Marijuana Legalization Essay

Hickland 1 Justin Hickland Mr. Phillips AP Language and Composition 14 December 2018 A Promising Marijuana Filled Future: Have you ever wanted to smoke weed legally? In Canada, citizens above the age of eighteen can now legally purchase recreational marijuana. Canada has become the second country to legalize the drug after Uruguay did in 2013. On June 19th, of 2018, Canada officially passed Bill C-45 which legalized the use of recreational marijuana. The C-45 comes from Justin Trudeau’s, the Canadian Prime Minister, promise to try to put a stop to underage marijuana use and lessen crime associated with the drug (Sapra). Marijuana is also set to bring new industry and economic growth to Canada. Other countries such as Mexico are taking notice and have the potential to follow in Canada’s footsteps. The legalization of marijuana is bringing new wealth to the Canadian economy and will reduce organized crime. The economy of Canada has been on the rise for some time due to an “investor frenzy” (Lahart) within the new marijuana market. Despite marijuana legalization only being in action for a month and a half in Canada, investors have been pouring in to get a piece of the new industry for over a year. The belief is that it is prime time to get into the business of cannabis with a market projection of $6.5 billion in sales annually, according to Fortune (Hinchcliffe). The passing of the new Bill C-45 has led to a surge of investors backing companies like Canopy Growth Corp (Sapra). Canopy Growth Corp is one of many companies surfacing in Canada that grow marijuana on a large scale.

Hickland 2 These companies earn amounts up to one billion dollars and above from shares purchased by investors. The numbers are escalating, bringing new cash into the Canadian economy and providing new jobs within their companies. Even in the preparation for the legalization of cannabis, the Canadian economy is beginning to improve due to the “fever pitch” (Lahart) of investments. Today, marijuana has been legalized, and the demand for cannabis has exceeded expectations. Even though people knew that the legalization of marijuana was going to be big, they did not anticipate what would happen next. On the day cannabis officially became legal, retail shops and online stores weren’t prepared for the consumer rush (Hinchliffe). Although stores had been building up their supply for weeks prior, they still were unable to meet buyer demand. Stores had to close just a few short hours after opening their doors. The appeal of its legality and low prices, ranging between six and thirteen Canadian dollars, were just too good to pass up (Scotti). Presently, the extreme sales influx has demonstrated an improved Canadian economy in a short time due to the legally sanctioned access to marijuana. After the first week, stores were able to regain supply, and they managed to gain consistent sales despite earlier setbacks. High demand for cannabis in Canada has created new channels for cash flow which should boost the overall economy over time. Not only is marijuana legalization directly impacting the economy; the drug is also indirectly improving the economy through the Canadian government. According to Global News, the Canadian government has put a base excise tax of one Canadian dollar or higher for sales of marijuana depending on the final price (Scotti). With sales coming in from across the provinces of Canada, the government is set to gain major

Hickland 3 income in terms of taxes. Since Canada regulates their economy, the excise taxes will support their efforts. The indirect relationship of Canada’s government benefiting from the legalization of marijuana will overall make their economy run more efficiently. One of the other main goals for the push to legalize marijuana in Canada was to reduce crime and usage among the youth. When Justin Trudeau ran for the Prime Minister of Canada in 2015, one of his main campaign promises was to prevent underaged marijuana use and to stop criminals from selling the drug on the black market. The promise of reduced crime was one of the main reasons Bill C-45 was passed. There are three main ways that Bill C-45 and marijuana legalization will reduce crime. One way is under the new legislation passed, giving marijuana to a minor, age eighteen or nineteen depending on the province, will land someone in jail for up to fourteen years (Porter). Another method is that along with marijuana legalization, the Canadian government established an $83 million dollar campaign to educate youth on the dangers of pot including the legal consequences (Porter). The campaign will hopefully influence kids to refuse marijuana until they are of a legal age in their province and warn them of the dangers of the black market associated with drug experimentation. Finally, the Canadian government is battling crime by placing extremely low taxes on legalized weed to combat the prices of black market sellers (Moneau). Through these methods, the Canadian government has seized a major opportunity to suppress the black market and organized crime from hurting their economy and youth. Recently, after Canada’s marijuana legalization, Mexico has been considering a similar legalization path to stop their own crime issues after seeing the potential in

Hickland 4 Canada’s efforts. Mexico has always been known for their unrelenting crime rate due to illegal drug cartels. In fact, Senator Olga Sanchez Cordero stated that the war on drugs in Mexico has murdered 235,000 people and has left 40,000 more missing since 2006 (Kahn). The Mexican government has had enough of organized crime and has taken notice of Canada’s fight against their black market. Marcelo Ebrand, Head of Mexico’s Government of the Federal District, met with Justin Trudeau and discussed Canada’s new legalization of marijuana (Pipoli). He came to the conclusion that banning cannabis is irrational (Pipoli). Ebrand stated after his meeting with Trudeau, that “(They) think (the legalization of marijuana) is a very interesting option in the short term for Mexico” (Ebrand). After the recent Mexico Supreme Court ruling, the ban of recreational use of marijuana has been overturned (Ingraham), and now there is new legislation in the Mexican Congress to fully make the drug legal (Pipoli). Citizens would be able to sell and grow their own pot legally which in turn will compete against established illegal cartels. Canada has inspired Mexico and hopefully, crime will be reduced in both countries in the near future as legislation settles into place. With marijuana legalization efforts in Canada being freshly enacted, there is still a lot a doubt about whether legalization will actually end up helping the economy. Big cannabis companies have received millions in investments, but there also are some shortcomings among them. For instance, the New York Times reports that despite huge share values that have exceeded one billion Canadian dollars, one of the largest cannabis companies, Auxly, has reported over ten million Canadian dollars in losses for the first quarter of 2018 (Austen). Although these numbers are of concern, the companies will get their money back in no time due to a swarm of investments and high

Hickland 5 demand for legal weed in Canada. Another worry about marijuana legalization’s effects on the economy is an overwhelming supply of marijuana hitting the market. Global News reports that economic experts believe Canada should be warned about a potential tsunami of supply which will ultimately kill individual business (Scotti). There is not enough evidence to support that a huge wave of supply is coming since legalization is in its early stages. Plus, the high demand for legal weed from the first month begs to differ on whether or not a large amount of supply on the market would actually occur. Every new change within a country brings doubts, but so far Canada and marijuana legalization seem to positively affect the economy due to high sales and demand. Some citizens in Canada doubt the legalization of marijuana’s real ability to reduce crime, and other countries like Mexico are having similar thoughts as their country leans toward legalization. Critics of Canadian pot efforts say that legalizing weed will just make the drug easier to illegally sell or distribute to kids. Although critics may have a point, there are several initiatives and laws that have been put into place with Bill C-45. First of all, any legal adult caught giving a minor cannabis can be sent to prison for up to fourteen years (Porter). Secondly, there is an $83 million dollar campaign in place to promote the dangers of underage drug use to youth across the country (Porter). Now critics of Mexico considering marijuana legalization, believe “cartels will stop growing marijuana bit by bit, and they’d concentrate on growing heroin” (Manuat) which means the crime problem will remain the same. With Mexico using some of Canada’s ideas of low taxes and regulations on marijuana sales, they will be able to at least reduce crime in one main issue of the drug war. In time, the regulations will leave an open doorway to tackle other drugs such as heroin. The biggest reason for

Hickland 6 legalizing marijuana in Canada continues to be reducing crime through several different programs. Hopefully, Canada and future countries such as Mexico who pursue similar ideas will find success. The legalization of marijuana, although just getting started, has established great potential for Canada and those who choose to follow. The new market of marijuana is bringing new investors and cash into Canada, improving the overall economy. Bill C-45, which has legalized cannabis, has also created low taxes and educational programs on the drug to fight organized crime in the black market. Canada has set precedent for other countries, like Mexico, to consider joining the legalization train to solve their own crime problems. Although there have been doubts about the effectiveness of Canada’s marijuana legalization, the current trends lean towards a positive impact in both the economy and crime reduction. After proving marijuana legalization is bringing Canada much success, the real question is, who will be the next to join them?