KOLAS Explores How Various Countries are Handling the Transition
The issue of whether or not nations should legalize recreational cannabis (marijuana) has been a topic of heated debate for many years. However, it seems more countries and their experts are beginning to appreciate cannabis for its therapeutic benefits. For many who may be unaware of cannabis’s long history, for five thousand years, people across several cultures embraced the plant as a healing agent. In 1937, the Marijuana Tax Act was passed in America, making the individual sale and possession of the drug illegal. However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the mounting social, economic, and health benefits of the substance outweigh its risks. With cannabis now legal in many countries around the world, researchers are spending more time studying its effects and have discovered numerous advantages.
The KOLASbrand is a chain of dispensaries across Sacramento, California. The specially trained team at KOLAS provides customers with detailed knowledge to ensure the safe and effective use of their products. As a result of legalization, they have seen firsthand the valuable impact cannabis can have on individuals’ lives. Today, KOLAS experts discuss the steps some countries are taking towards legalizing recreational marijuana and why these efforts have been successful.
Which Countries Have Legalized Cannabis?
In regions where cannabis is legal, there are no official consequences, like a felony charge or jail time, that can arise from possessing a designated amount of cannabis under the law. Uruguay, the “world’s marijuana pioneer,” as reported by BBC News, was the first country to legalize recreational cannabis in 2013. However, the legal sale did not take place until years later. According to Guillermo Draper, a Uruguayan journalist, the national cannabis market was slow to become operational as the government wished to take meaningful and calculated measures to ensure a smooth-running system. For instance, sales can only take place in authorized pharmacies, where the purchase behavior of customers is closely regulated.
Following Uruguay’s lead, Canada was the second nation to legalize cannabis in October of 2018. An independent think tank in the U.K., Transform, focuses on drug policy reform and believes Canada’s legalization of cannabis has been a success. Transform’s comprehensive report evaluates the steps Canada has taken at both a federal and provincial level, stating that their efforts can serve as a blueprint for other countries moving towards more compassionate drug policies. Moreover, the fact that Canada deemed cannabis an essential service during the onset of COVID-19 further demonstrates the role cannabis plays within the Canadian healthcare landscape and the economy as a whole. With Canada and Uruguay experiencing few problems with legalization, it’s only a matter of time before other countries begin following suit. At this time, several other nations have decriminalized cannabison some scale, including the U.S., Mexico, Belize, Jamaica, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and South Africa—to name a few.
Possession is allowed in small amounts
The Cannabis Act has been put in place in Canada to achieve three goals. These aims include keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth, keeping profits out of the pockets of criminals, and protecting public health and safety by allowing adults access to legal cannabis. One method used by the government is limiting how much cannabis individuals can legally carry at any particular time. For example, consumers nationwide are authorized to possess 30 grams of dried cannabis in public. However, other rules seem to vary between provinces and territories, such as age limits, retail models, smoking locations, and at-home possession limits.
While it is too soon to tell, many cannabis supporters believe that the decriminalization of cannabis can help reduce law enforcement costs. The reason being, if possession is no longer a crime, then the police will have fewer individuals to arrest. An article in the Calgary Heraldhelps to support this theory. In July 2019, police Chief Mark Neufeld made a statement, “Legalization doesn’t appear to have significantly increased impaired driving or given rise to a large spike in community complaints.”
“People are being responsible and using it for important purposes—namely to improve their quality of life,” explains a member of the KOLAS team. Another article further suggests that legalizing cannabis could help reduce the instances of unnecessary confrontations between officers and minority residents. Rigid laws typically encourage police to search for drugs during routine exchanges, which may cause the interaction to become violent. Consequently, the regulated possession of cannabis will likely have a positive impact on society.
Cannabis resources and public education
Countries looking to decriminalize cannabis are publishing additional resources to help increase public knowledge regarding safe cannabis use. Canada’s Federal government, in particular, has taken a proactive approach to ensure Canadians are well educated. Their initial efforts involved conducting public opinion research to evaluate their citizen’s attitudes and behaviors towards cannabis use and impaired driving. By doing this, the government was able to gauge how much work still needed to go into increasing public awareness. At the same time, the country took notes from other regions that had already passed cannabis legalization bills, including Washington State and Colorado. Learning from similar jurisdictions helped the nation pinpoint priority audiences as well as shape useful cannabis education campaigns. As stated on the Government of Canada website, they plan to invest $100 million over six years in cannabis education, awareness and surveillance. Ultimately, by distributing evidence-based information, the government can assist Canadians by helping them make more informed choices. Moreover, at KOLAS, they believe educating consumers on cannabis’s risks and benefits is more important than turning profits.
Legal production and sale of cannabis products
Statistics from the National Cannabis Survey (NCS) indicate that an estimated 29.4% of cannabis users reported obtaining cannabis from a legal source, compared to only 10.7% before legalization. The research goes on to clarify that people generally purchase cannabis from multiple sources. Once they also take into consideration the people that buy from both legal and illegal sources, the percentage of consumers accessing some form of legal cannabis increases to 52%. The fact is, thanks to legalization, fewer people are purchasing from illegal drug dealers. By controlling the production and supply of cannabis, countries can potentially experience lower levels of criminal activity and alleviate social problems related to illicit drug distribution.
In Canada, three retail-models exist including, government-owned and operated, private, or hybrid. Provinces that operate using the private retail license model, for example, may be required to purchase cannabis from the provincial regulatory agency rather than directly from growers. Otherwise, it would be difficult for the provinces to manage all points of the supply chain.
Perhaps the top benefit of legalization is the opportunity for governments to collect tax revenue. Colorado is a prime example having sales of over $1 billion in 2015; the government was able to collect roughly $135 million in additional tax revenue and fees. Therefore, a legal framework for selling marijuana has helped to increase jobs, diminish the black market for drugs, and garner tax revenue for states and nations around the world.
Advertising and promotion
Similar to the limits placed on the advertisement of alcohol, the Cannabis Act prohibits marketers from promoting cannabis to youth. In essence, companies cannot associate cannabis use with ‘glamour, recreation, excitement, vitality, risk or daring.’ Instead, firms should concentrate on differentiating themselves from competing dispensaries without attempting to embellish their product offerings. As previously mentioned, KOLAS strives to distinguish themselves based on their high-caliber resources. Once employees receive training through KOLAS University, they are ready to share their knowledge with the public. As a client, not only are you getting high-quality products, but also guidance on what products may be right for you, which is especially important with an influx of new customers. At the same time, the company’s distinct purple logo makes it easily recognizable. Overall, recent marketing efforts on a national level do not appear to have steered underage youth towards cannabis use.
After two years of legalization in Canada, the results appear to be overwhelmingly positive. Canada has implemented a variety of laws, including possession and age limits, standard production practices, and restrictions on the sale, advertising and promotion of products, which have all helped to regulate the use of cannabis throughout the country. Due to the nation’s success, we can assume that it won’t be long before other countries choose to follow in Canada’s footsteps.
