As published in Business of Cannabis
Omar’s only issue is that he is entirely clueless when it comes to
A) British Politics and especially the labour party’s more condervative that the conservatives views on regulated cannabis
B) What Burnham has said about cannabis…
2022: “I don’t think we’d want to see, if I’m honest, that type of change at this moment in time. I think it would be a hard sell”
On Decrim “I’ve spent a lot of time in Holland over the years, I don’t see less crime in terms of Amsterdam [drug decriminalisation]…the jury is still out on that.”
Parrotting the Canadian line will just not work in the UK and the fact that Business of Cannabis publish an opinion piece by the marketing dude for a Canadian cannabis company as though that somehow carries weight – please! Ok he’s worked in PR for Canadian govy but that doesn’t exactly make him a policy wonk. I’m looking forward to seeing some sort of semi intellectual proposal from Curaleaf next, once they got over their fascination with all things Spanish which is occupying most of their waking hours at the moment
Want to know more about Omar – have a look at this page
Written by Omar Khan, Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, High Tide Inc. (HITI)
The first challenge facing a new prime minister is not whether Britain should embrace cannabis. It already has.
Millions of Britons use cannabis every year despite decades of prohibition. The question facing Andy Burnham’s government is whether that market should continue operating in the shadows or be brought under public regulation.
For more than half a century, Britain’s cannabis laws have promised to reduce consumption, protect young people and improve public safety. They have achieved remarkably little. Cannabis remains widely available, the illegal market thrives, and consumers buy products of unknown strength and quality.
Burnham has built his political reputation on evidence-based policymaking. As prime minister, he can apply that principle to one of Britain’s most enduring policy failures.
This is not an argument that cannabis is harmless. Heavy use carries genuine health risks, particularly for adolescents and people vulnerable to psychosis. But those risks are precisely why prohibition no longer makes sense.
Prohibition has not prevented cannabis use. It has left the market to unregulated suppliers. Illegal dealers do not check identification, test products for contaminants or accurately label potency. They provide no health information and contribute nothing to the NHS that treats the consequences of problematic use.
Regulation gives government something prohibition never can: control.
A legal market allows age restrictions, laboratory testing, child-resistant packaging, advertising controls and clear health warnings. It enables governments to monitor consumption, educate the public and intervene when evidence demands it. Those protections do not exist in an illegal market.
Some argue that decriminalization is enough. It is preferable to criminalizing people for possessing small amounts, but it leaves production and supply in the hands of illegal operators. Regulation goes further. It establishes quality standards, licensed retailers, taxation and consumer protections while drawing people away from the illicit market.
Canada’s experience deserves attention.
Since legalizing adult-use cannabis in 2018, Canada has shifted consumers towards licensed retailers operating under strict federal standards. Today, roughly three-quarters of cannabis purchases take place through the legal market. Legalization has not eliminated illegal sales, but it has shown that governments can progressively replace an unregulated market with one that is transparent, accountable and subject to democratic oversight.
