Most growers and sellers were just regular people growing cannabis and selling it , not hardened criminals .” from the EDITOR
TG Toby Gorman
When the Canadian government legalized cannabis four years ago , one of the priorities was to take a bite out of the illegal market and protect young people from potentially harmful street drugs . The Cannabis Act was created with the assumption that black market cannabis was being sold by organized crime and street gangs who intended to use cannabis as a gateway drug to harder and more harmful drugs . Turns out , that was some pretty faulty intel . Most growers and sellers were just regular people growing cannabis and selling it , not hardened criminals . They were just selling pretty good weed at pretty good prices , which is better than licensed producers can claim . Thanks to red tape , excise taxes , and unreasonable government requirements to turn legal , an ounce of high-quality black market weed goes for about $ 100 on the street . That same ounce will cost around $ 250 in a licensed dispensary . As a result , there has been little incentive for cannabis users to switch to legal weed . According to Statistics Canada ’ s latest data ,
illegal weed accounts for 43 percent of cannabis sales , while legal weed serves 57 percent of consumers . Those are not the numbers the government wanted to see four years into legal cannabis , and the creators of the Cannabis Act have only themselves to blame . California went down a similar path and the result there was a botched legalization for the ages . Now , U . S . President Joe Biden is hinting at potential legalization after issuing a mass pardon for people convicted of federal marijuana possession charges , perhaps setting the stage for cannabis as a key issue in the 2024 federal election .
Hopefully , if and when the U . S . goes down the path of federal legalization , it will learn from Canada ’ s mistakes and allow legacy growers to seamlessly and inexpensively integrate into a legal system , allowing experienced growers to provide an accessible and quality product without the government ’ s sticky hands all over it .
10 Maximum Yield