Canada set to legalize marijuana, provide $6bn annual boost to GDP
On June 7th, the Canadian Senate will vote on Bill C-45 and it is expected to pass, making Canada the first of the G7 (read: wealthy) nations to legalize marijuana.
What’s most interesting about the Canadian legalization is that marijuana products would be sold in government regulated stores, not entirely unlike the Canadian government’s sale of beer and liquor. Canada has an interesting set-up for alcohol sales, with most liquor stores being either provincially or government-run (fairly interesting breakdown here). Canada plans to sell marijuana alongside the alcohol and its expected to bring in $6bn to the Canadian GDP.
Marijuana has long been the cause of many of modern societies’ deepest woes: relaxation, introspection, appreciation of arts and music, and inclination to experiment in the kitchen. Since marijuana was made a class-1 drug alongside heroin and cocaine in 1970, marijuana-related deaths have soared to 0, and restaurant delivery services have been driven into business. Roving gangs of miscreants and ne’er-do-wells with names like The Grateful Dead and Wiz Khalifa have become deified by America’s youth thanks to the brainwashing by this completely harmless drug. Untold bags of Doritos litter the streets, a clear sign of a nearby stoner getting, what the kids call, “lit.”
Meanwhile, alcohol-related deaths kill 88,000 people a year and drunk driving kills one person every 50 minutes. Perfectly legal opioids pushed by drug companies kill 1 in 5 people between 24 and 35, mostly because drug companies have spent close to $3bn to keep those opioids on the streets.
Do you think America will follow Canada’s lead? Well, yes. Eventually, as 64% and climbing of the country wants it to happen and more and more states are legalizing it. On a federal level, however, it’s still banned, despite states showing huge tax boons from marijuana in the states where it is legal.
