The government of Ontario is the biggest buyer of wine in the world and due to the legalization of cannabis in Canada, they may also become the largest wholesale buyer of marijuana. This is because the recreational consumption of marijuana is forecasted to double the amount of GW Pharmaceuticals’ present international export for medical marijuana.
Licensed manufacturers nationwide are fighting to maintain the forecasted demand for cannabis from Ontario and nine other provinces with different forecasted measures of demand. Residents in Ontario will only be allowed to buy marijuana from a website managed by the government, while other provinces will benefit from conventional storefront dispensaries. Thus, the only supplier of cannabis in the most populated province in Canada is the brother of Toronto’s former mayor Rob Ford (RIP) who is well recognized internationally for a viral video in 2013 when he smoked crack in public. On the other hand, Doug Ford, who is the premier of Ontario, is a former medium hash supplier.
The Ford family has an international reputation for their exploits with drugs and alcohol, they’re currently the only legal place which citizens of Ontario can smoke marijuana and drink. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario controls all liquor and cannabis alongside its subsidiary called the Ontario Cannabis Store. People are skeptical about purchasing marijuana from government websites, this is because the government previously banned the drug. The previous Liberal government put a total ban on private storefronts and decided that people could only consume cannabis at their private residences. This means you can’t smoke marijuana if you reside in an apartment or condo and it gets worst if you are homeless. According to the Conservatives of Doug Ford, cannabis is treated the same as cigarette which means it can be smoked anywhere that cigarettes can be smoked, therefore, when marijuana is finally legalized, cannabis enthusiasts will be able to smoke at any angle.
Different provinces such as British Columbia have adopted a similar measure, favoring existing dispensaries selling illegal cannabis to transition into legalization. This is big news because different provinces in the west such as Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan were biased against existing retailers. However, the East of Ontario has a different strategy with government stores being the usual. Newfoundland and Labrador are the only exceptions because they permit private retail but does not allow stores to conduct an eight percent margin from retail sales.
Many provinces are facing the issue of limiting the number of storefronts and actually providing these stores with legal cannabis. Most provinces with the exception Saskatchewan and Manitoba have adopted a duty as the only distributor of cannabis. Licensed manufacturers are required to pay an excise tax, with varying stamps for different provinces to stop deviation. In addition to the existing taxes, most Canadian provinces have established new cannabis taxes which have made prices to rise.
The reason why provinces are allowed to buy cannabis in bulk is to give consumers the best price. However, the province of British Columbia has expensive retail prices for even the top dispensary. Many people think that the provinces could face a shortage of legal marijuana within the first stages of legalization, and this has made licensed producers start negotiating among themselves as they jointly run out prior to the start of the event. Worst of all, existing medical patients are already witnessing shortages of their desired items as the market prepares to start selling legal cannabis.
