Ontario Delays Sale of Recreational Weed with New Government
So you should be able to to buy weed in Canada by October 17th…in some provinces. But not Ontario. That you will now have to wait until April of next year. This is a good or a bad thing depending on your perspective. If you are a true blue American that believes in everything having to do with capitalism, then you might be happy unless you are super anxious to go buy some legal weed in Toronto. If you lean further to the left and find yourself hugging more socialist thoughts, then you are probably pissed about what is happening in Ontario in general right now.
Ontario just instated an entirely new government that is a whole lot different than the previous one. The voters chose, and they chose to go with more of a U.S. conservative perspective. Doug Ford is the new Premier of Ontario which, by the way, is the most populated province in Canada, and he heads up the Progressive Conservative Party. Surprise surprise, they have just delayed the start of cannabis sales until next April. It is a very conservative move, but it is not because they do not like legal marijuana, they just don’t like how the previous government was going to manage legal marijuana.
Many people have been critical of Ontario’s previous government for being at times outright communists. They controlled the maple syrup industry like thugs and they were planning on running the cannabis industry the same way. If they had stayed in office they would have had cannabis sold through government run shops. But, now Doug Ford will have retailers sell cannabis and Ontario officials will need some time to make adjustments to their laws to incorporate privately owned dispensaries.
Canada’s parliament passed the Cannabis Act earlier this year which made Canada the first large industrialized nation in the world to legalize cannabis. The new Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, campaigned hard on legalizing cannabis nationwide and followed through on his campaign promises. Canada is a world leader in cannabis with massive companies like Canopy Growth Corporation, Aurora Cannabis and Aphria. They are exporting cannabis to Europe, in particular to Germany, to supply the European nations that have legalized medical marijuana.
Rob Ford
It will be interesting to see how Ontario transitions to this new government. The previous liberal party had been in power for 15 years but apparently voters were ready for a change. Doug Ford is the brother of the late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. How much in common the two brother have remains to be seen. Rob Ford is particularly famous for having smoked crack while serving the people of Toronto and being forced to turn over his duties to the deputy mayor for the remainder of his time in office. While some cannabis enthusiasts may be a little disappointed about not being able to access legal cannabis until next year, business people in the province are likely happy about the outcome. Do you think Ontario’s adult-use marijuana market would have been better off in the hands of the government or private businesses?
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canada marijuanaCannabis ActDoug FordOntario marijuanaRob Fordweed news
