It is neither reasonable nor responsible to create opportunity, infrastructure and regulation for a small business sector and then rip the carpet out from under all who’ve gathered to make an honest go of it.
The April 1 deadline rendering prior marijuana production licences obsolete is fast approaching and to date there are only a handful of new licences issued in all of Canada; there are only three in BC.
The august days of new romance have passed. Growers who under the prior framework were treated as affiliates are now being handled with derision; like a jilted lover, Health Canada has gone flip-switch. What was characterized by a dialogue of support now seems an unpredictable mood shift. Formerly licensed growers must cease and desist, or face prosecution. It is a situation with some parallels to prohibition-era liquor law enforcement, which at times in the back-and-forth of policy management, must have seemed arbitrary.
Often it’s the case where, to draw from the valuable lesson learned by the main character in Robert Heinlein’s book, Stranger in a Strange Land, a person can only see what’s right there in front of him. Anything else is conjecture.
BC has for decades been in the catbird seat as a leader in marijuana production, both now and prior to the medical marijuana legislation.
The province, and the country itself, has for a long time had an opportunity to be leaders in the international market place. But because the legislative process in Canada is mired with excessive measure and protocol— especially where this issue is concerned—ultimately opportunities are lost while the decision makers continue a campaign of genuflection and navel-gazing.
Perhaps Health Canada could take a page from the corporate handbook. Successful corporations keep their figurative fingers on the “go” button to stay viable in a rapidly shifting marketplace. They do this by a regular process of review, to streamline protocols, to reinvigorate branding and marketing initiatives and to be crystal clear about where the legislative boundaries are. These and other measures keep them young, which in corporate-speak, means vital, forward thinking and ready to take opportunities that make sense.
