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Marijuana Legalization Essay
Marijuana Legalization Essay
Justin Hickland
Mr. Phillips
14 December 2018
Have you ever wanted to smoke weed legally? In Canada, citizens above the
age of eighteen can now legally purchase recreational marijuana. Canada has become
the second country to legalize the drug after Uruguay did in 2013. On June 19th, of
2018, Canada officially passed Bill C-45 which legalized the use of recreational
marijuana. The C-45 comes from Justin Trudeau’s, the Canadian Prime Minister,
promise to try to put a stop to underage marijuana use and lessen crime associated with
the drug (Sapra). Marijuana is also set to bring new industry and economic growth to
Canada. Other countries such as Mexico are taking notice and have the potential to
follow in Canada’s footsteps. The legalization of marijuana is bringing new wealth to the
The economy of Canada has been on the rise for some time due to an “investor
frenzy” (Lahart) within the new marijuana market. Despite marijuana legalization only
being in action for a month and a half in Canada, investors have been pouring in to get
a piece of the new industry for over a year. The belief is that it is prime time to get into
the business of cannabis with a market projection of $6.5 billion in sales annually,
according to Fortune (Hinchcliffe). The passing of the new Bill C-45 has led to a surge
of investors backing companies like Canopy Growth Corp (Sapra). Canopy Growth Corp
is one of many companies surfacing in Canada that grow marijuana on a large scale.
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These companies earn amounts up to one billion dollars and above from shares
purchased by investors. The numbers are escalating, bringing new cash into the
Canadian economy and providing new jobs within their companies. Even in the
Today, marijuana has been legalized, and the demand for cannabis has
exceeded expectations. Even though people knew that the legalization of marijuana
was going to be big, they did not anticipate what would happen next. On the day
cannabis officially became legal, retail shops and online stores weren’t prepared for the
consumer rush (Hinchliffe). Although stores had been building up their supply for weeks
prior, they still were unable to meet buyer demand. Stores had to close just a few short
hours after opening their doors. The appeal of its legality and low prices, ranging
between six and thirteen Canadian dollars, were just too good to pass up (Scotti).
Presently, the extreme sales influx has demonstrated an improved Canadian economy
in a short time due to the legally sanctioned access to marijuana. After the first week,
stores were able to regain supply, and they managed to gain consistent sales despite
earlier setbacks. High demand for cannabis in Canada has created new channels for
cash flow which should boost the overall economy over time.
Not only is marijuana legalization directly impacting the economy; the drug is also
Global News, the Canadian government has put a base excise tax of one Canadian
dollar or higher for sales of marijuana depending on the final price (Scotti). With sales
coming in from across the provinces of Canada, the government is set to gain major
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income in terms of taxes. Since Canada regulates their economy, the excise taxes will
support their efforts. The indirect relationship of Canada’s government benefiting from
the legalization of marijuana will overall make their economy run more efficiently.
One of the other main goals for the push to legalize marijuana in Canada was to
reduce crime and usage among the youth. When Justin Trudeau ran for the Prime
Minister of Canada in 2015, one of his main campaign promises was to prevent
underaged marijuana use and to stop criminals from selling the drug on the black
market. The promise of reduced crime was one of the main reasons Bill C-45 was
passed. There are three main ways that Bill C-45 and marijuana legalization will reduce
crime. One way is under the new legislation passed, giving marijuana to a minor, age
eighteen or nineteen depending on the province, will land someone in jail for up to
fourteen years (Porter). Another method is that along with marijuana legalization, the
the dangers of pot including the legal consequences (Porter). The campaign will
hopefully influence kids to refuse marijuana until they are of a legal age in their province
and warn them of the dangers of the black market associated with drug
extremely low taxes on legalized weed to combat the prices of black market sellers
(Moneau). Through these methods, the Canadian government has seized a major
opportunity to suppress the black market and organized crime from hurting their
similar legalization path to stop their own crime issues after seeing the potential in
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Canada’s efforts. Mexico has always been known for their unrelenting crime rate due to
illegal drug cartels. In fact, Senator Olga Sanchez Cordero stated that the war on drugs
in Mexico has murdered 235,000 people and has left 40,000 more missing since 2006
(Kahn). The Mexican government has had enough of organized crime and has taken
notice of Canada’s fight against their black market. Marcelo Ebrand, Head of Mexico’s
Government of the Federal District, met with Justin Trudeau and discussed Canada’s
new legalization of marijuana (Pipoli). He came to the conclusion that banning cannabis
is irrational (Pipoli). Ebrand stated after his meeting with Trudeau, that “(They) think (the
legalization of marijuana) is a very interesting option in the short term for Mexico”
(Ebrand). After the recent Mexico Supreme Court ruling, the ban of recreational use of
marijuana has been overturned (Ingraham), and now there is new legislation in the
Mexican Congress to fully make the drug legal (Pipoli). Citizens would be able to sell
and grow their own pot legally which in turn will compete against established illegal
cartels. Canada has inspired Mexico and hopefully, crime will be reduced in both
With marijuana legalization efforts in Canada being freshly enacted, there is still
a lot a doubt about whether legalization will actually end up helping the economy. Big
cannabis companies have received millions in investments, but there also are some
shortcomings among them. For instance, the New York Times reports that despite huge
share values that have exceeded one billion Canadian dollars, one of the largest
cannabis companies, Auxly, has reported over ten million Canadian dollars in losses for
the first quarter of 2018 (Austen). Although these numbers are of concern, the
companies will get their money back in no time due to a swarm of investments and high
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demand for legal weed in Canada. Another worry about marijuana legalization’s effects
News reports that economic experts believe Canada should be warned about a
potential tsunami of supply which will ultimately kill individual business (Scotti). There is
not enough evidence to support that a huge wave of supply is coming since legalization
is in its early stages. Plus, the high demand for legal weed from the first month begs to
differ on whether or not a large amount of supply on the market would actually occur.
Every new change within a country brings doubts, but so far Canada and marijuana
legalization seem to positively affect the economy due to high sales and demand.
reduce crime, and other countries like Mexico are having similar thoughts as their
country leans toward legalization. Critics of Canadian pot efforts say that legalizing
weed will just make the drug easier to illegally sell or distribute to kids. Although critics
may have a point, there are several initiatives and laws that have been put into place
with Bill C-45. First of all, any legal adult caught giving a minor cannabis can be sent to
prison for up to fourteen years (Porter). Secondly, there is an $83 million dollar
campaign in place to promote the dangers of underage drug use to youth across the
“cartels will stop growing marijuana bit by bit, and they’d concentrate on growing heroin”
(Manuat) which means the crime problem will remain the same. With Mexico using
some of Canada’s ideas of low taxes and regulations on marijuana sales, they will be
able to at least reduce crime in one main issue of the drug war. In time, the regulations
will leave an open doorway to tackle other drugs such as heroin. The biggest reason for
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programs. Hopefully, Canada and future countries such as Mexico who pursue similar
The legalization of marijuana, although just getting started, has established great
potential for Canada and those who choose to follow. The new market of marijuana is
bringing new investors and cash into Canada, improving the overall economy. Bill C-45,
which has legalized cannabis, has also created low taxes and educational programs on
the drug to fight organized crime in the black market. Canada has set precedent for
other countries, like Mexico, to consider joining the legalization train to solve their own
crime problems. Although there have been doubts about the effectiveness of Canada’s
marijuana legalization, the current trends lean towards a positive impact in both the
economy and crime reduction. After proving marijuana legalization is bringing Canada
much success, the real question is, who will be the next to join them?