Pot perestroika can revive B.C. economy
Every day, there’s more awful economic news related to the novel coronavirus. Concerts are being cancelled. Professional sports leagues are on hiatus. Airlines are warning of staff layoffs. Restaurant managers are seeing more empty tables than ever before. Cultural industries and tourism have been hobbled. Universities have become ghost towns. And real estate may be in the doldrums for a while.
We’ll see the impact on transportation authorities as they experience lower revenue from fares and gas taxes.
This economic contraction will likely leave federal and provincial governments awash in red ink. It could even delay major infrastructure projects, like rapid-transit lines along Broadway in Vancouver and the Fraser Highway in Surrey.
So why not look at cannabis as a way to address this malaise? More weed freedom could bring oodles more money into government treasuries—especially when so many British Columbians have so much more time on their hands.
According to the federal 2019 National Cannabis Survey, only 29.4 percent of cannabis users relied exclusively on legal sources for their pot.
Part of the reason is that the price is significantly lower on the black market, according to Statistics Canada. Another factor is B.C.’s large number of craft cannabis growers. They have their own distribution networks operating outside of the legal framework.
The provincial government estimates that there are 2,500 illegal weed growers in the Kootenays in southeastern B.C. Who knows how many more people without federal licences are growing on the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island?
These craft growers produce popular cultivars that aren’t available through corporate cannabis giants.
These strains can offer tremendous relief to medicinal users.
Yet more than a year after cannabis was legalized in Canada, there are still no opportunities in B.C. for farmgate cannabis sales, where consumers can sample and purchase pot directly from these craft producers.
This is permitted with wine but not with weed. It has been promised but not delivered. That’s not all. Last September, the B.C. government banned any promotion of cannabis at liquor-licensed venues and events, including small gatherings.
The B.C. government’s modus operandi has been to shut down the illicit market—especially if anyone has a rap sheet for illegal weed sales—rather than making a higher priority of integrating these cannabis experts into the aboveground economy. Choosing the latter route would boost tax revenues to pay for better health care, including for those who contract COVID-19.
The euphemistically named “Community Safety Unit”—the government’s cannabis enforcement arm— has reportedly visited more than 250 unlicensed retailers. Its investigators have seized huge amounts of weed, edibles, concentrates, and extracts. Billy clubs rather than carrots seem to be the preferred option.
The recent provincial budget revealed that the Liquor Distribution Branch generated $10 million less income this year than was predicted in the Finance Ministry’s second quarterly report. According to the budget, it’s “mainly due to delayed rollout of cannabis stores and lowerthan-anticipated demand”.
In the spring session of the legislature, NDP politicians have introduced 13 government bills. Not one loosens access to cannabis. Most galling, there’s nothing curbing local governments’ efforts to tie this industry up in red tape through zoning restrictions and by delaying building permits.
Imagine how much economic activity Destinations B.C. could generate if it promoted weed tourism in the same way that it promotes wine tourism. After the COVID-19 crisis subsides, wouldn’t it be wonderful if visitors from Alberta and Saskatchewan could check out craft growing operations in the Kootenays to sample authentic B.C. bud?
Here’s the root of the problem: most politicians treat cannabis like a coronavirus, a dangerous substance that must be isolated to protect the public.
In light of a global pandemic, hasn’t the time come to end the moral panic once and for all?