As the due date for the Legal Weed Scourge draws to a close, it has been interesting to watch the federal and provincial governments staking their claims as to the millions of dollars to be made. In my mind’s eye, I see them all standing with eager anticipation at the starting gate to see who will be the first to get hold of the riches.
I know there is a bit of cynicism involved here, but I see such a blatant tax grab in the works despite the huge efforts to hide their greed. The only ones missing out are the municipalities who will have to foot the bills for policing and licencing.
In the Advocate Oct 5 is an article Alberta eyes eighteen as age for cannabis use.
Really?
Will they really be able to control something like that?
As long as there is a nickel to be made, those under eighteen will still be able to ‘enjoy the great pleasures of weed’, just at a slightly higher untaxable cost.
Mr. Trudeau’s answer to it all is that the federal government will collect the tax on weed and dribble some to the provinces, who will have enough use for these dribblings that the municipalities once again will be left holding the bag.
The debate for the provinces now is whether to spend some money to sell weed and control it through their own stores.
If you believe that my view is wrong, consider the following scene.
Once all the processes are in place and weed which is now legally sold, (the price being ten or twenty percent less than the street price), will in all likelihood be bought by those who will sell to the ‘under aged’ for that 10 or 20 per cent profit. With current usage by the under 18, that few percent will amount to a lot of cash.
How long will it be until the provinces turn the sales over to private enterprise as they have done with liquor sales?
Now all they do is keep a tight control of all sales and collect taxes that will in all likelihood be thrown into general coffers and be used for electoral sway offerings.
The only difference it will make to the users on the street is that 13-, 14-year-olds will pay a higher price for their pot so they can and will turn to other drugs which they will be able to afford.
By this point you may be thinking that I am government bashing again, but this is different. In all the reports I have read issued by “officials”, never once have I read a shred of compassion or caring, or for that matter a desire to look into the reasons for the dramatic increase in drug use. Weed is only one of hundreds of choices that users delve into.
Why are these folks using drugs that may even kill them? Is it because we no longer teach or hold them to the teachings and morals of the past?
Maybe I have been working with this industry too long, but as I watch one person after another die due to overdose, (fentanyl etc.), all the political wrangling over just one drug seems totally out of place.
In Portugal they have legalized all drugs, and while there was a transition period, they have now found that the overall drug use has declined; dramatically! Go figure!
Whether users live or die is not really the issue as far as I am concerned; I cannot chose for them, rather I’m more concerned with their heart and soul and why they got there in the first place. It’s only those left behind who suffer, and they don’t care whether or not you tax a scourge. They just hurt!
Chris Salomons is the kitchen co-ordinator of Potter’s Hands in Red Deer.