Cannabis — For Fun, Health, and Taxes
Jane Thrall
In October 2018 when the
Government of Canada legalized
the use of marijuana and related
products, there were a number of
people, my friends among them,
who were concerned about the
possible ramifi cations. Some
expected the smell of marijuana
smoke to linger over the city, the
streets having been taken over by
pot-smoking hooligans.
All-in-all I haven’t seen much
change; frankly I think that
those who previously indulged in
cannabis products continued on
as usual, albeit with slightly less
stigma or concern. But has Canada
seen a surge in consumption or a
rise in new users? Well, yes it has.
StatsCan reports that year over year
the fi rst quarter of 2019 showed an
increase in usage from nine per cent
to fourteen per cent among those
age 45 to 64 years. Overall 646,000
Canadians reported trying cannabis
for the fi rst time in the fi rst three
months of 2019, double the number
of new users in the fi rst quarter
of 2018.
According to the Government
of Canada, the fi rst fi ve and a half
months following the legalization
of marijuana brought in $186
million in taxes directly related to
the sale of cannabis. Canada is only
the second country in the world
to legalize recreational marijuana,
after Uruguay. Recreational
marijuana is now legal in Georgia
(the country) and South Africa
as well as parts of the U.S. and
Australia. Medicinal cannabis is
legal in at least twenty-two other
countries with more coming on line
every year.
The government estimates that
forty-seven per cent of cannabis
users obtained their product from
legal sources in the fi rst three
months of 2019, compared with
twenty-three per cent in the same
quarter of 2018. That’s a lot of licit
taxable smoke.
The marijuana plant (Cannabis
sativa, Cannabis indica and the
less commonly cultivated Cannabis
ruderalis) is indigenous to Central
and East Asia and may have been
purposefully propagated as long
as ten thousand years ago. The
medicinal properties have been
known since at least the second
century BCE, and cannabis has
been used as an entheogen — a
psychoactive substance used in a
religious or shamanic context —
around the world for at least 3,500
years. Its cousin, the hemp plant,
has been grown for its incredibly
strong fi bre used to make ropes and
fabric since at least 4000 BCE.
The World Health Organization
(WHO) has recommended that
cannabis products containing
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) be
removed from Schedule IV, the
most strictly controlled category
of the UN Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs of 1961. WHO also
proposes that products made with
cannabidiol (CBD), that contain no
more than 0.2 per cent THC, should
be eliminated from all international
drug control conventions. This
would reduce the restrictions on
medical and scientifi c investigation
of cannabis and allow the pursuit
of valuable international research
eff orts. (See the following
HumanaCare article for more on
medical cannabis.)
In the fall of 2019 the government
began to allow the sale of cannabis
extracts, topicals, and edibles,
provided they are not designed to
be attractive to young children. This
means labelling, packaging, and
dosages will be strictly controlled —
and you won’t fi nd gummies on the
Canadian market.
Edibles and capsules are a great
option for those who are not
comfortable smoking or vaping
marijuana products. Virtually
every major beverage company is
developing a cannabis-infused
drink for the burgeoning
market. The potential for
profi t is so promising
that even major
Canadian pension
funds are buying
into the hype.
If you thought
the income
from taxing
marijuana
was already
impressive,
just wait until
edibles hit the
shops. Regardless
of whether you’re
a consumer, when it
comes to the marijuana
industry, taxpayers will be
getting a lot of bhang for
their buck. ●
Dr. Jane Thrall is a retired
optometrist now living on
the west coast. She spends
her free time volunteering
at a farm animal sanctuary,
travelling, writing, and practising
meditation.
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