Weedwoman

 It has been a long while since we have seen a Weedwoman. It has been 34 years since we have seen a comic about a woman growing cannabis. The last Weedwoman comic was published in 1986. Thankfully that is changing.

Justin Trudeau is Canadian Prime Minister and he has decided to legalize the sale of cannabis in the country. This is however not as simple as just legalizing it. Each province in Canada is going to have their own rules and regulations.

The way that Canada is handling this is a big step forward but as we have seen with other countries that have legalized cannabis there are going to be teething problems.

In Canada, all of the cannabis will be grown in controlled environments and sold to people through licensed retailers.

Is the Canadian government listening to Canada?

There has been a lot of negative press about these plans. They appear to be rushing to get the first licenses to sell cannabis and they seem to be experimenting with different ways in which to sell the product.

So far, the government has opened 2 test markets. The first one being Ontario and the second being New Brunswick. For Ontario, they have allowed 2 companies to apply for licenses and the first one to be approved is Heathen Harvest (you can read more about them here).

The issue with legalization is that there is no regulation on the amount you can buy and the prices that will be charged. In Ontario, the cannabis is currently illegal. This means that all the existing suppliers have to sell it at illegal prices.

For example, the cannabis strain called “The Big Bud” is currently $14 per gram. However, if you are in Ontario and buy the cannabis on 16th October, the price will be $9 per gram.

The Canadian government has said that this pricing structure is not permanent and that they are looking at ways of making the pricing more fair.

However, with a 3 year transition, this is going to take a while to resolve. If they all fail and people are forced to buy from illegal sources, then the government is going to have to start investing more money into law enforcement people to deal with the consequences of the black market.

Will legalization reduce the stigma of cannabis?

We have seen countries around the world that fall into this category. those countries that have chosen to regulate the sale of cannabis have seen a reduction in the number of crimes related to the sale of the substance.

For example, in Colorado, since 2013, the number of crimes against marijuana has dropped by 20%.

We have seen other countries where legalization has led to people becoming less scared of using the substance.

In 2015, a survey found that 84% of people in the UK thought that cannabis should be legalized. A poll carried out in the US in 2016 found that 50% of respondents thought that cannabis should be legal. Both of these polls were undertaken before legalization of cannabis in Canada. Therefore, it is fair to say, that legalization of cannabis in Canada will lead to a decline in the number of crimes related to the use of cannabis.

The negative impacts of legalization

There are going to be some negative impacts of legalization. There are some problems associated with the regulation and the licensing of the cannabis.

First of all, there is the question of how the legislation is going to affect tourists. At the moment, if you are a Mac user and you are a tourist, you are not allowed to import cannabis into Canada. This is a problem if you are planning to visit Canada and you need to bring cannabis with you.

There is also the question of availability. Currently, there are cannabis strains that are not available in Canada. If you travel to Canada in a near future, you may struggle to find a strain that you like.

There are also going to be a few problems if you are travelling in Canada.

For example, if you are travelling through an airport, you may not be allowed to take cannabis with you. There are strict rules about how much cannabis you can take with you through customs.

If you are travelling with cannabis, even if you pay for it, you will not be allowed to bring it through customs.

How does legalization affect drivers?

In Canada, if you are a driver and you are using cannabis, it is assumed that you are impaired. If you are intoxicated, you are liable to have an accident.

This is going to lead to an increase in the number of drivers who are impaired by cannabis.