Marijuana legalization in Canada suffers stumbling blocks

The introduction of the drug into the Canadian market has been gradual, and hundreds of stores have opened to sell it. While many Canadians are proud of the measure, many of them refrain from buying it because taxes and other obstacles have triggered the price of grass at almost double what it cost before legalization.

For decades the production and distribution of the drug was in the hands of illegal groups, such as the Hells Angels, and replacing that scheme with legal and regulated sales is one of the main objectives of regularization.

Sales in the first year of legalization are projected to amount to $ 1 billion, just a portion of the illegal market that follows amounts to $ 5,000 and $ 7 billion.

"A client told me, 'I appreciate you and I would like to support you, but I can't buy all my cannabis here, it's too expensive," said Jeremy Jacob, co-owner of Village Bloomery, a cannabis shop in Vancouver. "The black market is the biggest beneficiary of legalization."

The feared increase in addictions among minors, or road accidents, has not been registered since Canada joined Uruguay as the only countries to legalize the sale of marijuana for adults. Delegations from other countries, including Mexico, have visited Canada to explore the possibility of introducing legalization.

The truth is that from the beginning, the authorities warned that it would be an extended process, not a single event, and they were right. There are obstacles, such as the packaging requirements that some consider excessive, the poor quality of some products or the slow licensing of dispensaries and growers.

Canada allowed its provinces to create their own laws for the sale of marijuana, within a federal framework. Each province can decide the minimum purchase age or whether to distribute the drug through state or private entities. Some provinces have done better than others.

There are currently more than 560 marijuana sales businesses throughout Canada, but more than half are in the province of Alberta, which is the fourth largest in the country.

Ontario and Quebec, which together constitute two thirds of the Canadian population, combine for just 45 businesses. In Newfoundland, the province in the far east of the country, a merchant, Tom Clarke said he is about to register 1.5 million dollars in sales but has not made any profit, because the rules impose a cap of just 8% on commissions.

Internet sales, legalized so that more distant and isolated populations can have equal access, have been scarce, partly because many people refuse to use credit cards for purchases that could be registered and reviewed by US banks or by the guard border, said Megan McCrae, director of the Canadian association representing the sector, the Cannabis Council of Canada.