Pot legalization another turning point for Canada

It could be seen as a turning point in a province that wasn’t yet 20 years old. But not many Albertans will remember what happened on Nov. 5, 1923.

Not sure? That was the day Albertans voted to end Prohibition.

Rejecting half-way measures — beer sales allowed but no hard liquor, or beer only in licensed premises — Albertans voted 57.7 per cent in favour of a plan allowing government sale of all liquors.

Soon after that provincewide mandate, the first government-controlled stores began to open. Do we see a parallel anywhere?

For southern Albertans, it’s interesting to note some of the names — W.S. Galbraith, J.D. Higgenbottom, Gladstone Virtue, Ralph Thrall — listed as executive members of the officially recognized Prohibition Committee, which urged continuation of the prohibition laws that had been in force since 1916. It’s also instructive to remember the perils and profits of rumrunning in the Crowsnest Pass, after British Columbia ended its experiment with banning alcohol in 1921.

Over the years since, liquor laws have obviously changed in Alberta and across the nation. Indeed, Alberta was one of the first provinces to decide liquor could be effectively regulated by a public agency – today’s Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission – while the actual distribution and sales could be handled by the private sector.

The negative impacts of liquor are well known, as no doubt they were when Prohibition began. But like so many things in life, it’s really a double-edged sword and it stimulated socialization while providing enjoyment with few adverse consequences to the majority of users.

The same can’t be said for tobacco, but we continue to use it, sell and tax it just the same. By nature, humans aren’t always rational beings!

And now that we’ve legalized marijuana, what can we expect?

New stores, of course, and lots of jobs in retail – just as when Lethbridge’s three government-operated liquor stores (never on a Sunday!) were phased out not so long ago.

More important, what changes will legalized use of marijuana make to our communities, to our nation? Will some people cut their alcohol purchases to buy “bud” instead? Might it reduce tobacco use?

And what about medical applications? One of the benefits of legalization, scientists say, is it will open the way for broadly based research into those medical benefit-related studies and more. No doubt many Canadians may be able to benefit from some marijuana derivatives, with no need to smoke or even ingest the plant in one way or another.

One high-desirable result, we trust, will be a reduction in the amount of black-market activity, at least for this drug – just as when Prohibition ended. With retail outlets readily available, there should be little reason to call a bootlegger, or a drug dealer.

And yes, there will be tax revenue as well, just as there is from alcohol and tobacco. Whether that income exceeds the costs of enforcing the new laws remains to be seen.

Years from now, Albertans may regard Oct. 17, 2018 as another landmark day in history. But in reality, very few of us resurrect the arguments from November 1923. And quite possibly, future generations will see this as just another footnote from a time when scientific, technological and social change were an everyday occurrence. — Lethbridge Herald