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As of midnight last night, the ownership, use and growing of marijuana for personal use is now legal. Everybody over age 18 or 19 depending on which province they live in can legally purchase 30 grams at a time and every household can grow up to 4 plants. The legislation is federal and applies over the whole country but each province can manage the marketing according to their wishes. In some provinces, all sales will be through government owned stores; in others sales will be through licenced private sector stores. It will be possible to order pot on-line and in Ontario for the moment that will be the only legal approach although private sector stores will be open soon.
As you can imagine, the newsmedia having been having an orgasm; imagine being able to fill masses of air time and pages and pages of stories with ease, all with discussions on the implications of the new legislation.
And the implications are pretty extreme. The new legislation has been a godsend to some. Investors purchased a very large empty factory in a small town near Ottawa called Smith's Falls. The factory had been closed 10 years ago by Hershey's Chocolates and has been the main employer. The town was dying. The investors started a marijuana growing and distribution centre and started to employ a lot of people. Estimates appear to be that there will soon be over 2,000 staff. Property values are soaring and the local economy is now booming. As for the company its stock is booming as well as are other legitimate marijuana stocks. My wife met some at a bridge club who told her that a couple of years ago her stockbroker recommended that she invest in pot stocks. She put in $50,000 and told her that the stock is now worth about $1 million. Alas my wife and I both decided that we would not invest in pot; her because as a high school teacher she had had too many students come to class high and I, because I disapprove of drugs and had worked as a civilian in a police agency for 14 years. (There really is a price to be paid for living according to principles)
Other implications are a lot more serious. There is no reliable accepted test for being high and the prediction is for a lot more traffic accidents. Marijuana in edible form can be accidently consumed by children and since the effect is delayed by up to two hours, overdoses are anticipated. Nobody knows how this will effect the illegal trade in pot but penalties for selling it have been increased as have penalties for providing it to minors.
As for the government, I believe that the real reason for legalizing pot was a desire by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appeal to younger voters. The Liberals have a long history of doing anything to buy votes and this is no exception. We will see in one year when we have the next general election
As you can imagine, the newsmedia having been having an orgasm; imagine being able to fill masses of air time and pages and pages of stories with ease, all with discussions on the implications of the new legislation.
And the implications are pretty extreme. The new legislation has been a godsend to some. Investors purchased a very large empty factory in a small town near Ottawa called Smith's Falls. The factory had been closed 10 years ago by Hershey's Chocolates and has been the main employer. The town was dying. The investors started a marijuana growing and distribution centre and started to employ a lot of people. Estimates appear to be that there will soon be over 2,000 staff. Property values are soaring and the local economy is now booming. As for the company its stock is booming as well as are other legitimate marijuana stocks. My wife met some at a bridge club who told her that a couple of years ago her stockbroker recommended that she invest in pot stocks. She put in $50,000 and told her that the stock is now worth about $1 million. Alas my wife and I both decided that we would not invest in pot; her because as a high school teacher she had had too many students come to class high and I, because I disapprove of drugs and had worked as a civilian in a police agency for 14 years. (There really is a price to be paid for living according to principles)
Other implications are a lot more serious. There is no reliable accepted test for being high and the prediction is for a lot more traffic accidents. Marijuana in edible form can be accidently consumed by children and since the effect is delayed by up to two hours, overdoses are anticipated. Nobody knows how this will effect the illegal trade in pot but penalties for selling it have been increased as have penalties for providing it to minors.
As for the government, I believe that the real reason for legalizing pot was a desire by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appeal to younger voters. The Liberals have a long history of doing anything to buy votes and this is no exception. We will see in one year when we have the next general election
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