Way back in 2018, there was nothing more important for our federal government to legislate than the legalization of Marijuana. Economy? Nope! Increased deaths due the fentanyl? Nope! Housing? Nope! None of these were as important as the legalization of marijuana.

The government’s own website tells us that marijuana is addictive to some people, and that it is harmful to the development of the fetus with a lifetime of damaging effects on the children, yet, that didn’t dissuade our Prime Minister.

So PM Trudeau, who had admitted to smoking illegal drugs as a Member of Parliament, promised us to legalize marijuana. It’s one of the few promises that he’s kept. But, you see, that was more important than electoral reform or a burgeoning debt.

In 2020, as we all suffered the financial repercussions of the COVID lockdown, what was more important to keep open than the Marijuana stores? After all, they obviously are of great benefit to Canadians who were watching their businesses flounder and collapse. At least they could get stoned while they were dealing with the loss of their livelihood.

Sick Kids Hospital, in Toronto, has advised us that children are being admitted to hospital at higher rates due to marijuana poisoning, and that the rates of hospitalization of children soared after the legalization of edibles, but that really wasn’t a problem, I guess.

In 2021, the government was supposed to conduct a review. Thankfully, only a year late, they plan to start the review. So let’s take a quick review already acknowledging the above information.

There are rainclouds on the smokey horizon. Cannabis retailer, Superette Inc., received creditor protection on Aug 30, 2022. Choom Holdings received creditor protection in April. CannTrust Holdings Inc received creditor protection in 2020. Under The Sun Groweries Inc. has also received creditor protection. Creditor protection is a federal law that applies to insolvent corporations that owe in excess of $5 million. The law gives these companies short-term protection from their creditors so they can restructure their businesses and financial affairs.

Canadians have paid the price if they accepted the fact that marijuana was now legal without taking the time to look at the harmful effects, to themselves and their children, given on the government’s website.

Our children have paid the price with the damage done through accidental cannabis poisoning and through damage done in utero. Through a lifetime of struggling with mental health issues inherited from marijuana . . . problems understanding, learning, remembering or succeeding at school, hyperactivity, inattentiveness, impulsive behaviour, increased risk of depression or anxiety.

Our society has paid financially with the cost of hospitalization and social structures needed to support those who will have a lifetime of mental health struggles.

As explained above, there are some huge marijuana operations seeking creditor protection—a last minute bid to save their company from bankruptcy—should they remain unable to rescue their businesses. How many of the businesses—to which they owe millions of dollars—will survive themselves after taking this huge financial loss? This can have a huge domino effect on creditors. There is also money owed to the Canadian taxpayers that would not be paid should these businesses fall.

Our current government has cut a swath of destruction across our country with this ill-considered legalization. Sadly, they continue to up the ante through talk of decriminalization of other drugs.

How do we clean up the path of destruction? There aren’t easy answers because the problem is massive on many fronts.

Canada must re-criminalize possession and sale of recreational marijuana. Then, we must enforce the laws that are put in place with equal enforcement on all communities—even the son of a past Prime Minister. The rich paying to make possession go away damages the credibility of our entire legal system. It must also include Members of Parliament who choose not to obey the laws of this country. Neither wealth, position, judges nor the police have a right to give a pass for disobeying our laws.

Secondly, we have a social problem created by our government. Many children have been born, both during the non-enforcement period and since the legalization of marijuana, who are facing the mental health issues received from marijuana in utero. Our government, on our behalf, made a mistake, and we owe these children research into working through their life challenges and helping them to achieve the best outcome they can.

Thirdly, thankfully, during COVID we learned to repurpose factories for what Canada needs now. Those companies that have provided their equipment and facilities for the production of marijuana must re-purpose their assets to food production, as we face global food shortages.

This is just the beginning of what we can do to recover from a decision that was, at no point, in the best interests of Canadians.

We have the will to make the hard decisions because CHP Canada will not buy your vote by promising you the moon and delivering dirt. It’s time for Canadians to protect our children’s future by taking charge of the bad laws blighting their future and working together for the good of Canada. Join CHP Canada.