is presently around $35-$40. That's astonishing, considering the price of a pack of cigarettes or a case of beer is three or four times what it was almost 30 years ago. And the weed is generally free of any added junk. Maybe a little pesticide, but not any worse for you than what they put in strawberries, I guess.
But now that pot is pretty much legal, and in July of next year will actually be, the price and the product are going to start changing. There are already huge grow warehouses in industrial areas 15 minutes from my house. You can bet they are paying taxes on these big operations, and the dispensaries that sell the product in downtown Vancouver are paying taxes, too. Legal regulation will mean more taxes, more fees and costs that will be passed along to buyers, and the price will start to reflect that.
There will always be the option of buying from a private dealer, as most people did before the dispensaries opened up everywhere, but I feel like the price for this will be going up as well. The people who were growing the most weed in BC were the Hell's Angels. They owned or controlled a lot of the operations, but they've gone legit, and growing weed illegally will make as much sense as having a still in the woods and selling whiskey that way. It might be a great product, but it's a headache to produce and distribute. Legal is the way to go, and that's what the Angels are doing now.
So the privately dealt weed will be classed as boutique, or "craft" weed and it will cost an arm and a leg. "Yeah, it comes from this organic cannabis farm on Saltspring Island. The farm is carbon neutral and only crops out 20 pounds a year. This is called Haida Haze, and it's $130 an eighth." Government weed will be cheaper than that, so the poor potheads will have to buy commercial.
And the commercial weed will start coming in all sorts of different varieties. Pumpkin Spice! Caffeine-free! Tartar control! Seriously, they will add more and more chemicals, and it will less and less resemble the product people use today.
Every time I heard someone say, "Legalize it!", I would wonder if they knew what they were asking for. Despite being illegal, pot has not ever been hard to find or carried any danger to the average user because of it's illegality. It's been cheap, good quality and pretty freely available. Now those first two will be gone. The golden age of BC bud is over.
Anyway, that's what I have to say about it.
Being from British Columbia, I have a closeness to and awareness of the marijuana economy. I've always known people who grow it, sell it or use it, and I know that the price for pot hasn't moved much in the last quarter century. In 1990, the price for an eighth ounce of weed was $20-$25. The price is presently around $35-$40. That's astonishing, considering the price of a pack of cigarettes or a case of beer is three or four times what it was almost 30 years ago. And the weed is generally free of any added junk. Maybe a little pesticide, but not any worse for you than what they put in strawberries, I guess.
But now that pot is pretty much legal, and in July of next year will actually be, the price and the product are going to start changing. There are already huge grow warehouses in industrial areas 15 minutes from my house. You can bet they are paying taxes on these big operations, and the dispensaries that sell the product in downtown Vancouver are paying taxes, too. Legal regulation will mean more taxes, more fees and costs that will be passed along to buyers, and the price will start to reflect that.
There will always be the option of buying from a private dealer, as most people did before the dispensaries opened up everywhere, but I feel like the price for this will be going up as well. The people who were growing the most weed in BC were the Hell's Angels. They owned or controlled a lot of the operations, but they've gone legit, and growing weed illegally will make as much sense as having a still in the woods and selling whiskey that way. It might be a great product, but it's a headache to produce and distribute. Legal is the way to go, and that's what the Angels are doing now.
So the privately dealt weed will be classed as boutique, or "craft" weed and it will cost an arm and a leg. "Yeah, it comes from this organic cannabis farm on Saltspring Island. The farm is carbon neutral and only crops out 20 pounds a year. This is called Haida Haze, and it's $130 an eighth." Government weed will be cheaper than that, so the poor potheads will have to buy commercial.
And the commercial weed will start coming in all sorts of different varieties. Pumpkin Spice! Caffeine-free! Tartar control! Seriously, they will add more and more chemicals, and it will less and less resemble the product people use today.
Every time I heard someone say, "Legalize it!", I would wonder if they knew what they were asking for. Despite being illegal, pot has not ever been hard to find or carried any danger to the average user because of it's illegality. It's been cheap, good quality and pretty freely available. Now those first two will be gone. The golden age of BC bud is over.
Anyway, that's what I have to say about it.
Legal Pot: Canada Will Sell Marijuana in Liquor Stores
newsweek.com/canada-liquor-stores-sell-marijuana-743195
One province in Canada has decided to sell its marijuana in liquor stores.
Nova Scotia, a province on Canada’s eastern shore, announced on Thursday that the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, its sole alcohol distributor, would sell the drug in its stores and on its website once Canada legalizes weed in July of next year.
"The NSLC has the experience and expertise to distribute and sell restricted products like alcohol and now cannabis in a socially responsible way," Justice Minister Mark Furey said at a press conference. "We believe the NSLC is best positioned to sell cannabis, keeping it out of the hands of young people and making it legally available in a safe, regulated way."
Experts say this has its downsides –– like for those recovering from alcoholism, who may be pushed into temptation if they want to purchase pot, for instance.
“Does it increase or decrease cannabis consumption and alcohol consumption to have the two together?” asked Mark Haden, a professor of public policy at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health. He called the whole thing a “debate with no evidence” at this point.
But it also has its upsides –– liquor stores already have the brick-and-mortar locations, and have increased security and surveillance to make sure minors don’t buy alcohol, and to make sure no one steals it.
newsweek.com/canada-liquor-stores-sell-marijuana-743195One province in Canada has decided to sell its marijuana in liquor stores.
Nova Scotia, a province on Canada’s eastern shore, announced on Thursday that the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, its sole alcohol distributor, would sell the drug in its stores and on its website once Canada legalizes weed in July of next year.
"The NSLC has the experience and expertise to distribute and sell restricted products like alcohol and now cannabis in a socially responsible way," Justice Minister Mark Furey said at a press conference. "We believe the NSLC is best positioned to sell cannabis, keeping it out of the hands of young people and making it legally available in a safe, regulated way."
Experts say this has its downsides –– like for those recovering from alcoholism, who may be pushed into temptation if they want to purchase pot, for instance.
“Does it increase or decrease cannabis consumption and alcohol consumption to have the two together?” asked Mark Haden, a professor of public policy at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health. He called the whole thing a “debate with no evidence” at this point.
But it also has its upsides –– liquor stores already have the brick-and-mortar locations, and have increased security and surveillance to make sure minors don’t buy alcohol, and to make sure no one steals it.
Nova Scotians will be allowed 30 grams (roughly 30 to 40 joints), and must be over the age of 19 to purchase marijuana. Canada will legalize the drug in July, but has left it up to its 10 provinces to decide where they will sell it, how much residents can have, and what the legal parameters around its dispensaries are. Ontario is also planning to sell its marijuana in liquor stores. Some provinces, however, are opting instead for government-run stores, like New Brunswick, where stores will ban advertising and window displays.
While provincial regulations are moving along quickly, governments are still scrambling to meet the rapidly approaching July 2018 deadline –– a timeline Quebec's public officials have called too fast. They've asked twice asked for a one-year extension to 2019 (and were denied).
The Nova Scotia government opened its policies up to an online survey, led by MQO Research. The vote was close –– 56 percent of respondents actually wanted standalone stores for marijuana rather than the two-in-one combination, while 49 percent said they liked the liquor store idea.
The NSLC has not responded to a request for comment.
While provincial regulations are moving along quickly, governments are still scrambling to meet the rapidly approaching July 2018 deadline –– a timeline Quebec's public officials have called too fast. They've asked twice asked for a one-year extension to 2019 (and were denied).
The Nova Scotia government opened its policies up to an online survey, led by MQO Research. The vote was close –– 56 percent of respondents actually wanted standalone stores for marijuana rather than the two-in-one combination, while 49 percent said they liked the liquor store idea.
The NSLC has not responded to a request for comment.
