The B.C. NDP government tipped its hand Tuesday on how it plans to regulate the legal sale of marijuana.
Besides setting the age at 19 to buy, possess and consume pot, similar to alcohol and tobacco, the province said the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch will be the sole supplier, distributing pot to private and public stores in the same manner it already does with booze.
The government didn’t address exactly who will sell pot but it looks like the NDP will take a different tact from the model already laid out in Ontario, where legal pot will only be available in about 150 stores, all operated by that province’s liquor control board. There, current private retail pot sales operations will be illegal and pot will be sold only in stand-alone storefronts, separate from alcohol.
Hopefully in B.C., the unnecessary duplication and mistrust of the private sector in the Ontario plan will be ignored. The path forward that the NDP seems to be suggesting is to simply use the existing alcohol infrastructure to not only control supply and distribution but also to look after sales.
In other words, the public B.C. liquor stores, along with the private liquor outlets, will be the sole retail sources of legal pot. They already have existing licences to sell safe and legally-produced intoxicants to adult consumers and their staff and management already operate with the best practices to keep those products out of the hands of minors.
At least out of the gate, private pot dispensaries can’t provide that oversight and, as in Ontario, they will need to be closed down. That doesn’t mean that option can’t be explored later but for now, it’s the best way to insure safe, legal pot from legitimate production facilities (not illegal grow operations with proceeds to organized crime) is sold strictly to adults.
Allowing existing liquor stores to sell pot will also protect their business.
The Washington Post reported this week on the work of university researchers who have found a 15 per cent decline in alcohol sales in states where medical marijuana is easily accessible. The study suggests that the legalization of pot for recreational use could take an even bigger bite out of liquor sales.
These findings should hardly come as a surprise. An increase in the number of intoxicants in the marketplace doesn’t mean that people will increase their spending on intoxicants. And this is just one study, as the Post article points out. Other research has show little effect while others have found the easier access to pot has actually increased alcohol sales and consumption.
So it’s simply too soon to say but common sense would suggest that when there’s a new product on the market, some will spend money to give that a try while devoting less cash to their previous brand.
Significantly, pot also has a lot going for it.
There’s no such thing as pot poisoning but excessive amounts of alcohol can kill you, in both the short and long terms. Alcoholism is a real and terrible illness but a boatload of research shows pot doesn’t trigger addictive behaviour. Everybody knows someone who has too many drinks and wants to fight or do something really stupid (“hey, hold my beer watch this!”). Pot, meanwhile, brings on silly conversations, the unstoppable giggles and, as the Eagles would sing, a “peaceful easy feeling.”
Of course, pot does have some real and significant effects, as Todd Whitcombe pointed out in a recent column, but nowhere near the issues that come with alcohol consumption.
Along with the various ways to consume pot – for those who don’t like to smoke, there are both edible products and THC pills – there is the cost factor. If getting a bang for the buck is important, pot is cheaper than alcohol and less of it is required to be intoxicated.
As a result, some adults who once relied exclusively on alcohol as a fun and games lubricant will inevitably switch to legalized pot, especially as the social stigma around its use further evaporates.
Allowing liquor stores to also sell pot would keep those businesses healthy and profitable, make it easier for government to oversee distribution and sale and give adults a one-stop shopping option to pick their poison.
