Depanneurs Selling Pot? Over My Dead Body! -Qc
This morning, we learned from La Presse’s Denis Lessard that the Quebec government is excluding right from the start to allow the province’s 7,000 depanneurs the right to sell legal marijuana.
The group chaired by the Minister for Public Health, Lucie Charlebois, has apparently at the outset eliminated the idea of entrusting the convenience stores channel with the sale of recreational cannabis. A report by the Director of Public Health, at the end of 2016, already rejected the idea of entrusting the convenience stores with the sale of pot. – La Presse
Michel Gadbois, president of the Quebec Convenience Stores Association (QCSA), said he was not surprised by this but still disappointed.
The main reason why marijuana is legalized is to take this market away from the organized crime. To do this, marijuana must be marketed widely and available everywhere, otherwise it will not change anything. To make this product over-the-counter through a new specialized private channel of which we know nothing about except that it will solely rely on this single product category, defeits the legalization purpose completely. Such approach will favor specialized boutiques in the large cities but in regions, the product will remain quite unavailable. As a result, the organized crime will continue its market dominance and young people will continue to buy as much as they want by dealing with criminals. – Michel Gadbois
The QCSA President is all the more disappointed that the government is doing everything to destroy the tobacco market without providing any other revenue alternative to the convenience stores who still derive a large income from this product category. The sale of marijuana in convenience stores could thus have helped offset in part the decline in tobacco revenues in future years and maintain a network of local businesses that is the largest tax collector in Quebec, that also generates 55,000 direct jobs and is still the main income earner for Loto-Québec, the SAQ and other Crown corporations and thousands of product manufacturers.
I have a hard time understanding the logic of public health officials on this issue since they are against legalization to begin with. They have no choice to implement it but at the same time, want to limit its reach to the minimum, which is quite contradictory and counterproductive. In addition, they should coordinate with neighboring provinces to avoid interprovincial trafficking and also, seriously consider what to do with native reservation: will they legislate there as well and if so, how? – Michel Gadbois
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) does not confirm the information revealed this morning and indicates that the reflection is still ongoing. Of course, as long as there is no official announcement, that will be the position of the MSSS. But everything suggests that the orientations delivered this morning by the journalist are indeed those that will be adopted by the ministry shortly.
Certainly, the fact that convenience stores “are excluded right from the start” as a potential partner for the distribution of recreational cannabis gives the impression that health officials and even the government have very little esteem for the network of 7,000 convenience stores Quebec, which in their eyes seems to be nothing but a vehicle for propagating all imaginable vices, be it tobacco, alcohol, junk food and so on.
