Photo & Buds by Jay Anarchon
The legalization of "marijuana" (as the Canadian government likes to call it) has arrived in Canada. I must say, my fellow Canucks never fail to disappoint. People are literally tripping over each other and lining up blocks away, to wait for hours for over priced cannabis. With prices ranging from $8 - $14 per gram and no discounts on ounces, the dullness of the cannabis community in Edmonton, Alberta has been announced with a bull-horn.
Let's face it, we had a previously established market that was fantastic - High quality local products and plenty of BC Bud floating around for great prices. Pre-legalization prices ranging from $150 - $240 per oz. and no tax, what could possibly be the appeal of paying $224 - $392 per oz, plus GST, plus the 10% excise tax the Canadian government decided to place on Cannabis (because they own the market, if you hadn't realized). This puts a bag of herb at $257.60 - $450.80. But hey, you can use a credit card and the stores are really cool.
Shooting Yourself In The Foot
If you haven't yet realized it, the price of cannabis just doubled. Even at these exorbitant prices, many of the stores have sold out and most of the government approved "licensed producers" do not have enough to supply the stores with more product. Some shops have closed their doors already and some have brought in "illegal" cannabis to meet their clients needs. This means people are literally paying these prices for the same product that would have hit them via the grassroots market anyway and that the Canadian government is most likely collecting taxes on "illegal marijuana". This makes the Canadian government accessory to illegal activity as well guilty of benefiting from the proceeds of crime.
If people haven't realized how this will effect the grassroots movement, here's how it will most likely play out: There will be an access of grassroots product initially due to the flux towards the shops and licensed producers. This will most likely result in maintained pricing temporarily. Once the market becomes less lucrative due to saturation and less demand, some of the grassroots producers and distributors will find other ventures and the market will level off, resulting in an increase in pricing up towards the accepted mainstream pricing in the stores. Would you sell an ounce for $250 that people are willing to pay $450 for?
We Have The Power
As in every situation we have the ability to choose not to participate in this criminal usurpation of what, in my opinion, was probably the only solid grassroots movement we had left in Canada. To boycott government cannabis would not even mean we had to go without our herb, let's face it - everyone already had more than one friend that could help them out. But who wants to support their friends and community when there are large corporations that could really use our funds?
I myself am committed to a 100% boycott. I am lucky enough to be producing my own cannabis. But hey - Even if you're one of those people who thinks that something can be made morally and socially acceptable just by writing it on a piece of paper, you can grow 4 plants. There really is no need for this government hijacking and we definitely were not short on availability. How many of these pro-legalization cannabis consumers have even read the legislation attached to what they petitioned for? As far as I'm concerned, that movement fell shamefully short of increasing the free use of cannabis. I know many who were involved thought they were doing good but just as the cannabis industry itself was hijacked, so too was the legalization process used to further infringe upon our rights and raid our wallets.