Please smoke responsibly
Ontario’s government has l ong teased the i dea that, if and when marijuana becomes legal, its sale will fall under the purview of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario ( LCBO). For a while, the suggestion seemed little more than a hazy, off- the- cuff submission — something Premier Kathleen Wynne would say to reporters who insisted on asking her about pot during press conferences about transit expansion and the now- deceased Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. But if we decode the careful insinuations offered by provincial Finance Minister Charles Sousa in a recent interview with the Toronto Star, it becomes clear that the province is actually moving forward with its plans to expand the selection of products offered at the provincial liquor monopoly.
Sousa didn’ t actually come out and say as much, but in regards to storefront dispensaries, he said: “I, at least, don’t see that being the distribution mechanism. It’s going to have to be controlled.” Both Wynne and Smokey Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (which, coincidentally, represents LCBO workers), have echoed that sentiment, noting that the LCBO already has experience keeping alcohol out of the hands of children.
Surely there will be many Ontarians who will see the move as simply the provi nce’s crude way of bolstering the LCBO’s monopoly. And that may be true, but we shouldn’t discount the possibility of a foreignowned conglomerate swoop- ing in, offering mammoth political donations to the Liberals and securing exclusive contracts to sell specialized strains of marijuana at stand- alone shops called “The Weed Store” — or something like that.
Unlike independent dispensaries, the LCBO is also confined by the province’s commitment to “social re- sponsibility,” which means that it must at once encourage and discourage the sale of its products. In practice, that means limited operating hours and responsible drinking campaigns, as well as glossy magazines about the tastiest cocktails for patio season and radio ads reminding Ontarians about the only place they can buy spirits in the province.
This contradiction could apply equally well to marijuana sales, which surely won’t be offered past 6 p. m. on Sundays and most weeknights beyond 9 p. m., in order to deter over- consumption, but will, at the same time, come with shiny re- cipe books offering step- bystep instructions on how to make marijuana brownies. It is still unclear at this time, however, how the province will reconcile its commitment to social responsibility with selling marijuana and alcohol in the same place — substances that can have disastrous consequences when combined. Perhaps it will separate the substances by checkout counters, as is required in the few Ontario grocery stores that may sell beer and wine, and deem the province’s commitment to “social responsibility” fulfilled.
It goes without saying that the government stands to benefit most by granting itself the exclusive right to sell marijuana in Ontario, but we shouldn’t forget about the province’s many underground marijuana purveyors, who would surely welcome limited competition by the LCBO. Indeed, the province is almost certain to inflate prices so dramatically that the change should hardly interfere at all with the flourishing black market, which will probably include i ndependent dispensary owners who have been, or will be, forced to shut down. Pot dealers can, therefore, rest assured that they will remain largely unchallenged when it comes to price and accessibility, and only lag behind in terms of advertising capabilities and glossy magazine distribution.
In the meantime, it’s important that Ontario’s government spends the next few months studying the successful systems of marijuana retail sales in states such as Colorado and Washington — which allow independent shops to sell marijuana for recreational use — so that it can promptly ignore what it has learned and go with a LCBO-centred system instead. The Liberals can also take comfort in knowing that, should they find themselves in a particularly uncomfortable situation sometime in the future, they can always announce pot sales in grocery stores to distract from the scandal until things blow over: but only until 5 p. m., and only at the checkout counters with the longest lines. Please smoke responsibly.
THE GOVERNMENT STANDS TO BENEFIT MOST BY GRANTING ITSELF THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL MARIJUANA IN ONTARIO. — ROBYN URBACK IF THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT GETS ITS WAY, BUYING MARIJUANA WILL BE JUST AS AWFUL AS BUYING BOOZE.