eatin CrP

{ets toke
about it

  
 

RYT BL GELLAR

 

could drive down the
retail price of marijuana,
legalizing the substance

marijuana. Still, while
“BC bud” may be
coveted around the

representations like high amount, which
Cheech and Chong and researchers estimate
Harold and Kumar could equate to

By Sharon Miki,
Editor in Chief

world, it is still an may have made the about $2.5 billion in may encourage more
smuchas we might _ illegal substance in our issue seem frivolous government revenues people who may
like to think that our —_ province. With two to the masses. But, on (via factors like tax and have abstained from
beautiful province is best US states voting last the contrary, the British licensing) over a five-year purchasing illegal

known forits sumptuous month to decriminalize Columbia marijuana period.

landscapes and lush the substance—and industry should matter To some, the sheer

green terrain, the reality —_— recent polls indicating to us all—the truth is amount of possible

is that British Columbia that the majority of that there are hundreds tax revenue based on possible fluctuations in

is renowned for its Canadians areinfavour of millions of dollars current provincial pot price or demand, the JDP
of legalization—would being spent purchasing purchases may induce research indicates that

substances invest in pot
on a regular basis.
Still, even with

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

the province, there

is an organized drug
trade built around

the manufacture

and distribution of

the substance, and

there are a myriad of
government resources
that are dedicated to the
monitoring and policing
its existence.

Money matters

Regardless of which side
you take on the matter,
the fact is that marijuana
is big business in BC. A
recent study published
in the November issue
of the International
Journal of Drug Policy
(JDP) estimated that
people in the province
currently spend between
$443-million and
$564-million annually
on pot—a startlingly

it be in the best interest on the substance within Scrooge McDuck-esque
of British Columbians to
follow suit?

At first glance, the
issue of legalization of
pot might seem trivial:
why should it matter
how easy or difficult it
is for stoners to acquire

their drug of choice?
Hazy pop culture pot

squeals of joy. However,
the financial implications
of legalization are not
so cut and dry: the
amount of money that
British Columbians
are currently spending
on pot is based on the
current system of pot
selling—that is, illegal.
With a government-
regulated infrastructure,
the price of pot could
change drastically, as
there would no longer
be a mark up to account
for the illicit nature of
the substance, and as
there would no longer
be a financial need
to compensate drug
growers, transporters,
and dealers for the
criminal risk of procuring
the substance to
customers.

On the other hand,
while these factors

people in this province
are spending money

on marijuana—and
taking this money away
from dangerous and
unregulated organized
crime (which controls
about 85% of the pot
market in our province,
according to policing
agencies) and putting

it into government
programs certainly seems
like a venture worth
investigating.

So, if legalizing
marijuana has the
potential to bolster the
economy of the province,
why haven't we?

Big change has big
consequences

While the headline
numbers in the IJ[DP
research may make
legalization seem like a
fiscal no-brainer, taking