Legalizing pot hurts criminals: Goodale

Regina-wascana MP and Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale recognizes there will be a transition period after cannabis is legalized on Oct. 17.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority estimates the majority of businesses selected to open a cannabis retail store won’t be ready to do so when the product is legalized.

Goodale said the law legalizing cannabis will succeed more effectively than varying penalties currently handed out for simple possession, telling reporters in Regina on Tuesday the transition so far has gone “very well” while noting there will “no doubt” be challenges.

“It’s obvious that this is a transition. You don’t flip a switch and everything goes from black to white or white to black on one particular day, but when you take the market incentive away from organized crime, you will have a better chance of stopping that flow,” he said. “It’s estimated that the illegal cash moving into the hands of organized crime has been running at the rate of $7 billion to $9 billion a year, obviously because there has been a market incentive for that illegal flow.”

Goodale projects that incentive to be removed when cannabis is legalized. “It will take some time for the transition to gain traction, but we’re certainly going to have a much better prospect of stopping that flow with the new law, compared to the old law,” he said.

Earlier this year, 51 applicants were given the go-ahead to begin the process of opening up pot shops in Saskatchewan. However, according to the SLGA, only onethird of those applicants will be ready later this month.

Already there are concerns over whether or not Saskatchewan is allowing enough retail locations into the market to meet the demand.

The province can grant authorization for retailers to ship cannabis in order to prepare inventory ahead of the legalization date, but SLGA has yet to grant any such authorizations.