Legalized Marijuana - tourism boost ?

[Sunset]

Canada legalized Marijuana Federally and will let the provinces work out the implementation details.

Largely it appears 1 oz is totally legal to use or share, and you can grow 4 plants at home except in Quebec where they don't want you to grow any a home.

I wonder if this will increase tourism to Canada, or just have the tourists mellowing around longer.

The nice thing, is that it will be legal, vs here in the USA , even if you are in a State that says it's legal, and allows the sale of it, the Feds could arrest you for drug use as it is illegal in Fed view for the entire country.

Don't rush up there yet, as it could take until Oct 15 for all the Provinces to be ready.

 

[aja8888]

Farming will become more popular except in Quebec.

 

[brewer12345]

Eh, there may be a bit of extra tourism, but you can have the potbirds and all the extra homeless. Not worth it.

 

[Bamaman]

Legalized lot brings a large influx of criminals--illegal growers. And the bootleggers are a very rough bunch of people. In California, the legal growers cannot be armed at the farm. And they are prime pickings for robbers holding them up for their "crops."

Nothing about legalizing marijuana makes sense.

 

[aja8888]

This will all sort out in the U.S. when the Feds make it legal and start collecting tax money on it. (kind of like booze and smokes).

 

[hesperus]

I live in a small colorado town that has allowed recreational marijuana, and we haven't noticed any uptick in crime or illegal growers. People no longer need to search for illegally grown weed. They can buy weed that is strictly regulated, tested, and free of the risks that blackmarket weed has. It actually discourages that element.
Further - drinking and smoking don't attract radically different people. The pot smoking stereotype is just that - a stereo type.

 

[USA]

Maybe it’s the crowd I run with but I know of no one who would head off anywhere to get high. No tourism from my sector. I personally have found successful people not too prone to head to a foreign country for that purpose. But then living in
Europe in the 70s, at an Amsterdam McDonalds I went for a burger and by passed the guy selling hash. I would think a boost, if any, will be offset by the residents of Canada living with the results brewer12345 writes of.

 

[RobbieB]

The more pot the better!

 

[harley]

Eh, there may be a bit of extra tourism, but you can have the potbirds and all the extra homeless. Not worth it.

I'm not sure what you are talking about. Potbirds I can figure out, but where do the homeless come in? Do you have any references to back that up? Or are you just grumping? Nothing I have seen from any of the legal states infers an increase in crime or homelessness. CA is the worst, but that's mostly because they are implementing it with the same political astuteness/halfassedness they bring to everything else. And even there I haven't seen any reports of increased homelessness.

 

[Bamaman]

Last time I was in Canada/Nova Scotia, the sales tax was 15% and a six pack of the cheapest beer was $12.99.

Expect the government to tax pot to the point it is simply unaffordable. That is when the bootleggers will pick up the slack.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm not sure what you are talking about. Potbirds I can figure out, but where do the homeless come in? Do you have any references to back that up? Or are you just grumping? Nothing I have seen from any of the legal states infers an increase in crime or homelessness. CA is the worst, but that's mostly because they are implementing it with the same political astuteness/halfassedness they bring to everything else. And even there I haven't seen any reports of increased homelessness.

Maybe he noticed some local trends in Colorado after their legalization a few years ago?

 

[timo2]

The statistics I saw about Colorado after legalization was that the same percentage of the population smoked pot before and after legalization. Probably because businesses still do drug testing. And I saw some surveys that said high school use of pot was down, maybe because it is no longer taboo and cool.

I got to vote for legalization in Colorado, and the reason many of us voted for it was to stop having to pay for prison housing for pot smokers. We just were being cheap. There is no reason to put pot heads in jail. Too many people are in jail as it is.

 

[brewer12345]

I'm not sure what you are talking about. Potbirds I can figure out, but where do the homeless come in? Do you have any references to back that up? Or are you just grumping? Nothing I have seen from any of the legal states infers an increase in crime or homelessness. CA is the worst, but that's mostly because they are implementing it with the same political astuteness/halfassedness they bring to everything else. And even there I haven't seen any reports of increased homelessness.

Truth to tell, there are a lot of confounding causes that may mean that the fairly widely held view locally of grifters showing up in larger numbers to smoke legal dope is not founded on reality. Denver and surrounding areas have seen a marked increase in homeless populations, encampments, panhandling, etc. in the last few years. It dovetails with weed legalization, but at the same time Denver has become a much bigger city with big city problems (homeless, drugs, etc.), the opioid epidemic has exploded, and the city gubmint has turned hopelessly shoot-ourselves-in-the-foot liberal and set out free stuff and encouragement. So with all these things happening more or less at the same time, it might not be the legal weed. All I know is that when I walk down the pedestrian mall downtown or take the train, I generally just about keel over from the stench of weed, BO, homeless droppings, etc.

 

[brewer12345]

I got to vote for legalization in Colorado, and the reason many of us voted for it was to stop having to pay for prison housing for pot smokers. We just were being cheap. There is no reason to put pot heads in jail. Too many people are in jail as it is.

I voted for it because I thought all of the drug war stuff was a colossal waste of my tax dollars. I knew it would remain federally illegal and therefore would be off limits to me for the duration even if I had an interest.

 

[timo2]

This will all sort out in the U.S. when the Feds make it legal and start collecting tax money on it. (kind of like booze and smokes).

Yes, once big pharma gets its hands on cannabis, watch out!!

 

[brewer12345]

Last time I was in Canada/Nova Scotia, the sales tax was 15% and a six pack of the cheapest beer was $12.99.

Expect the government to tax pot to the point it is simply unaffordable. That is when the bootleggers will pick up the slack.

That sounds about right for Canada. Of course with beer and wine that lead to a lot of homebrewing. In my state you are entitled to grow something like 12 plants for personal consumption, so if it ever gets too expensive to buy I imagine lots of people will take up hydroponic gardening.

 

[audreyh1]

Yes, once big pharma gets its hands on cannabis, watch out!!

Why? - they can’t patent it.

 

[MarieIG]

No worries, I am not tempted to rush off to Canada for an oz of pot. Now, I may want to travel there for the culture, the scenery, the architecture, the countryside, the arts, but really, traveling to obtain drugs doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

 

[Sunset]

Eh, there may be a bit of extra tourism, but you can have the potbirds and all the extra homeless. Not worth it.

Homeless have a tough time in Canada, due to the winters.

Even if you are not homeless, the winter is a danger there:

Woman's frozen body found in Ottawa snowbank | CBC News

Man's frozen body found after Ontario storm | CBC News

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mother-of-four-found-frozen-on-winnipeg-street-1.3744377

 

[MRG]

Last time I was in Canada, 2006, I smoked(no longer a combination user) a lot of Cannabis. Wasn't legal but nobody cared. We were in Vancouver and the indoor smoking regulations were all that were enforced. On the weekends they didn't patrol, so the place was like an Amsterdam experience. You couldn't buy on site but if you asked anyone you would know what bar and jukebox to stand by.[emoji12]

During the week they did patrol and people jammed into a little smoking room with a ventilator. Imagine a hotbox with a dozen new Canadian friends? Pretty cool.

So what changed?

Honestly I appreciate what Canada has done. Living in a legal state puts the insanity in perspective. The data are very clear as to the benefits of legalization.

 

[brewer12345]

Homeless have a tough time in Canada, due to the winters.

Even if you are not homeless, the winter is a danger there:

Woman's frozen body found in Ottawa snowbank | CBC News

Man's frozen body found after Ontario storm | CBC News

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mother-of-four-found-frozen-on-winnipeg-street-1.3744377

Colorado winters are no picnic, I assure you. The grafter population declines somewhat in the cold months, but it is surprisingly large. There are places in the National Forest that have been pretty much ruined due to large homeless encampments.

 

[Scrapr]

Here in Oregon there hasn't really been any problems...(with pot). The stores are generally an upgrade to what was previously in the space. Nice clean stores. There is talk about black market pot from the grow houses. Our local Sheriff has a hard on for it. But day to day there isn't much

My MIL was adamant against pot. Not in my house was her words. Then her sister in Cali used some Medical for some aches & pains. So they all went together to the pot store. And got some CBD cream for her knees. She loves it. She had her Grandson go this week to pick up some more

My wife has used some for her cancer recovery with good effect

Overall it has been good. If the Grandma crowd is in there is no going back

 

[Telly]

I wonder if Towely will be moving from South Park to Canada...

 

[HFWR]

How do homeless vagrants afford $400/oz weed?

Legal or not, pot is grown, smuggled, and smoked regularly, by literally millions of people...

 

[MRG]

How do homeless vagrants afford $400/oz weed?

Legal or not, pot is grown, smuggled, and smoked regularly, by literally millions of people...

Prices are lower than the black market. You'll see many places with $99 specials. Especially in metro areas.

I agree legal or not millions use Cannabis.