hsfkush
Well-Known Member
So, as you do when you have friends over and you're all smoking, you come to the conversation about how shit it is that Cannabis is illegal. We came to the conclusion that it would take a mammoth effort on our part(the cannabis user) to pressure the government to legalise this incredible plant.
Well, here is what we came up with.
Licensed growing and distributing
​Having licensed growing would help to ensure that people are getting the right product. Too many times have people bought Cannabis and it's got alien substances in it to add weight or bag appeal. Sometimes it's sand, sometimes it's glass, sometimes it's even watered down glue is sprayed over the buds... This naturally is what will cause the major health risks with in the Cannabis smoking community.
Having a licence also means that it has to be reviewed and renewed after a certain period of time, this would help with keeping the quality of product at a high level. It also means that you have to be registered, which makes for easy inspections(which I will go into later in the thread), as your growing address would be on record.
These would only be mandatory to Dispensaries as Coffee shops will not be allowed to grow their own Cannabis, unless they also have their own dispensary to order from.
There would also be a distribution licence which would be mandatory for Coffee shops, as the growing licence would cover this for the dispensaries to distribute.
I'm yet to think of how these licences can be obtained or any specific criteria that needs to be met.
Taxing Cannabis
Having Cannabis taxed would increase the price but it's a small price to pay for what could eventually come. Perhaps adding a 15-20% VAT(click for definition and explanation) would suffice and could potentially get any debts the country has to a manageable level. After the debts become manageable/reduced, said VAT could be dropped by 5-10% which would effectively lower the cost of Cannabis to near today's street value if not less. Yet the government would still be getting tax money.
Age restriction
Given the fact that Alcohol(21) and Cigarettes(1
are age restricted, you'd be wrong to not have an age restriction. I feel that 21 would be the best as other intoxicating legal substances(alcohol) are 21 and over. Photo ID must be shown regardless of age unless a members card which has a photo of you for said Coffee shop or Dispensary is obtained
Dispensaries and Coffee shops
Having Coffee shops would offer commercialism, tourism and public awareness of Cannabis, however, they would have to be a fairly remote area of the location it is situated, to respect non-smokers, as nothing is worse for a non-smoker than walking passed the front of a club or bar when 20-30 people are all chugging away on little death sticks(cigarettes). Keeping away from schools would also be a must. Finally, a membership to purchase larger quantities of Cannabis is required. Coffee shops would not be able to grow and would have to have a partnership with a dispensary or have their own dispensary in order to grow.
Memberships
Coffee shops would not be seen as the main source for consumption, registration as a member would be required for larger purchases from a Coffee shop and is entirely optional on the consumers behalf, however, non members would be restricted to how much they can purchase at any given time.
Memberships for Dispensaries would be mandatory as they would be the largest distributors of Cannabis. These would be purely used for large purchases or large orders made by Coffee shops.
Quality control
For this, you would need to have regular inspections. I touched on this in the licences area at the top of the thread but I'll go into more detail here. The inspections would be for the benefit of the consumer for example...
Dispensary inspections, would consist of product quality, legitimacy of licence and growing environment.
Coffee shop inspections would consist of product quality, legitimacy of licence, public facility hygiene, food hygiene(if supplied) and electrical appliance tests(if required).
I'm fairly sure there was a little more, but what do you think? I know this is probably an idiotic thread, but hey, the mind wonders after a good smoke!
Oh and for those of you that are thinking "TL;DR(too long; didn't read)"...
Introduce growing and distribution licence, have Coffee shops for distribution, Dispensaries for cultivation, larger purchases and supply to coffee shops, have regular government inspections for quality control, age restriction of 21, mandatory memberships for dispensaries, optional for coffee shops and add a small tax.
Well, here is what we came up with.
Licensed growing and distributing
​Having licensed growing would help to ensure that people are getting the right product. Too many times have people bought Cannabis and it's got alien substances in it to add weight or bag appeal. Sometimes it's sand, sometimes it's glass, sometimes it's even watered down glue is sprayed over the buds... This naturally is what will cause the major health risks with in the Cannabis smoking community.
Having a licence also means that it has to be reviewed and renewed after a certain period of time, this would help with keeping the quality of product at a high level. It also means that you have to be registered, which makes for easy inspections(which I will go into later in the thread), as your growing address would be on record.
These would only be mandatory to Dispensaries as Coffee shops will not be allowed to grow their own Cannabis, unless they also have their own dispensary to order from.
There would also be a distribution licence which would be mandatory for Coffee shops, as the growing licence would cover this for the dispensaries to distribute.
I'm yet to think of how these licences can be obtained or any specific criteria that needs to be met.
Taxing Cannabis
Having Cannabis taxed would increase the price but it's a small price to pay for what could eventually come. Perhaps adding a 15-20% VAT(click for definition and explanation) would suffice and could potentially get any debts the country has to a manageable level. After the debts become manageable/reduced, said VAT could be dropped by 5-10% which would effectively lower the cost of Cannabis to near today's street value if not less. Yet the government would still be getting tax money.
Age restriction
Given the fact that Alcohol(21) and Cigarettes(1
are age restricted, you'd be wrong to not have an age restriction. I feel that 21 would be the best as other intoxicating legal substances(alcohol) are 21 and over. Photo ID must be shown regardless of age unless a members card which has a photo of you for said Coffee shop or Dispensary is obtainedDispensaries and Coffee shops
Having Coffee shops would offer commercialism, tourism and public awareness of Cannabis, however, they would have to be a fairly remote area of the location it is situated, to respect non-smokers, as nothing is worse for a non-smoker than walking passed the front of a club or bar when 20-30 people are all chugging away on little death sticks(cigarettes). Keeping away from schools would also be a must. Finally, a membership to purchase larger quantities of Cannabis is required. Coffee shops would not be able to grow and would have to have a partnership with a dispensary or have their own dispensary in order to grow.
Memberships
Coffee shops would not be seen as the main source for consumption, registration as a member would be required for larger purchases from a Coffee shop and is entirely optional on the consumers behalf, however, non members would be restricted to how much they can purchase at any given time.
Memberships for Dispensaries would be mandatory as they would be the largest distributors of Cannabis. These would be purely used for large purchases or large orders made by Coffee shops.
Quality control
For this, you would need to have regular inspections. I touched on this in the licences area at the top of the thread but I'll go into more detail here. The inspections would be for the benefit of the consumer for example...
Dispensary inspections, would consist of product quality, legitimacy of licence and growing environment.
Coffee shop inspections would consist of product quality, legitimacy of licence, public facility hygiene, food hygiene(if supplied) and electrical appliance tests(if required).
I'm fairly sure there was a little more, but what do you think? I know this is probably an idiotic thread, but hey, the mind wonders after a good smoke!
Oh and for those of you that are thinking "TL;DR(too long; didn't read)"...
Introduce growing and distribution licence, have Coffee shops for distribution, Dispensaries for cultivation, larger purchases and supply to coffee shops, have regular government inspections for quality control, age restriction of 21, mandatory memberships for dispensaries, optional for coffee shops and add a small tax.
