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EDITORIAL: Buying Into Legalization

It’s pretty crazy sitting here finishing off issue 40. The past years have seen a lot of changes in the movement towards legalization, and well, all around the world.

In the U.S. with Colorado and Washington enjoying full legalization, we are able to see that the pros of legalization that activists have touted for years have happened, and the negatives prohibitionists have cautioned really haven’t come to fruition. Some unexpected positives have also occurred, such as out of State applications to the University of Colorado going up by 43 percent, which may or may not be directly related in full to the State’s cannabis laws, but I would like to think so. The State of Colorado in January alone brought in $3.5 million in tax revenue, which is reason for governments to celebrate the idea of legalization.

Yet, here in the Great White North, the Conservative government is as puckered as ever, while continuing on their reign of terror over medical patients.  It is mind twisting to fathom the logic our government is using to maintain prohibition, while at the same time pushing through MMPR regulations designed for corporations to profit from sick Canadians. It is as if they are trying to allow law enforcement and every other industry that benefits from prohibition to enjoy the fruits of illegality, while opening the floodgates to big business to enjoy the profits from a new medical industry.

It is difficult to hear dollar amounts, for tax revenue or potential profit, constantly thrown around as reason to legalize or change laws. Crime reduction should be considered, as should government resource re-allocation. With both a reduction in the amount of money wasted on enforcement of cannabis laws and tax revenue from a legal market, the sums of money to tackle more pressing issues such as preparing and mitigating climate change would be massive.

Our time has been wasted enough as a society, and we need to press through prohibition. Patients and recreational users alike deserve to be able to grow the plant whether they need to or want to. Canada doesn’t need 30,000 sqft. grows drawing energy from the grid to sell over-priced medicine to the sick, it needs balcony and greenhouse grows to supply individuals.

Andrew Brown
Editor

Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown is the editor of the Cannabis Digest.

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