Ben started selling marijuana when he was a teenager. He was 17 when he was charged with possession of under 28 grams of marijuana.
“I didn’t tell my parents at the time and dealt with it purely on my own, which is a lot for a 17 year old to take on,” he says.
His encounter with the law did not stop him from selling marijuana. Because of this Ben asked to remain anonymous. Ironically his brush with the law had almost the exact opposite effect. Ben was given a conditional discharge fro making a thousand dollar donation to charity.
“I don’t think it did anything to make me not want to sell weed,” he says. In fact it motivate him.
“I thought, ‘I have this fat fine to pay, I better sell more weed.'” he says.
Ben may be a poster boy for how prohibition has not had its intended effects. With the federal government poised to introduce legislation in the spring that would legalize cannabis, numbers are indicating that the legal system is preparing to adapt to legalization.
According to incident based crime numbers from Statistics Canada, possession and trafficking arrests have decreased significantly since 2011. While arrests for possession have dropped by a quarter nationwide, trafficking arrests have ben nearly cut in half. In Ottawa, trafficking arrests have dropped by an astounding 57 per cent.
Eugene Oscapella is a drug reform policy expert and advisor. His company, Oscapella and Associates Consulting, has been researching drug policy since 1985. He says that it is difficult to pin the decrease in arrest numbers on any one cause, but that it is likely a combination of police and prosecutors not wanting to of after small possession and trafficking cases. Particularly given that cannabis is likely going to be legalized within the next few years.
“I doubt very much that it is because of decreased use or decreased activity,” he says.
Despite the drop in trafficking arrests, Ottwa Police cracked down on seven local dispensaries last month. While Oscapella is in favour of legalization, he says there is a difference between small trafficking cases and dispensaries because they appear somewhat legitimate. “These dispensaries are essentially trafficking,” he says.
Source: Ottawa Police Press Release
Oscapella says that because of the lack of quality controls and regulations, dispensaries could be selling product that is of poor health quality. “All you’ve got are the promises of the people running these dispensaries,” he says.
“This is basically a wild west environment,” Oscapella says.
It is not clear whether the regulatory system introduced by the government would allow for private dispensaries. For now it appears that they are taking advantage of the public mood, assuming enforcement will be minimal and make money. “Its what capitalists do,” Oscapella says.
Like Ben, with his first brush with the law, some dispensaries do not appear moved by the recent raids. Some, such as WeeMedical Dispensary on St. Laurent Boulevard have already reopened. However Ben believes they might suffer some loss of business. “At this point I think they are more sketchy than coming to me right now, because of the raids,” he says.
Ben says that dispensaries are attractive in part because they have an air of legitimacy with an office, as opposed to his small apartment, complete with his personal smoking devices. “They hand out cards but they don’t really mean anything,” he says.
“If it would mean getting people to come here I would make a card. You could get stamp every time you come.”
However Ben sees dispensaries as a glimpse into what legalization may look like, even though dispensaries may not be included in the new system.
“I think once its legalized people are going to step up their game and leave us street dealers behind,” he says. “But that could be a good thing.”