News that Olds will have yet another marijuana producer is a bit perplexing and lends to some musings.
It's good for the economy in popular theory, but one has to wonder where all this pot is going to go, since grow-ops are to be popping up like bad weeds, nationwide.
There seems to be a lot of misplaced optimism here. Even Shoppers Drug mart is getting on the bandwagon.
It reminds me of the Bre-X mining scam, lots of promotion and excitement, recommended by top-drawer bankers. A few people made money, but the suckers who bought in were a dime a dozen and were left losing their shirts.
Governments are seizing on what they look at as a bottomless money pit, fighting tooth and nail about who should get the lion's share, and the activists, some of them have been in the illegal pot business for years, are thinking they are finally achieving nirvana. Both are in for a rude shock, seen from here.
Let's do a reality check. Our concept of marijuana consumption is deeply rooted in the hippie culture of the '70s, a supposedly benign weed that elevates your consciousness and heightens your senses; pretty tame stuff, compared to the street drugs of today. Not many hippies are left and those that are left have no trouble accessing what they need; they aren't going to flock to government-licensed stores.
Marijuana is a drug of the past and those who insist on living there. The assumption is that consumer demand is going to expand to the legal supply, about as backwards economic reasoning as one can make.
Supposedly, legal pot is supposed to undersell "criminal" stuff, but the market will not affect supply, just drive down the price. There are thousands of acres of marijuana grown in Mexico and Central America. Good luck putting a stopper in that bottle.
Granted, there is some medicinal value in the marijuana plant, but no one has ever done a conclusive medical evaluation, which puts it up there with turmeric when it comes to outrageous claims. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the final ruler in these things, still claims there is no safe, effective use for marijuana.
On the one hand, we're persecuting smokers as being a health hazard to themselves, others and a major burden on the health-care system, while on the other hand, we tolerate head shops and extoll the virtues of another dangerous -- let there be no mistake about it -- plant. Anything in your lungs, other than good clean air, is by definition, hazardous to your health.
One more thing: smoke a little weed and you'd better be prepared to lie to the American border services, every time you head for warmer climes, or you risk being permanently cut off from that avenue of escaping our cold weather. That could be the worst cut of all.
Hans C. Ullmann
Olds
