Since I am a medical user I care most about what happens on the medical side of things. As the courts have ruled home growing must be allowed under the new medical marijuana framework I am very excited at this prospect. Within 6 months I should be able to enroll in a new program that will allow me to legally cultivate at home.
The health minister did say this has nothing to do with the legalization of cannabis. This was strictly an issue of the medical marijuana program. So I don't anticipate the federal government, with the hopeful eventual legalization of recreational use, to allow home growing for non-medical purposes. Personally, I don't really have much invested in if it gets legalized recreationally as I am already legal, but I do agree it should be legal and cannabis prohibition should end. I sort of feel as a medical user we should be entitled to a distinction over the average recreational user. Which will possibly be the home growing for medical patients as I don't believe it will be allowed for recreational purposes.
Given the governments pro cannabis stance I doubt they will challenge the decision. Allard has a solid case and I have no doubt the supreme court would rule any different.
They have the chance to write anything they want into the regulations including writing a system that does not comply with this decision. If the new rules are again unconstitutional (just like the section 56 on extracts is too restrictive, since the supreme court ruled that all forms of cannabis and derivatives are legal for a medical user to possess but LPs can't make concentrates at all) all we as patients can do is challenge the new rules in court which will buy them time too. If they are forward thinking they will consider the system they put in place needs a retail storefront dispensary so that the recreational market has somewhere to buy from. Mail order for the entire countries population is rediculous. LPs couldn't handle it. A lot of them can't even manage to ship same day with just the medical patients and they certainly don't have the CSRs to handle all those calls. Most LPs have about 3 CSRs for the few thousands of patients they cover.
I agree that I couldn't see how LPs could suddenly handle the recreational demand anytime soon. They would need to quadruple their production or more likely causing quality to suffer as the scale only increases in size. This wouldn't be a good thing for anyone. I don't know why the LPs are even considered interested in the recreational market. Unless they just established new facilities with separate plants and staff for recreational specifically. I seem to think there is going to be some limitations on potencies as well for recreational use.
Then, without sidetracking this thread, how will the recreational market gain supply with growing being permitted. I'm guessing the government will have to allow commercial growing like LPs to provide the eventual stores that will be selling it. I believe there will be eventual stores you can buy cannabis in, but with places like the LCBO already established, I wouldn't be surprised if they became the sole distribution points.
I have been told by a Specialist that it's the Pain Clinic MD's that will be the real gatekeepers, and GP's will want nothing to do with it. But that's just his opinion.
From what i've been reading in the news recently, he is trying to push for the LCBO? Fuck it, they sell beer in grocery stores, stock some sticky icky behind the counter too!
I really hope it doesn't go to specialist only because that would mean I would have to find a specialist to write me a recommendation to medical cannabis as I got mine through my family doctor under the new MMPR framework.
About the grocery stores, I doubt that will happen or if they would have the capacity, but Shoppers Drug Mart has been expressing interest in possibly retailing medical cannabis:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2016/02/24/shoppers-drug-mart-rexall-want-to-sell-marijuana.html
