Unit 4: Economic Stability and Stabilization Policy

Ch 11: Government Expenditures and Revenues

 

LCBO should have pot monopoly, too: union boss

Government-run weed stores are not necessary, reply marijuana advocates, after OPSEU boss suggests keeping it in state hands following legalization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RICK EGLINTON / TORONTO STAR 

LCBO stores like this one on Queens Quay should be Ontarians' source -- their only source -- for marijuana once it's legal, according to the president of OPSEU and a Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

 

By: Sarah-Joyce Battersby Staff Reporter, Published on Tue Nov 24 2015

 

Stocking weed alongside wine at the LCBO is the best way to protect public health, say addiction experts. But for marijuana advocates it’s more of the same prohibition.

In a statement released Monday, the union representing LCBO workers said the provincially owned stores are the ideal place to sell marijuana, should the federal government legalize it.

 

“If they do legalize it, then it’s a drug,” Warren (Smokey) Thomas told the Star. “So we think that, like alcohol, it should be controlled.”

 

Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said secure warehouses and staff trained to check ages are some of the reasons the LCBO should be the sole source of legal pot in the province, as it is with most alcohol.

 

The scheme would also generate revenue for the government to combat the potential social costs. But marijuana advocates say those social costs and the spectre of public danger are overblown, and government-run sales would continue a prohibitionist regulatory approach.

 

“Our view of course has always been that marijuana is one of the safest drugs. It’s not any worse, slightly better, than coffee,” said Blair Longley, the leader of the federal Marijuana Party.

 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won this fall’s election with an campaign platform promising to “legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.” However, Longley maintains the drug should be proportionately restricted based on its danger. So ideally, he said, anyone should be free to grow and use the plant how she wishes with the informed consent as to any danger.

 

Hugo St-Onge, leader of Quebec’s Bloc Pot party agrees that government stores are not the way forward.

 

“We need to stop comparing marijuana to alcohol,” he said. “Marijuana should have its own model, its own system.”

 

He prefers a food-model regulatory system, with sales done in a similar fashion to Amsterdam’s cafés.

 

Dr. Benedikt Fischer is a senior scientist in the social and epidemiological research department at CAMH. The organization released a legalization framework in 2014 that called for a government monopoly on marijuana sales and distribution.

 

“We believe that it’s the safest and most predictable system that will work toward the interests of public health,” Fischer told the Star.

 

He added government control is needed to keep private interests at bay.

 

When it comes to alcohol sales, commercialization associated with private sales “is associated with increases in levels of use” according to Rebecca Jesseman with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA).

 

“Cannabis is not a benign substance,” said Jesseman, a senior policy adviser. “We want to make sure any regulatory approach we take is evidence-based and is implemented in such a way as to reduce the risks and harms associated with use.”

 

Thomas conceded there’s “a million questions to answer” about legalizing marijuana and he’d like to see all experts at the table. “I’ll make sure our union is part of that debate, because I think we’ve got something to offer.”

 

Provincial Finance Minister Charles Sousa told reporters Monday that with the feds just starting the process, the discussion was premature at Queen’s Park. “But we are of course willing to participate in those discussions moving forward,” Sousa said.

 

For its part, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario said in an emailed statement that any decisions would follow an official decision from both levels of government and it is not making any pitch on its own accord.

 

“Nonmedicinal marijuana is not currently legally sold and it would be up to federal authorities to decriminalize recreational marijuana. Should that occur LCBO would take direction from the provincial government as to any role for LCBO in the retailing of such,” said LCBO spokesperson Keeley Rogers.

 

Summary

            In an article written by Sarah-Joyce Battersby and published by the Toronto Star on November 24th, 2015, it is learned that marijuana sales in LCBO stores is a future possibility. To addiction experts, selling marijuana alongside alcohol is the best way to protect public health, however marijuana activists say it will make no difference to its current state as an illegal drug. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party promised to legalize marijuana during their election campaign in the fall. If the Liberals continue on their promise, then marijuana will be legalized. "It’s a drug, like alcohol, it should be controlled” said Warren (Smokey) Thomas. If marijuana is sold in LCBO locations, then it would generate a lot of revenue for the government, which they can use to combat the potential social costs. Dr. Benedikt Fischer calls for a government monopoly on marijuana sales and distribution, saying “it’s the safest and most predictable system that will work toward the interests of public health.” At the moment, the government is beginning to discuss the idea of legalizing marijuana. If the government decides to decriminalize recreational marijuana, than the “LCBO would take direction from the provincial government as to any role for LCBO in the retailing of such (marijuana),” said LCBO spokesperson Keeley Rogers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If marijuana is legalized, then LCBO stores may be the sole carrying of the drug as part of the government’s plan to effectively control it

 

Economic Concept

          The concept of monopolies as well as legal monopolies have been discussed in class. A monopoly occurs when there is only one seller of a product with no substitutes available. The article discusses the sale of marijuana if the Liberal government chooses to legalize it. If it does become legalized, then it would be a monopoly as the LCBO would be the sole seller of the product. This is a legal monopoly as the government will make it illegal for any other businesses to sell this product to consumers. The LCBO is currently a crown corporation. That means, that the business is owned, and operated by the government. A crown corporation is the opposite of a private enterprise, which is a business that is owned and managed by independent companies or individuals. If marijuana is legalized, then government regulations will be imposed in order to control the distribution, as well as the use of marijuana. Government regulations are rules put out by the government which must be followed. With the legalization of marijuana, there will be government regulations stating that the LCBO will be the sole provider of the substance.

 

Monopoly: A situation where there is only one seller and no substitutes. There is a lot of control over price, and it is very difficult to enter the industry

 

Legal Monopoly: When the government make it illegal for anyone else to sell the good or service

 

Crown Corporation: A business or corporation that is owned and operated by the government

 

Government Regulations: Rules imposed by the government that must be followed by everyone

 

Private Enterprise: Businesses which are not government owned, but rather owned and managed by independent companies or individuals