Cannabis retail in Canada. Models of Cannabis Retail Systems. Methodology. Research Paper

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Cannabis Retail in Canada
After years of debate and multiple legislative efforts, Canada joined the few nations to legalize the recreational use of Cannabis (commonly known as marijuana) earlier this year through the Royal Assent of the Cannabis Act (Bill-45) (Government of Canada). This law permits the legal production, distribution, and sale of cannabis for recreational purpose while maintaining the legal status for the use of the drug for medicinal purposes; medical marijuana has been legal in Canada since 2001.
Consequently, the nation of Canada is under the radar not only as the first G7 country to legalize recreational cannabis nationwide but also as the second of only two countries in the world to pass such a law. The catalytic factors of this significant transition are the ineffectiveness of the existing cannabis control system in the country coupled with the growing permissive attitudes towards recreational marijuana (Government of Canada). However, this decision is not without challenges with the government put to task to design and implement an operational cannabis retail system to oversee the regulation of distribution, sale, and consumption of what was a prohibited drug in the country for almost a century. Also, the argued implications of cannabis legalization on different policy domains present further complications (Health Canada). This essay thus seeks to discuss and analyze the scope of the different models of the retail cannabis systems by the Canadian government with relevance to the developing cannabis policy through the review of relevant literature in an attempt to determine their effect.
Methodology
This essay is secondary research that relies on a review of literature from various sources inclusive of previous research and reports on the cannabis retail in Canada. This information will then allow for a critical assessment of Cannabis retail model systems development and related policies and their implications. It should be noted that this is merely a narrative paper that relies on qualitative data relevant to Canada’s cannabis retail.
Developing a Cannabis Policy
The legalization of recreational marijuana arguably presents the biggest public policy challenge in decades for Canada. This is because, before legalization, cannabis passed as the most used illicit drug in the nation with a population of 4.2 million equivalent to 16% of Canadians (mostly aged 15 years and over) being reported to using cannabis products for medical or non-medical (Government of Canada). The Statistics obtained from the National Cannabis Survey by Statistics Canada further indicated that “about 56% of users, used cannabis on a daily or weekly basis”. Furthermore, the anticipated impacts of legalizing cannabis on public safety, public health, economic development, and innovation present further complications (Health Canada). Therefore, passing of this law by the government is bound to trigger social, economic and cultural changes within the society, which in turn affects public policy.
This is evident in the necessitated development of the cannabis policy that was set in motion by the public declaration of the intent to legalize the ret...