This past “Weedsday,” a not so subtle, tectonic shift shook Canadian culture.
Some would suggest it is a kushering of an era of progress, while others might feel it is a spiral of regressive decent. Regardless of your opinion of this puff-piece, it's a profound change and we’re blazing a new trail.
The legalization of cannabis was government throwing a Hail Mary-Jane and rapidly rolling out a half-baked, high expectation tax grab. In a joint effort between government and industry, a bud was set, and a new strain of provincial and federal revenue was introduced.
The most interesting observation from a business perspective is the fact that an entirely new budding industry was created virtually overnight, with little opportunity to pipe up objection.
Government policy has the potential to dramatically impair business or, in this case, to create a new economy. Fortunes are made in periods of transition — to manufacturing, to rail, to oil, to communications, to the internet. It’s high time for cannabis stock owners, and also for workers, with new classes of kushy jobs being created.
This entirely new sector has broken through the grass ceiling, and investors have hit a jack-pot. Canopy Growth Corp is up 500 per cent just this year. But fortunes are not limited to just start-up cannabis companies — pharma and food conglomerates are poised to participate and accelerate product adaptation. Everyone is high on success.
An interesting observation for business will be the impact on HR. Will companies allow cannabis to be consumed at work? You can't have a drink on the job; will cannabis apply different rules? It will just be pot luck if HR adapts without challenge. Could equipment operators, transportation drivers or medical professionals be under influence of an insta-gram?
Accompanying the rollout will be accessibility for minors. Societal consequences could take a hit through increased adoption potentially putting us in the weeds longer term.
Much is unknown, so we will have to see how this rolls out. Hopefully we don't go to pot. One thing is for certain: it’s hard to roll back entitlements, so business and society will have to adapt as quickly as this policy has been implemented.
To be blunt, it was implemented very quickly.
As with most introductions, the economy will weed out the bad, and the positive will prevail through a give-and-toke process.
It is a smoking hot time for investors and job creation. This sector is not a token figure, it is here to stay. Government’s compulsion to seek new tax revenue will see to that.
Blake Doyle is The Guardian's small business columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].
