Some of the biggest problems we see right now in cannabis
We’ve just watched several more US states get added to the list of 420 friendly places, an incredible jump that shows just how much support for legalization has grown over this last year. The market is expanding, and though it still has a long way to go, it’s slowly creeping, reaching towards all corners of this earth. This growth will eventually turn what we have today into a global cannabis industry, and that’s exciting news, but the hard work is nowhere near over yet.
While so many have maintained a focus on legalization, the problems with our current systems have gone wholly unnoticed, and it makes sense. After such a lengthy battle of advocating for cannabis, it’s natural to want to take a breather, a hard-earned sigh of relief. But we cannot get too comfortable and ignore the many issues that still linger today.
Now more than ever, the wrinkles in the way we do things are showing, and it’s well past time for us to take the initiative and push for a necessary change. Otherwise, both the industry as well as consumers will suffer the cost, and it’s too early in the game to say how great it might be.
Stigma
A lot of people still look at cannabis and the people who use it in the same light as they would a user of dangerous street drugs. This perspective is slowly fading, but it will only leave for good with the help of education. Of course, these days, it’s really easy to look up the truth online. Unfortunately, it’s just as likely that you’ll find a mix of the facts alongside a heap of misinformation.
Misinformation
Both good and bad misinformation is bad for the cause, as either one can result in some serious mistrust. When a person reads that cannabis can cure cancer and then they personally find out after testing the theory that it doesn’t work for them, they’re going to be angry. On the other hand, they might find a study that makes bold claims about links between cannabis and a drop in IQ, and it could be enough to scare them from ever trying what could be a life-changing treatment.
Claims about the impossibility of addiction can be dangerous for those who are susceptible to reliance on mind-altering substances. Telling someone repeatedly that smoking a plant should make them feel happy and fun when in reality, it leaves them anxious, uncomfortable, and just generally unwell, discredits their experience, and both of these scenarios leave a whole lot of people less trusting of the green space.
Information on cannabis should always be factual, but unfortunately, exaggerated suggestions are far more prominent, especially online. All cannabis industry consumers and professionals need to be wary of this, as they are some of the biggest contributors to this problem that’s gotten wildly out of hand.
False comparisons
Alcohol and cannabis have absolutely nothing in common aside from the fact that both can be used for recreational means. The same can be said for every other substance out there. Cannabis isn’t like caffeine, it’s not as influenceless as sugar, and it certainly shouldn’t be viewed through the same lens as any illicit substances either. It’s these kinds of false comparisons that make people uncomfortable when they hear terms like cannabis addiction, which is not deadly in any way, despite the way it sounds, leading to negative opinions based on skewed perspectives.
Inconsistency
Why is it that two cannabis farmers with virtually identical crops can label their products in a different way? Some offer ranges, while others go with their highest reading, and most try to settle somewhere in the middle. Isn’t that slightly deceptive for the consumer? This is a normal practice in Canada as well as several other legal regions, and we all deserve better. Inconsistency does absolutely nothing for trust, and it takes a great deal of control out of the hands of consumers.
A lack of repercussions
We’ve got giant cannabis corporations bending the rules or ignoring them entirely by cultivating and selling product to the black market, and we have illegal pot shops almost everywhere that are operating either out in the open or through text delivery systems. There are rules against these things, but right now, it feels like more of a free for all than anything, as there are rarely impactful or effective repercussions handed down for breaking the law no matter who’s doing it.
It’s expensive
If you’ve ever tried to open a cannabis business, then you already know how hard it can be without an insane amount of financial backing, and that’s just to get the process started. Maintaining a cannabis business is expensive because of licensing, regulatory fees, and paying high sky prices from government-approved suppliers and taxes, and all of this added cost is passed down to the customer.
This is why pot products are so incredibly expensive for consumers, and it’s a terrible system that drives people away from the legal market. If we could take away even a small amount of this financial burden, it could open up opportunities for smaller cannabis businesses to get started, and it would please consumers who can barely afford to partake in this insanity.
Too many regulations
Regulations are supposed to help protect both businesses and consumers, but in cannabis, the list of rules that must be followed is getting way out of hand. Customers can’t partake indoors or buy pot products suitable for a seasoned palette, and businesses are stuck with their hands tied, trying to compete with unlicensed establishments offering all that and more. It’s time for us to loosen these rules so that the legal cannabis market can truly flourish.
We still don’t know enough
Consumers and experts want to know more about cannabis, and we’re slowly learning as much as we can, but these efforts take money, something that most who are interested in the subject for positive reasons don’t really have. A lack of scientific funding makes new discoveries challenging, and with big tobacco and other injured industries working to make cannabis look bad, it would really help to even out the playing field if we could dig deeper into how it all works.
We want to know both the good and the bad about cannabis, but none of it is possible without financial resources and people who are willing to do the world.
