“Do you know what the number one side effect of smoking Cannabis is?”My friend Paul Hornby asked me this one year ago, shortly after Cannabis was legalized in Canada.
“What?” (being pretty sure he’d say nothing)“You smoke it and you immediately hate the government.”It’s his words that always pop into my head when people ask me what it’s like in Canada now that Cannabis is legal.
Intoxicants have very real and marked effects on human evolution. It has been said that the French Revolution was started in coffee houses. Coffee has received credit for the increase in productivity and innovation that characterized the industrial revolution, which resulted in Unions and Workers Rights movements.
Morphine inspired the Romantic Era. Britain controlled China for years with Opium. Do I need to mention the 1960s in America?Now that it’s been a year since the legalization of marijuana in Canada, I am starting to notice some effects in our daily lives: business meetings where a joint is shared rather than copious amounts of martinis, family dinners where alcohol is no longer consumed, countless first-hand stories of people no longer needing prescription pain medication. The list goes on.
Human beings will always seek out intoxicants. It’s in our nature. It’s as strong as the drive for sex. Often stronger. It’s always going to be there. The question is, what overall effect it does it have on our population? Alcohol is woven into our society from communion to family dinners we as humans have made it normal to consume a depressant.
I wonder what the overall effects on a population would be if depressant use was reduced…even by 15%? I think I am getting a “whiff” of the change here in Canada (pun intended).A lot more people are questioning the status quo. Even if they don’t consume THC, they have seen the positive effects. If something as safe as this has been illegal for so long, what else did they mess up on?
The Government’s attempt to enter into the Cannabis Industry has been interesting. The province of Ontario has lost 100 million dollars in their attempt to have government-run dispensaries. Legal Cannabis is in these horribly wasteful packages…blows my mind.
It’s supposed to protect children, but you find me a toddler that can find some flower, roll it and smoke it, then a childproof lid is the least of your problems! Licensed Producers have had problems with product consistency and the price of legal Cannabis is twice the price of Black Market. I’m no marketing genius, but that’s not a smart way to enter into a billion-dollar market.
Many people have not strayed from purchasing in the black market. They thought Cannabis was all laced and unpredictable and that government regulations would provide consumer confidence. But, we all know that this industry was made by dedicated growers passionately committed to the medicine.
One year since legalization and it is very clear that we are nowhere near figuring out what this market is going to be like. But I will say we seem much more chill as a country, people are much more open to alternative medicines and more questions are being asked of everyone and everything. Although Cannabis use is not new with Legalization the way it’s viewed in Canada now is opening up a lot of doors.
Written and Published By Erin Lindley In Weed World Magazine Issue 143
