With the federal government setting the date for legalizing cannabis for July 1, 2018, the provinces will start rolling out their plans for legal pot in the coming months.
Ontario has already released its plan and there is no shortage of critics.
According to its critics, the Ontario government’s plan falls woefully short of common-sense policy.
The plan is to introduce up to 80 government controlled stores to sell cannabis – similar to the current arrangement in the province with alcohol sales being controlled by the LCBO. The hope is to open somewhere in the neighbourhood of 150 stores by 2020.

Many critics have pointed out the fact that this number is nowhere near sufficient to meet the expected demand.
There are currently more than 650 LCBO stores across Ontario. This includes the small shops that are commonly found in corner stores in small communities.
If the government expects 150 stores to satisfy the demand of the province, they are sorely mistaken.
Many people – especially those in northern communities – will have to travel long distances or resort to Canada Post to get their hands on legal pot.
This means that there is a good chance the black market will remain alive and well. If people can’t access pot legally, they’ll find other ways – like they’ve been doing for decades.
This would eliminate one of the biggest draws to a government-run cannabis market: lucrative tax revenues.
By some estimates, the Canadian government could stand to bring in an extra $5 billion with the taxes generated from legal pot sales.
But if people choose to go to the black market out of convenience or sheer necessity, those projections won’t come anywhere near reality.
The government also plans on phasing out the many dispensaries that dot the province. For instance more than a dozen dispensaries currently operate illegally in Ottawa.
Under the province’s new rules, they will be shut down.
Despite the fact that they are currently illegal, many people depend on these dispensaries to get their hands on cannabis. If the Ontario government shuts them down and provides limited legal options (which appears to be the plan), many people will be forced to meet a dealer in a back alley, which is much more dangerous than the current illegal arrangement.
Many of those who use dispensaries do so for medicinal purposes. If they no longer have this option and the closest government-run dispensary is hours away, would anyone blame them for turning to a black market dealer?
Thinking about growing your own? You’re not allowed to have more than four plants and they can’t be taller than a metre high.
If you think that will be hard to police, you’re right. Several police forces have already stated this much in their reports to the federal government.
On top of all that, it seems the government is putting an inordinate amount of responsibility on the provinces.
Provinces will be shouldering the cost of policing the new rules, setting up treatment options, setting the legal age, enforcing the four-plant maximum for growing and enforcing where you can and can’t consume pot.
Meanwhile, the federal government seems to be just fine with sitting back and waiting for all that tax revenue to come pouring in.
When it comes to alcohol sales, the difference between Quebec and Ontario is like night and day.
Quebec allows corner stores and independent businesses to sell alcohol. Ontario only recently made some progress by allowing beer to be sold in a limited number of grocery stores.
As a result of the Quebec policy, beer prices are far cheaper than they are in Ontario, where sales of suds are controlled by a cartel of beer companies. It’s why we see cars with Ontario plates flocking across the provincial border before every long weekend.
Hopefully, the Quebec government will see the light and follow its own alcohol sales practise when it comes to cannabis.
Quebec should allow licensed private businesses to sell cannabis. After all, if we trust them to sell alcohol, why not cannabis?
Many businesses, especially here in the Pontiac, are salivating at the prospect of an entirely new, potentially lucrative revenue stream.
That, however, depends on the Quebec government taking the sensible approach to cannabis sales. And if you’re banking on a government doing the sensible thing, don’t hold your breath.

Chris Lowrey