Ontarians get the pot system they deserve

LCBO-style shops leave a lot to be desired

“Thanks, Ontario government, for taking the fun out of legal weed.” “Pot legalization is already a mess.” “Marijuana mess ensures black market will survive.” “Ontario announces it will make buying pot difficult.” If Canadian marijuana enthusiasts have read recent headlines — and especially if they live in Ontario — two hard truths may finally be dawning on them.

One: when the federal government said it envisioned legalization as a temperance measure — a way to keep it away from kids, a way to regulate the supply and content of weed; not a way to make life easier for users — it was serious. Hence: plain packaging, draconian penalties for illegal use or production, no retail edibles, no decriminalization pending legalization, no amnesty or pardons for those convicted under current laws.

Ontario, which announced its proposed retail framework on Sept. 8, certainly took that message to heart.

“We will not permit products to be visible,” Finance Minister Charles Sousa memorably vowed — so it’ll be like buying cigarettes, except the packages won’t even have branding on them. No “vaping lounges” or other public use will be permitted. A maximum of 150 government-owned storefronts across this vast province will be the only legal physical retail environment, and the government will run the mail order arm as well.

Two: it is at least entirely possible, if not highly likely, that marijuana will not be legal on July 1, 2018, as the Liberals had promised.

The basic pitch they made to change-averse Canadians in 2015, which they have been very consistent on ever since, is that legalization will be safer and healthier than prohibition. To avoid any whiff of recklessness, they need certain groups on board with the legalization date — notably the police.

The police are not on board with the legalization date. “It’s impossible,” Rick Barnum, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police told a House of Commons committee last week. Clearly not arresting people is harder than laymen might think.

Now, I’ve taken my own digs at both the federal regime and the one Ontario designed to fit within it. The latter, in particular, is ridiculous; I don’t recall encountering an objection to it that I don’t share (though in the end I think legalization, however clumsy, will be an improvement). What neither regime is, and should not have been to anyone, is surprising. And many Ontarians in particular have themselves, at least partially, to blame.

For nearly 15 years, I and other free market lunatics have been trying to impress upon Ontarians just how insane our liquor retail system is. Yet we still hear the same ludicrous arguments in its favour. “The LCBO makes tons of money for the province.” (Alberta makes tons of money from liquor sales too, without owning a single store.) “Public employees can be trusted to keep booze out of children’s hands.” (The Beer Store isn’t public. Nor are the scores of privately run “agency stores” in rural areas across Ontario.) “The LCBO provides good jobs.” (Not to real product experts it doesn’t — they would be far better off in a free market jurisdiction. And if the government’s role is to make good retail jobs, why not nationalize groceries?) “LCBO stores are pleasant. Liquor stores in the U.S. are gross.” (Nope! You’re just going to the wrong liquor stores.)

This hopeless mess is the foundation for Ontario’s new marijuana plan — and we’re hearing the same arguments in its favour. Last week, two columnists in the Toronto Star and one in the Globe and Mail spoke approvingly of the fact it would create “good unionized jobs.” The two Star columnists also mentioned the money that would accrue to the treasury.

“I’m fine with the profits going to the public purse instead of private businesspeople,” wrote one.

“Why wouldn’t the government seek to maximize revenues in the same way that it profits from alcohol and tobacco sales?” asked the other.

Even after all these years, it makes me want to tear my hair out: for the love of heaven, the “high-paying jobs” motive and the “profit” motive are at odds with each other. You cannot claim both as priorities. One way or the other, the government will take its cut on marijuana sales. The overhead costs of running its own stores, paying its own employees government wages, will simply eat into that cut.

If you can live with Ontario’s liquor situation, but you think your favourite budtender should be able to get a government licence to keep her “dispensary” up and running after legalization kicks in, my sympathy is non-existent. You either support consumer choice or you don’t. Ontario doesn’t, and that will never change until tipplers and tokers take up arms together.