Munchies
You know the idea bandied about. That everything must be regulated. For how can anyone know what they may make unless the bureaucrats tell them? And how can anyone be safe if there are no rules about what may be bought?
Then there’s simple observation. Does regulation make things better? To which the answer is, well:
The consensus on Vancouver’s cannabis-focused Reddit feeds is that the legal market is struggling to attract buyers because its product is more expensive but lower in quality than the black market alternative.
It is, of course, possible to consider who is defining “worse”. But for any form of consumption the only people whose opinion matter are the consumers:
“The government’s pot is too expensive. The government doesn’t show you a picture of what you’re buying before you buy it, so you cannot be informed as a consumer. The government weed has been full of bugs, mouldy or too dry in some cases, and often takes too long to get there,” one user said.
“The legal stuff is garbage,” said another Reddit user. A third said: “Friends don’t let friends smoke government weed.”
Government regulation – making the black market cheaper and with better product. That’s some achievement.
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Added to which, the argument always seems to be: let's legalise cannabis *and then tax it*.
hmmm. I thought Canadians loved government - even stoners.
Cannabis users seem to be quite picky. Few grow their own tobacco or make their own booze, presumably because consumers are satisfied with the quality of that which on offer on the shelves. Perhaps pot-heads, being culturally more likely to be anti-establishment and having got used to being criminals, will always lean towards the black market. Of course if the Canadian government reduced prices and improved quality they would be more able to dominate the market. The lesson for the authorities is, if you are going to peddle drugs, obvious, offer a quality product at a competitive price.
Step 1: cops too tied up chasing illegal pot dealers to deal with genuine crimes like using the wrong pronoun.
Step 2: legalize pot and set up a register of legal pot dealers.
Step 3: black market persists, legal pot dealers losing money.
Step 4: get the cops to chase the illegal pot dealers so that the legal pot dealers can make money (cops paid not by legal pot dealers but by general public).