Are there different ways to legalize cannabis now?

Most people think in binary these days. It’s either right or left, black or white, Democrat or Republican … whatever. When it comes to legalizing cannabis, many people believe that there is only “legal” and “prohibited” – but they are wrong.

The fact is that “total commercial legalization” and “total prohibition” are just two sides to possible ways of dealing with drugs – in this case cannabis.

In 2015, a group of drug policy experts put together a guide that outlines 12 different ways governments could legalize cannabis. A recent Vox article discussed this, arguing that while bans are not the ideal, full commercialization may not be the right solution either.

In the words of the author of the article – German Lopez – said that while we have largely seen the ethos of “regulating cannabis like alcohol” in most models of legalization, some people are not too keen on the idea.

“Some experts and advocates don’t love this model. There are serious concerns that the current commercial legalization model will lead to “Big Marijuana”: a large industry that, like the tobacco, alcohol and opioid industries, has strong financial incentives to market and sell its products to so many people as possible, regardless of the consequences for consumers or the public in general. “

Big marijuana has certainly become a problem that is engulfing the market. However, this may not be as much of a problem with cannabis as it is with hypercapitalism. Still, Lopez points out that we don’t have to follow the hypercommercialism model and could perfectly legalize cannabis for other reasons.

Possible ways we can legalize cannabis

Below we take a closer look at some of the different legalization models that Lopez outlined in his article. The United States predominantly opts for the Standard Commercial Model, however places like Canada have taken different measures.

Let’s take a closer look at the three options outlined by Lopez;

Municipal / self-cultivation:

With this model, you grow your own grass or you are part of a collective. This is how cannabis worked in California for many years before legalizing recreational cannabis in 2016. Essentially, this model relies on people growing their own cannabis at home and using communal cultivation to supply those who do not want to or do not want to have the ability to grow on their own.

These systems usually work through some kind of donation system, and while certain collectives can make some money, they often don’t swell into monster corporations like we’ve seen in the US.

State-run supply chains

In a way, that’s how Canada works. The government is pretty much responsible for all cannabis production and distribution by leasing to a few companies that can track and monitor its growth. The problem with this model is that independent growers are still technically classified as “illegal” and the variety of cannabis available on the market is restricted while price is controlled.

As a result, 80% of Canadian cannabis is purchased from “illegal sources”. I use the quotation marks because many of these “illegal breeders” were the very people who made cannabis acceptable in the country only to be excluded from the legal market.

Take a look at BC and you’ll see what I’m talking about. However, Canada is not really a “state-run system” – unlike Uruguay, which was the first country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis.

Within this model, 100% of production was handled through government channels.

Nonprofit Organizations

Another model that has not (yet) been implemented is to place the fate of the industry in the hands of non-profit organizations. The idea is that if you remove the incentive to make money, people will keep the cannabis market as small and “homely” as possible. All profits would be returned to the state, which would fund things like schools, drug education and harm reduction.

However, if this is not overlooked, it is very easy to see how this model would play out in a situation where “nonprofits”, like so many NGOs around the world, are paying millions of dollars to their CEOs.

The Dutch model

The Dutch model restricts sales to retail only. There isn’t much commercialization and limited areas to buy it legally. This model works in a small part of the Netherlands, but in a place like the United States – that would be practically impossible

Certain cities and counties might make it, but in all likelihood it wouldn’t happen in the US.

How much freedom do we allow?

The biggest problem with drug legalization is how to consider the impact on the public and its impact in a commercialized world. Alcohol is legal, but it also kills around 100,000 people a year and is involved in 40% of all violent crimes – according to the FBI.

However, comparing alcohol with cannabis is not an “apples with apples” comparison. In terms of the individual harm, addiction rate and consequences of legalization – it would be better compared to legalizing heroin.

Even all of the other Schedule I substances, like LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, etc., do not do justice to the death toll from alcohol when all the deaths are added together. In fact, death from using psychedelics is incredibly rare.

Still, we sit there discussing whether it is “right” to allow people to consume these substances or not. Of course, we may need a better way of dealing with alcohol, and a total ban on alcohol is also a bad idea.

Our current actions have struck the “best balance” between regulation and sales – and perhaps we can take a different approach to cannabis with regard to alcohol.

But again, I think that it is much better to have “more freedom” than less. It is best to focus our attention on “education” rather than “prohibition” or excessive regulation. We know that if you put too many barriers between people and their drugs, 3rd party gamers will take over and make the bank!

Hence, it seems difficult to come up with a model that effectively allows so much freedom in individual choices while addressing the grave evils of current legalization programs – but perhaps a brave county could try another type of legalization – a decentralized model that from the community.

What do you think is the best way to legalize cannabis? Let me know in the comments!

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