4 ms·

A step in the right direction, I guess. Ontario can be surprisingly conservative about these things... they only recently started allowing alcohol to be sold in

by mfoy_ 9y ago

A step in the right direction, I guess. Ontario can be surprisingly conservative about these things... they only recently started allowing alcohol to be sold in grocery stores. Seems the initial round of legislation will legalize it, but with heavy restrictions.

nasalgoat 9y ago
I really wish they'd step back and let the free market handle it, instead of once again heavily restricting distribution and sales to another bloated government monopoly. Plus, the number of stores at launch is way too low - people will simply continue to purchase higher quality weed for less money from private sellers. It's a bad move all around.
- kogepathic 9y ago
  > instead of once again heavily restricting distribution and sales to another bloated government monopoly. Yes, yes, yes. Why can't they regulate it like cigarettes? The argument about keeping it out of the hands of minors is bullshit. It's already illegal to sell tobacco products to people under age in Ontario. LCBO and the Beer Store are stupid ideas from a bygone era that need to end. Legal monopolies of provincial owned entities should not be permitted. I'm not saying full privatization is the right answer, because I don't believe the free market solution is always best, but at least allow private competition to a crown corp. LCBO has no motivation to innovate because there is little/no competition.
- mainliningfbs 9y ago
  Nah, Canada is past the free market. We have learned that stricter regulations on addictive substances make society a better place.
slavik81 9y ago
The government of Ontario makes a net profit of ~$2B/year off the LCBO and employs about ~7000 people at wages way above what you'd probably see in a privatized market. There's not too much grumbling from consumers, so nobody in government really wants to rock the boat. Having experienced both, as a consumer I prefer the Alberta model with privatized retailers because there are far more stores and the hours are better. Actually, I found this old Fraser Institute report on the privatization of liquor in Alberta to be rather interesting. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/PrivatizationofLiquorAlberta.pdf https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/Privatiz... It's not a big deal for me personally, but there's also more room for unique shops. For example, one of the markets nearby does a lot of specialty whiskey imports.
- wolco 9y ago
  Think of how many more jobs we could have.
noarchy 9y ago
Here's the thing, though. If you refer to an "initial round" of legislation, you're probably assuming another round isn't far away. You have a real-life experiment with which to compare, in the LCBO, to see that progress will extremely slow, and limited. How long did it take to get beer into grocery stores (and even then with some restrictions)? That's beer. How long will it take with weed?

by mfoy_ 9y ago

nasalgoat 9y ago

I really wish they'd step back and let the free market handle it, instead of once again heavily restricting distribution and sales to another bloated government monopoly. Plus, the number of stores at launch is way too low - people will simply continue to purchase higher quality weed for less money from private sellers. It's a bad move all around.

kogepathic 9y ago
> instead of once again heavily restricting distribution and sales to another bloated government monopoly. Yes, yes, yes. Why can't they regulate it like cigarettes? The argument about keeping it out of the hands of minors is bullshit. It's already illegal to sell tobacco products to people under age in Ontario. LCBO and the Beer Store are stupid ideas from a bygone era that need to end. Legal monopolies of provincial owned entities should not be permitted. I'm not saying full privatization is the right answer, because I don't believe the free market solution is always best, but at least allow private competition to a crown corp. LCBO has no motivation to innovate because there is little/no competition.
mainliningfbs 9y ago
Nah, Canada is past the free market. We have learned that stricter regulations on addictive substances make society a better place.

slavik81 9y ago

The government of Ontario makes a net profit of ~$2B/year off the LCBO and employs about ~7000 people at wages way above what you'd probably see in a privatized market. There's not too much grumbling from consumers, so nobody in government really wants to rock the boat. Having experienced both, as a consumer I prefer the Alberta model with privatized retailers because there are far more stores and the hours are better. Actually, I found this old Fraser Institute report on the privatization of liquor in Alberta to be rather interesting. https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/PrivatizationofLiquorAlberta.pdf https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/Privatiz... It's not a big deal for me personally, but there's also more room for unique shops. For example, one of the markets nearby does a lot of specialty whiskey imports.

wolco 9y ago
Think of how many more jobs we could have.

noarchy 9y ago

Here's the thing, though. If you refer to an "initial round" of legislation, you're probably assuming another round isn't far away. You have a real-life experiment with which to compare, in the LCBO, to see that progress will extremely slow, and limited. How long did it take to get beer into grocery stores (and even then with some restrictions)? That's beer. How long will it take with weed?