Organized crime ‘may infiltrate’ new legal pot regime

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/organized-crime-may-infiltrate-new-legal-pot-regime-internal-federal-paper-warns

OTTAWA — Legalizing marijuana won’t automatically make Canada’s black market for weed go up in smoke or banish organized crime, warns a draft federal discussion paper on regulation of the drug.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government says a legal marijuana regime will keep pot out of the hands of children and deny criminals the profits of illicit dealing.

However, the December draft paper, obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, flags the ongoing involvement of organized crime — including possible infiltration of the new system — as a key issue the government must confront.

The Liberals plan to introduce legislation next year to remove marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code, and create new laws to more severely punish those who provide pot to minors or drive while under its influence.

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In the House of Commons, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale recently said the new system would do a far better job of stopping the flow of shady money “to illegal gangs and organized crime.”

The draft discussion paper outlines a more complex scenario.

“As the experiences of other jurisdictions and of the regulation of alcohol and tobacco in Canada have shown, regulating a substance does not automatically remove it from illicit markets as evidenced by importation and sales of contraband tobacco,” the paper says.

“Given the degree to which organized crime is currently involved in the marijuana market, they could continue to produce marijuana illicitly and may attempt to infiltrate a regulated industry.”


Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian PressMinister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale attends question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 28, 2016.
Canada’s illegal market for marijuana is estimated to be worth billions of dollars and organized crime is known to play a major role in illicit production, importation and distribution, the paper says. That means those who obtain pot — with the exception of sanctioned medical users — are exposed to criminal elements.

The paper warns of severe risks and consequences:

— Pressure from criminal elements to use more serious and dangerous drugs such as cocaine and crystal meth;

— Enticement of purchasers to become local distributors and therefore embark on a serious criminal path;

— Exposure to extortion, particularly those who do not pay for purchases or, if entangled in dealing, fail to follow orders or meet quotas.

The federal and provincial governments should have the power to levy taxes on marijuana, with Ottawa responsible for taxing manufacturers and importers, and provinces levying taxes at the retail level, the C.D. Howe Institute recommended in a recently published report.

The federal government should discourage black-market activity by defining the legal amount of pot someone can possess, as well as maintaining and building on penalties for illegal production and trafficking, the think tank argued.

“The challenge for policymakers is to set tax rates that do not foster an illicit market alongside legal sales.”

The naivety of the north americans is astounding ...really....lol

but if you got the cash and the corruption(obvious) we'll gladly oblige

Biggest criminals are the feds themselves. Who'se money goes offshore? Who'se a member of a secret organisation? Answer: lots of them.

Im sure the same bullshit was said when alcohol prohibition was on its way out. "Organized crime" is always going to be around in one form or another. It will never be 100% eliminated. Legalization will however go a ways to REDUCING its degree of involvement. To think otherwise would be naive.

Can't build anything in Quebec without paying off the mob. Corruption will find its spot in any Industry that it can thrive in. Weed is no different.

I wasn't aware that it was illegal for someone who is considered "organized criminal" to set up a legit business and pay taxes and create jobs. So wouldn't people setting up legit businesses like a dispensary or liquor store/cannabis store etc... be a good thing? Oh on yes we need to twist it for the idiots who only see one way.

Ask tilray where they were scoring all the poundage they first sold beefier they came up with their own swag

They use powerful words to sway the general non weed public. All those people I know who grow, all the single mothers who trim because they're good at it and fast...all the while paying mortgages and lines of credit. Be aware - there seems to be a great evil swarming trying to make the cannabis industries theirs while making the ones in this world labeled as criminals. Bad words. Shame on you Libs and Cons!

All I read in that article was tax tax tax...

Too much tax will just bolster BM sales. We see it with native produced cigarettes flooding the market when taxes rise. There needs to be a balance. My crystal ball says we'll end up with a system that mirrors alcohol and tobacco. People are free to produce their own or they can choose to buy the taxed retail product. It won't work any other way and I'm sure their little 'think tank' is at least smart enough to figure that out.....the first time,I hope How many LP's would it take to supply every gram of weed consumed in this country? I don't think it's practical or possible to supply the worlds biggest cannabis consumers from a few dozen LP's.

One other very important thing know one has mentioned is that Tax does matter, but so does quality, if taxed herb is shit, then people will not want it, if strains are limited then people will not want it.

The Libs have already stated that the taxation of cannabis is a double edged sword. Tax too high and the BM grows larger, too little and you can't justify it to those looking to profit from those taxes. Goldilocks zone is what they referred to it as.

Also, considering that unlike tobacco, this plant is already being grown in tens of thousands, and maybe even over 100, 000 homes across the country, not counting anything commercial. Which means they're aware that if they tax too high there's ample for the BM to flourish even further. So they ARE aware of people who are worried about over taxation.

CalyxCrusher said:

the BM to flourish even further. .

Click to expand...

Better than it was...
One only needs to look at Dispensary pricing to see where its going!
The difference is, the feds are part of it now!

I think if they use this 4 level license it would drastically cut back on BM.

1- home grower ( Can grow and store up to 10 pounds a year) no license or inspection required if only 1 light, can only go maximum 5 lights but will need inspection

2- mom and pop grower (this is the one that would fight BM) you can grow on your property in a detached building (ie garage, shipping container etc etc..) you can produce and sell up to 500lb a year, you need to pay an annual license fee, the fee would go towards inspections and enforcement, selling to anyone out side of the licensed dispensary system would result in massive fines. When you sell to a dispensary they do the testing for contamination, you charge them "Tax" and you pay your "Tax" just like a regular business that sells wholesale.
Get caught more then 3 times selling outside the system, not only do you get fined but you risk jail time

3- massive large scale rec/med grows, more or less the tweeds of the world. 500lb per year or more.

4- grow collectives/designated growers for med users. More or less a DG system that would allow simply homegrows to bigger collective grows, the point of doing collectives would be to drive down the cost of meds for the members of the collective. collectives would face similar rules to mom and pop grows, only fees would be discounted and the rules would be slightly different, maybe make the "tax" rules for the collective similar to that of a non profit charity, give them Tax breaks and allow the growers to get paid out of the money that is generated. You could allow collectives to sell up to 25% of each harvest to the rec/med commercial market via licensed dispensary. That would cover pay and some expenses, then collective members could make up the rest of the money by paying a small annual fee.

The only people that would not be allowed to see to any market would be 1 - homegrower. If they want to sell, they would need to get a mom and pop license.

By doing it that way you will bring most people into the fold, Oh they could also put a 5% tax on all retail hydroponic stores as a way to tax the home grower. The last key thing is the dispensary, give them a separate license and also make them have a retail Tax for Cannabis. Use the fees collected by them to create a health inspection squad, they could make sure the sellers are getting proper tests etc etc. This model would create a lot of Jobs, it would also bring the small grower into the fold, why sell to the BM when you can get top dollar from a Licensed seller? I would gladly pay 5000 a year to obtain a mom and pop license, and would also gladly collect Tax for the Gov on my crops that I sell to retail sellers.

The only other type of License I would add into the mix would be an R&D License. For people that want to develop strains and do Canna science.

I would also add, any one with a cannabis charge "only" can be in the industry, but if you have a record beyond Cannabis then you can not enter into the industry. They can also make some sort of good behavior list for people with records that do want into the industry, they can apply and wait 4 years, if they pass the 4 years with no problems, then maybe allow them into the industry. But regardless, know one with a Cannabis record only should not be allowed into the industry.

T.O. where do i sign..?

great stuff..[well if you actually were the person making the rules]

too fair, makes too much sense =will not fly

unfortunately the "sensible" post you made is not how it will be..and i am sure you know it too

just say "Bill Blair" five times and see how you feel..hint ..i didn't feel great

VIANARCHRIS said:

Too much tax will just bolster BM sales. We see it with native produced cigarettes flooding the market when taxes rise. There needs to be a balance. My crystal ball says we'll end up with a system that mirrors alcohol and tobacco. People are free to produce their own or they can choose to buy the taxed retail product. It won't work any other way and I'm sure their little 'think tank' is at least smart enough to figure that out.....the first time,I hope How many LP's would it take to supply every gram of weed consumed in this country? I don't think it's practical or possible to supply the worlds biggest cannabis consumers from a few dozen LP's.

Click to expand...

Apparently there's a lot in storage. Though a good number of these LPs are producing mids at best. If I see a tweed label on something I probably won't buy it. Home grows definitely need to happen.