My friend asked me to ask you where you’re getting that $20 pot…
When Canada ‘legalized’ marijuana they thought they would make millions in tax revenue... What they didn’t count on was the native population taking over the production and sale of marijuana... And they don’t pay taxes.
The natives already had a well established trade in illegal cigarettes that started in the early 2000s... That business was thriving and in the beginning they relied on criminals to help them with the business of selling illegal tobacco. Then they figured it out... Treaties signed centuries ago stated that natives could sell goods from their own reservations... So they just started selling illegal cigs from their own territory. They started out selling cigarettes in bags, but now they actually manufacture their own cigarettes with their own brands in regular packages.
Legal cigarettes in Canada sell for over $20 per package... Native cigarettes sell for $20 and less per carton.
When marijuana was legalized, they just started selling pot too... And their pot is much cheaper than that offered by government owned and operated dispensaries. The government was stupidly buying marijuana from growers who overcharged them... Selling them pot at rates charged by those who sold pot illegally... So they were offering customers pot at the same price that people typically paid when it was illegal... About $10 per gram... It only cost pennies to grow a gram of marijuana... So do the math. You can grow an ounce of pot for next to nothing... Sell it for $20 per ounce and still make a ton of money... The natives have essentially boxed out the government sellers of legal marijuana and legal cigarettes... The next thing they will be selling is illegal booze.
The great part is... Because of these established treaties.. The government can’t do squat about it.