A sensible plan for selling pot
On July 1 next year, a brand new MCBO store — that’s Marijuana Control Board of Ontario — may open its doors for the first time in a neighbourhood near you.
What the retail outlet is ultimately named, however, isn’t as important as the fact that, as of last Friday, the Ontario government had given the public a sensible, workable plan for selling recreational marijuana in this province. That’s a significant achievement. Canada is headed for a momentous change in less than 10 months when the federal government ends 94 years of prohibition and legalizes the recreational use of cannabis.
Time’s running out to get ready for this, particularly for the provinces.
They must quickly decide how the drug will be sold and distributed, what it will cost and the minimum age of users.
That’s a tall order, and the Ontario Liberals deserve praise for being the first provincial government to announce a retail plan as well as for mandating the Liquor Board of Ontario to manage sales through a new subsidiary.
There are strong arguments that favour the action being taken in Ontario.
As of next July 1, there will be 40 stores selling marijuana in this province. By 2020, that number will have risen to 150. Sales will be from behind a counter — there will be no selfserve — and in separate stores, not LCBOs. So far, so good. To ensure it can keep up with demand, the government agency will also sell marijuana online starting next year.
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario already does a superb job of selling another highly regulated and potentially dangerous drug — alcohol.
This experience will be invaluable in setting up a system for the distribution and sale of marijuana which, like alcohol, will be limited to those 19 or older.
Critics of the government’s plan — and that includes outspoken marijuana activists — object to handing over cannabis sales to a government monopoly.
They argue that the 40 retail outlets that open next year cannot possibly meet the demand for marijuana in a province with more than 13 million people, which will in turn boost black market sales.
No one wants that — except the criminals — and the government will have to work hard to prevent it from happening.
Initially, at least, the government monopoly will allow Ontario to responsibly meet the deadline for legal recreational pot.
It would take a whole new bureaucracy to manage applications, inspections and compliance for private-sector retailers.
And it’s too much to expect the province to put that bureaucracy in place by the middle of next year while also settling complex issues of pricing and taxation.
Whether the monopoly should continue forever is another question that should be considered in the coming years.
As we enter the brave new world of legal recreational pot, there are good reasons for proceeding with caution.
But if beer stores, grocery stores, breweries and wineries all legally sell alcohol today, private retailers might well eventually deserve a chance to do the same with marijuana.