Graphic by Masih K
On this episode of On the Record: Three years after Canada became the second country to legalize cannabis, the realities of cannabis legalization are settling in. An inaccessible pardon system has made record suspensions difficult to get. Marijuana hasn’t been kept away from underage users, according to Health Canada. The Ontario Cannabis Store makes hundreds of millions off of what is now a monopoly on legal weed. We ask: does the legalization of cannabis serve a moral agenda or a monetary one? A lawyer, a retailer, and the academic researchers at the forefront of the issue weigh in.
Key points
6:34 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2017 stance on cannabis legalization
10:33 How the pardon process works
13:46 Who is really benefiting from cannabis legalization?
15:35 The overbuilding of the cannabis industry
22:01 The legal market vs. the illegal market
Who we heard from in order of appearance
Andrew Hathaway, criminal justice professor at Guelph University
Bradley Poulos, entrepreneurship professor at Ryerson University
Alan Gertner, co-founder of Tokyo Smoke
Harrison Jordan, Toronto-based cannabis lawyer
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Song Credits
Royalty-Free Music from Bensound
Image Credits
GoToVan via Flickr
