Don McIsaac
"and create new, stronger laws to punish more severely those who provide it to minors, those who operate a motor vehicle while under its influence and those who sell it outside of the new regulatory framework."
Great, but the "world-class marijuana framework" is producing marijuana far more expensive than the street price of the "illegally grown" types. I'm certainly not going to pay $15-$25/gram plus tax no matter who grows it or says it's the legal stuff. I usually pay around $5.75/gram when purchasing a "half ounce" or 14 grams from people who have been growing it for decades. See the problem? We are at risk of a "two tier" system that will do NOTHING to stem marijuana distribution by gangs or syndicates. Only by making the "legal" stuff the same price or cheaper will you have any effect on an already established grow and distribution system. Think your kids will buy the legal stuff? Hell no they'll get it off the existing dealers at far less. Think this through Mr Trudeau, and do it the right way.

jessica amber murray
i think you have to begin with the understanding that the bc pot industry is the largest industry in bc, by gdp. the capacity already exists, it's just a question of grow-ops coming out of the shadows.

the challenges have more to do with changes in labour codes. currently, dealers take a cut that they determine. legalization means that these will need to be converted into salaried workers, probably with benefits. that is necessarily going to increase costs, as it converts dealing out of something done part time for extra cash (or even just to supply friends) and into an actual job. you also have to work in the costs of running a business.

for that reason, it's basically impossible to undercut the black market. the black market will always be able to offer it cheaper because it's not paying salaries and storefronts. so, it's a little bit different than converting a speakeasy (which already paid salaries and store costs) into a bar.

there's consequently two necessary things that need to be taken on for this to work:

1) they have to shut down the black market. that's a short term policing cost, but it can also be done by getting the producers a higher profit margin. it's true that the black market can always undercut the state (unless the state takes a loss, which would defeat much of the point of this), but that assumes equivalent profit margins for producers. if the state offers incentives for producers to do this legally, it dries up the bulk of the supply.

2) we have to collectively agree to do this - to accept that a higher price is a valid offset for not having to worry about it anymore.

www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/28/trudeau-marijuana-legalization_n_8409710.html