Mike Smyth:
Could a ‘Buds and Suds Shop’ be on its way to your neighbourhood?
The ballots were barely counted on federal election night when British Columbia’s largest union began planning its pitch to sell legal marijuana in liquor stores.
“On Oct. 19, after the election results, that’s when we first started having informal conversations about it with our senior staff,” said Stephanie Smith, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees Union.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during that election to legalize pot across Canada, assuring voters it would be a top priority for his new Liberal government.
The BCGEU, which represents government liquor-store workers, knew it had to quickly make its case to get the public and politicians on side.
“It absolutely made sense to us,” Smith said. “The infrastructure of stores is already in place. We have an age-restricted environment. Why create a secondary bureaucracy that would be incredibly costly and timeconsuming when we already have an excellent system in place?”
Then, about a month ago, the union decided to team up with a traditional adversary: the province’s network of private, non-union liquor stores. The Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance was born, and Smith said the reaction has been terrific.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive,” she said, adding the union’s senior leaders are “very enthusiastic about the idea.” No kidding. At a time when Premier Christy Clark’s government has opened the door to liquor sales in grocery stores, the province’s existing liquor stores have been nervous.
In other jurisdictions where similar liquor reforms were made, grocery stores quickly became the dominant retailers of booze.
Adding a marijuana counter in liquor stores would help secure their long-term viability, Smith said.
“It certainly wouldn’t hurt. It would be a new product line available in our stores that would attract consumers.”
So is a local Buds’ n’ Suds Marijuana and Beer Shop coming soon to your neighbourhood? Not without a fight. Don Briere, who’s been called the ‘Tim Hortons of cannabis’ for his successful chain of medical-marijuana and pot paraphernalia stores, says it’s unfair for the liquor stores to swoop in and “steal” his business.
“They want to butt in at the front of the line,” complained Briere, owner of Weeds Glass and Gifts. “I’ve invested years of my life, thousands and thousands of hours, to make this a safe, legitimate business. The government essentially persecuted us and sent us to jail. Now they want to pop up and say, ‘Oh, we’ve decided this plant is safe now and we’re going to take it away from you.’
“I don’t think so. There will be a major, major battle over this.”
The federal government still hasn’t fully explained how marijuana will be legalized in Canada and declined to comment on the liquor-store retail proposal. Ditto for the B.C. government, which has jurisdiction over the liquor distribution system.
Smith said the liquor store alliance plans to lobby both levels of government and possibly launch an ad campaign to gather public support. The union leader said the existing strict regulation of liquor stores should reassure people worried about a proliferation of pot shops springing up in neighbourhoods.
And despite Briere’s concerns, she argues there will be opportunities for many people to succeed.
“There will be room for growers of all size, including local growers. People don’t want one brand having a big monopoly.”
But a marijuana monopoly is exactly what Marc Emery, B.C.’s famous ‘Prince of Pot,’ fears the liquor stores want.
“Yes, the liquor stores have a distribution system and they obviously need more products to sell,” said Emery, a longtime marijuana crusader who served a five-year jail sentence in the United States for selling mail-order pot seeds across the border.
“But marijuana and alcohol are natural adversaries — they have absolutely nothing in common.”
Emery thinks marijuana should be promoted as an alcohol alternative, not marketed alongside booze.
“There’s nothing inherent in selling alcohol that would make you qualified to sell cannabis,” he said.
“Liquor stores have no expertise in marijuana. They have no credibility in the market. Why would people who buy cannabis trust people who sell alcohol? “
But, unlike his cannabis comrade Briere, Emery doesn’t think existing marijuana entrepreneurs and activists should have a preferential right to sell legal pot.
“All Canadians should have the right to be in this business,” he said.
“I don’t think there should be any preferential treatment to the liquor distribution system or to the old marijuana stalwarts like myself who toiled for years.
“Everyone should be treated equally and have a fair opportunity to get into this business.”
He also argues the government should not heavily tax marijuana.
“You can justify high taxes on alcohol and tobacco because they’re products that inflict huge costs on society. But there’s no such justification for any kind of punitive, high-tax regime for pot.”
But one suspects marijuana will be significantly taxed when Justin Trudeau gets around to legalizing it.
Now watch for the B.C.’s liquor stores to keep pressing the case that they are the right people to sell it.