Hey everyone,
as many of you probably already know, Canada is on track for legalized recreational cannabis by July 2018 and the federal government is leaving most of those regulations up to the provinces. What you may not know is that while the alcohol interests have been lobbying against cannabis for decades, they're now lobbying hard for exclusive rights to distribution in BC. Polls in Vancouver lean heavily towards licensing and regulating existing dispensaries with very little support for liquor store distribution, but that seems to be where things are headed.
A couple weeks ago, Ontario announced their plans for retail and they're closing down all existing dispensaries to roll out their own government operated versions - staffed by employees from the same union that staffs the government operated liquor stores. That's despite considerable public support for regulating the existing dispensaries and allowing small businesses to participate in that new industry. Here's a quote from a National Post article that sums things up, “I’m pretty pleased with what the plan looks like so far,” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “I’ve been lobbying the government for a long time on this, so I like to think we had some influence.”
The same thing is now happening in BC and we need to stop it. BC has a vibrant cannabis community with hundreds of great dispensaries, thousands of world class growers, and more than a million happy cannabis consumers. With inclusive regulations, we think BC can take a huge step forward for the cannabis community by showing the rest of the world what legal cannabis really looks like.
We're primed to represent for BC Bud but shady politics is trying to take that away from us right now so we're rallying support! Below, you'll find a link to the survey the government has issued for feedback on how to proceed. It'll take about 3 minutes to fill out if you're skimming and about 10 minutes if your thorough. Thanks so much!
The forum rules won't allow me to post a direct link, but if you google: BC Cannabis Regulations Engagement, it's the first link and clicking the submit feedback button will prompt the survey. Thanks again!
as many of you probably already know, Canada is on track for legalized recreational cannabis by July 2018 and the federal government is leaving most of those regulations up to the provinces. What you may not know is that while the alcohol interests have been lobbying against cannabis for decades, they're now lobbying hard for exclusive rights to distribution in BC. Polls in Vancouver lean heavily towards licensing and regulating existing dispensaries with very little support for liquor store distribution, but that seems to be where things are headed.
A couple weeks ago, Ontario announced their plans for retail and they're closing down all existing dispensaries to roll out their own government operated versions - staffed by employees from the same union that staffs the government operated liquor stores. That's despite considerable public support for regulating the existing dispensaries and allowing small businesses to participate in that new industry. Here's a quote from a National Post article that sums things up, “I’m pretty pleased with what the plan looks like so far,” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “I’ve been lobbying the government for a long time on this, so I like to think we had some influence.”
The same thing is now happening in BC and we need to stop it. BC has a vibrant cannabis community with hundreds of great dispensaries, thousands of world class growers, and more than a million happy cannabis consumers. With inclusive regulations, we think BC can take a huge step forward for the cannabis community by showing the rest of the world what legal cannabis really looks like.
We're primed to represent for BC Bud but shady politics is trying to take that away from us right now so we're rallying support! Below, you'll find a link to the survey the government has issued for feedback on how to proceed. It'll take about 3 minutes to fill out if you're skimming and about 10 minutes if your thorough. Thanks so much!
The forum rules won't allow me to post a direct link, but if you google: BC Cannabis Regulations Engagement, it's the first link and clicking the submit feedback button will prompt the survey. Thanks again!