Pubdate: Wed, 26 Mar 2014
Source: Powell River Peak (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Peak Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.prpeak.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/734

UP IN SMOKE

It is neither reasonable nor responsible to create opportunity, 
infrastructure and regulation for a small business sector and then 
rip the carpet out from under all who've gathered to make an honest go of it.

The April 1 deadline rendering prior marijuana production licences 
obsolete is fast approaching and to date there are only a handful of 
new licences issued in all of Canada; there are only three in BC.

The august days of new romance have passed. Growers who under the 
prior framework were treated as affiliates are now being handled with 
derision; like a jilted lover, Health Canada has gone flip-switch. 
What was characterized by a dialogue of support now seems an 
unpredictable mood shift. Formerly licensed growers must cease and 
desist, or face prosecution. It is a situation with some parallels to 
prohibition-era liquor law enforcement, which at times in the 
back-and-forth of policy management, must have seemed arbitrary.

Often it's the case where, to draw from the valuable lesson learned 
by the main character in Robert Heinlein's book, Stranger in a 
Strange Land, a person can only see what's right there in front of 
him. Anything else is conjecture.

BC has for decades been in the catbird seat as a leader in marijuana 
production, both now and prior to the medical marijuana legislation.

The province, and the country itself, has for a long time had an 
opportunity to be leaders in the international market place. But 
because the legislative process in Canada is mired with excessive 
measure and protocol-especially where this issue is 
concerned-ultimately opportunities are lost while the decision makers 
continue a campaign of genuflection and navel-gazing.

Perhaps Health Canada could take a page from the corporate handbook. 
Successful corporations keep their figurative fingers on the "go" 
button to stay viable in a rapidly shifting marketplace. They do this 
by a regular process of review, to streamline protocols, to 
reinvigorate branding and marketing initiatives and to be crystal 
clear about where the legislative boundaries are. These and other 
measures keep them young, which in corporate-speak, means vital, 
forward thinking and ready to take opportunities that make sense.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom