- MONTREAL — Black-market marijuana has been very good for Michael.
For 22 years, he has grown and sold the stuff in and around Montreal. An illegal activity punishable by up to life in prison, selling the pungent bounty that he cultivates in his basement has nonetheless given Michael the sheen of middle-class respectability (though he would not give me his real name for fear of legal repercussions).
Marijuana paid for the bungalow and a half-acre of land in a Montreal suburb. It paid for vacations, golf memberships and his Mercedes. In his bachelor years, it paid for his copious restaurant bills. Now it keeps his young children in hockey gear.
In the mid-1990s, a time of tight supply and higher stakes, he was selling a pound for $2,500 and grossing $395,000 a year. The price has nearly halved since then, but Michael still lives very comfortably. A bar manager by trade and for appearances, the 47-year-old said that 90 percent of his income is derived from selling marijuana.
The Canadian government is expected to legalize recreational marijuana by July 2018, in large part to put an end to the extensive and enduring black market for the drug on which people like Michael have thrived. Canadian businesses are anticipating a windfall. A 2016 Deloitte report estimated the legal Canadian marijuana market will be worth $18 billion annually.
Far from bemoaning the potential end to his livelihood, Michael says he cannot wait for marijuana to be legalized.
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“We all want to transition to legal,” Michael said. “I want to do this without looking over my shoulder all the time. I want regulation and quality control. I want to pay taxes.”
Longtime growers like Michael say their experience in the field, however illicit, gives them an advantage over the many large, deep-pocketed operations that have already set up across the country in anticipation of legalization. Given the chance, they say they can be the marijuana equivalent of the craft beer market, in which taste, smell and feel matter nearly as much as narcotic effect.
“When legalization happens, people will be able to get their weed at the ‘dépanneur,’ ” said a woman who goes by the name Betty Cracker, using a Québécois term for corner store. “But I have 10 years’ experience, and I can refine my niche to get into the new market. You have to be creative.”
Betty, 34, packages her sumptuous-looking baked goods as though they sprang from a high-end bakery, and delivers them personally to her clients. In a legal market, she could have access to capital and take credit cards.
Yet because her business is illegal, she cooks in her own kitchen with an often jury-rigged supply line of marijuana and an understandable sense of paranoia.
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“I want to evolve and give the best product, which means testing and consistency,” she said. “Right now, it’s very hard to be consistent. It’s still a punishable offense, and they are still enforcing the law on people like me.”
Big business, however, has perked up. Just over a third of the 54 licensed producers — growers and sellers who trade in medical marijuana, and will be able to do so for the recreational market once it is legalized — are publicly traded companies. The three biggest have a combined market cap of over $2.5 billion. Some are internationally owned, and most if not all have an eye on the recreational market.
The reason is the demand for cannabis, which is expected to be at least 600,000 kilograms a year — about 1.32 million pounds — according to the Deloitte study. (The country’s 54 licensed producers currently produce about 20,000 pounds of dried marijuana a year.) With more than 12 percent of Canadians 15 and older (nearly 3.5 million people) reporting to have used cannabis in the past year, according to a 2012 report, many people are worried about a bottleneck in supply.
Unlike the Canadian booze magnates of yore, who used their heft to muscle out smaller players once alcohol became legal in the United States following Prohibition, several of the bigger marijuana companies say they would potentially welcome, and even buy from, growers like Michael.
Others, too, see a business upside to legalization. Under the proposed law, Canadians of legal age will be allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants for their own consumption. The market has already responded in kind with several companies selling home kits, phone apps and growing advice to the millions of potential amateur green thumbs across the country.
The challenge for anyone wanting to go legal is getting a license to do so. Becoming a licensed producer is a marathon exercise in bureaucracy that can take up to three years. A license also requires a criminal-background check. Michael, who served a nine-month jail sentence in 2005 for marijuana trafficking, said this could keep him out of the legal system.
It is one of the quandaries of legalizing marijuana, which has been illegal in Canada since 1923. Many of the people with expertise in coaxing quality marijuana from the earth have criminal records, which would potentially keep them out of the legal market.
The federal government is keenly aware of the problems. Health Canada recently streamlined the licensing process, allowing for increased growing capacity among existing license holders and shorter delays for applicants. Depending on the circumstances, the government may also be willing to overlook a few past weed-related indiscretions for would-be licensees.
This is the carrot end of the equation. The stick: up to 14 years in jail for selling or distributing marijuana.
Michael wants to go legal, but he’ll stay in the black market if need be. Legal weed, he pointed out, will be subject to government inspections and quality-control standards. All of this will make it more expensive. A gram of weed costs Canopy Growth Corporation, the country’s largest marijuana company, $2.30 to produce, according to the company’s recent financial statements, and will be subject to both federal and provincial sales tax.
In his basement, Michael can grow a gram of Headbanger — “Indica-heavy strain, very heavy stone, don’t smoke it during the day,” he says — for about 40 cents, tax-free.
He’ll just have to keep looking over his shoulder.
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Is Canada Ready for Legal Marijuana?
- Thread starter gb123
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VIANARCHRIS
Well-Known Member
Sounds interesting...anyone tried the strain?
CalyxCrusher
Well-Known Member
And an extremely cheap quality as well
it gives everyone a real god picture of what its all about..
been yappin about it for years now..
nice to see the fools finally catching on..isn't that right fools! you know who you be
you cant force a market... when you don't have one and never will with your poison shwags..no matter how many people you put in jail for doing exactly what you do!
been yappin about it for years now..
nice to see the fools finally catching on..isn't that right fools! you know who you be
you cant force a market... when you don't have one and never will with your poison shwags..no matter how many people you put in jail for doing exactly what you do!
Gquebed
Well-Known Member
Theyre relying on the assumption that once it is legal new people will be lining up to buy weed..
A few will try it. Most of those wont care for it and mark it off the bucket list. But the vast majority will just buy it where they always bought it because the relationship is established.
A few will try it. Most of those wont care for it and mark it off the bucket list. But the vast majority will just buy it where they always bought it because the relationship is established.
The Hippy
Well-Known Member
Yes..exactly..
Flash63
Well-Known Member
Yes I have 13 juveniles in flower as we speak.
oddish
Well-Known Member
Definitely. This is the model that is expected.
They're planning some pretty significant "round up" right before legalization, trying to force the new system to work.
Those that didn't stick their neck out over the past 4 years will be fine. Those that opened clinics and are writing 100g prescriptions may lose their head.
I do expect legalization to increase usage signficantly.
According to the most recently released CADUMS, ~40% of Canadians have tried it at least once in their life, 10% in the last year and the average age is 16. These high school kids are going to grow up and go to college in a world where cannabis is a legal, recreational alternative to drinking. The impact will be massive.
cannadan
Well-Known Member
love the uniformity of those plants...basically no variation.in the basic shape..well maintained and handled by you flash.
impressive.
Gquebed
Well-Known Member
I think it will increase usage too. I just dont think itll be the gold rush they are hoping for right off the bat.
It will come over time. From advertising, which will be the next hurdle to jump. But mostly from peers... as it becomes more socially acceptable it will become more prevalent and open at parties and such....
dude ODD one..
READ THIS AND LEARN
"Theyre relying on the assumption that once it is legal new people will be lining up to buy weed.."
YOU CANT FORCE Something THAT is ALREADY IN PLACE!! has been for ever and will be forever..
they are counting on that dude
its part of their buisness plan that aint gonna work for them see
How bout this
its like me saying from now on all you people gotta buy poison from me!
Its not gonna happen! no way in hell simple shit really
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oddish
Well-Known Member
I understand your feelings on this and I completely see why you hate them so much.dude ODD one..
READ THIS AND LEARN
"Theyre relying on the assumption that once it is legal new people will be lining up to buy weed.."
YOU CANT FORCE Something THAT is ALREADY IN PLACE!! has been for ever and will be forever..
they are counting on that dude
its part of their buisness plan that aint gonna work for them see
How bout this
its like me saying from now on all you people gotta buy poison from me!
Its not gonna happen! no way in hell simple shit really
That said, their product isn't nearly as bad as you think.
Their product is selling quickly and I haven't had a bad batch yet.
I had a few that didn't match their strain profile at all, but when I ordered Banana Kush it smelled and tasted like banana peels and did exactly what it was supposed to do.
I still prefer to buy local, support local, but I'm paying $6 a gram from Tweed and $7-9 from local and tweed has been more consistent and offers me a much larger variety. I wish the inverse were true, but it's not yet.
That said, all my extracts and edibles come from locals aside from the gel caps.
The courts recognize that we have a right for reasonable access [to marijuana]. Basically, the cannabis laws have fallen.”
nuff said
nothing you can IMAGINE odd is going the way you think..you can trust me on that Mr!
poison LP products not as bad? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? READ THE HEADLINES!!!
ITS A KNOWN FACT THEY SPRAY POISON ON YOUR HERB DUDE!! its affecting your judgement
are you serious Odd? Wake up Mr..yer taking to many blues!
Please Odd stop while you still make some sense..dude...you seem right brain washed..
That will change im sure.!
My feelings are that I feel sorry for you.. I truly honestly do.
By the way..you cant know what im about..unless you walk in my shoes.
nuff said
nothing you can IMAGINE odd is going the way you think..you can trust me on that Mr!
poison LP products not as bad? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? READ THE HEADLINES!!!
ITS A KNOWN FACT THEY SPRAY POISON ON YOUR HERB DUDE!! its affecting your judgement
are you serious Odd? Wake up Mr..yer taking to many blues!
Please Odd stop while you still make some sense..dude...you seem right brain washed..
That will change im sure.!
My feelings are that I feel sorry for you.. I truly honestly do.
By the way..you cant know what im about..unless you walk in my shoes.
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oddish
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't dream of trying to know what you're about. This is about the recreational market.
As for Tweed's product, I understand your perspective but it's just based in false narratives and outlier facts.
Remember when Hilary had a 98% chance of winning the election?
Don't live in a bubble.
Poison sprayed on peoples weeds is not baseless unknown fact kiddo!
I don't live in a pretend bubble Our Feds and people like yourself do ..
watch and learn Odd..Watch and learn
oddish
Well-Known Member
I've been watching and learning.Poison sprayed on peoples weeds is not baseless unknown fact kiddo!
I don't live in a pretend bubble Our Feds and people like yourself do ..
watch and learn Odd..Watch and learn
My fear is that you haven't been watching or learning.
The world is changing out there.
oddish
Well-Known Member
I absolutely beg to differ on all of the above, but I don't have time to dispute point by point.From day one ......................we've been correct with our
calls..
and guess what odd
You've been wrong on every count!
that's just it Odd..im not the one who is afraid of good change
I'll keep doing what I'm doing, you keep living in your bubble.
The Hippy
Well-Known Member
Keep sucking up that schwagg...and just hope they aren't screwing your over....why would chance that?
We'll live in a bubble....you live if you can after ingesting their garbage weed.
Remember they can use 17 pesticides an not mention a thing about it to you. Don't be their fool any longer.