Groups Scared Over Legalization of Marijuana in Canada

By Shelby Poston – Syracuse, N.Y. (CitrusTV) – The Canadian Administration is preparing to legalize marijuana, but the United States and groups in Canada are not ready for this change.

The city of Kelowna in Canada told a local skateboarding shop to stop displaying everything that has marijuana on it.

“There’s still a lack of definitive testing, and many employers have not educated staff on new policies,” Jason Fleming, a human resources officer for Ontario marijuana producer MedReleaf, told CTV News Toronto.

Canada has less than one month to get ready and they are far from it. Marijuana will be legal in Canada on Wednesday, October 17, 2018. There are regulations on selling the drug and so far many licensed companies will not be hitting the market with their product until 2019. One of the regulations states that if a company is selling marijuana, that is the only thing the store is allowed to sell.

Even though Canadians who are not in favor of the new law do not have to worry about getting marijuana until 2019 in their city, there are still people who plan on buying it online. Anti-legalization Canadians are afraid that the soon-to-be legal market of marijuana will mean more violence in their cities. Those who want to buy marijuana can go online online to buy it.

The driving force behind marijuana’s legalization is its use in medicine. Medical marijuana can actually help with some medical conditions, according to the Harvard Health Blog. It can be used for anxiety, sleep problems, nausea, and even some systems of multiple sclerosis. 

When marijuana becomes legal in Canada, it does not mean it will be legal in America.

“Those in the industry risk a lifetime ban coming to America,” a senior official overseeing the U.S border to Canada told Politico. “If you lie about it being in the marijuana market, that’s fraud and misrepresentation, which carry a lifetime ban.”

If someone admits to being involved in the marijuana market they will have to pay a fine and wait a few months before they are allowed in America. There are states in America where marijuana is legal, so why is the United States government freaking out about Canada making it legal?

There are many thoughts on this question, but no one knows the true answer. It could be because America does not agree with people smoking marijuana, they do not want Canadians or even Americans to bring the products over from Canada, or have people in America demand marijuana to become legal in the United States nationwide.

The first month in Canada will be the determining factor for the marijuana market. It can either be a success and a great stock market investment or people will buy off the black market, which Canada is hoping to stop people from doing.

The black market in any country is dangerous and one of the goals of legalizing marijuana is to stop people from buying weed off drug dealers and instead going to a licenced store.

Even though marijuana will be legal in Canada on October 17th, the police are still cracking down on marijuana use. It doesn’t matter if they got caught on October 16th or their trail is in December, they will still be tried as a criminal.

On October 17, 2018 Canada will become the second nation to legalize marijuana nationwide. Uruguay was the first in 2017. Since Uruguay legalized marijuana, only two companies are licensed and selling the product in that country.

“The black market remains an issue despite the product’s low price,” Alicia Chavert told Vice News.

The murder rate in Uruguay went down, but crime is slowly increasing. Some experts say it is because they legalized marijuana nationwide. America has slowly been staying away from Uruguay ever since last summer in 2017 when it became legal. What is happening to Uruguay can be expected to possibly happen in Canada come October.

With tension growing between America and Canada, Uruguay hopes to make better allies with Canada once October comes, since both countries may be losing America as an ally in the future.

Contributions by Jishnu Nair and Taylor Lang.