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Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

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Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#31

Post by drpgq »

3pt14159 wrote: post #15

I'm a Toronto native. These are the forces driving this decision: 1. Provincial government is cash poor. The LCBO is a huge source of cash, what government would give up another source? This isn't taxes, this is profit. "Isn't this just another tax?" One might ask, but no it's not. The reason is that Ontario has fewer alcohol distribution centres than a free market would provide. Most people just do a bigger alcohol…

Well at least people will be able to grow a few plants at home. I'll be curious what percentage of the market that will get.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#32

Post by drpgq »

iamatworknow wrote: post #20
dugditches wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often do you talk to the staff at your liquor store? The convenience of buying at a corner store at a convenient time outweighs any of those things in my opinion(US, Quebec, some locations in Ont). With the dollar going back up it'll be better to simply cross the border to buy alcohol and gas again, instead of paying the ridiculous markup.(for context, a 24 of 355ml cans of 'budget' beer is nearly $50 CAD).

Sounds like we treat alcohol differently. I don't drink to get drunk. If I want to try a new whisky or wine I'd like to be able to get some feedback on it, not an eye roll from a college-aged kid whose only insight is saying, "This one's probably better because it costs more".

As far as I can tell LCBO store staff are hired based on nepotism, not whiskey knowledge.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#33

Post by wolco »

criddell wrote: post #30
macspoofing wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Other people have already mentioned how the government runs the alcohol stores and (IMHO) they do a pretty good job of it. No. They don't. I was recently at an Ontario beach on a long weekend - all the stores on the strip leading up to the beach were open because of the tourists and cottagers flocking into the area...except for the LCBO. The LCBO was closed because it was a stat holiday. No business would close on t…

On non-holiday weekends, the stores are open Sunday. If you aren't happy about the stores closing for holiday weekends, blame the union. That's something they protect for their members. > The liquor is marked-up and expensive too. That's just taxes. Anybody else selling alcohol would have to add their profit on top of that. It might seem expensive, but don't forget that you are helping to pay for government provided…

They are open for only a few hours on Sunday. Blame the union? Lets not shift the debate. The government could open later and longer and unions could not stop them.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#34

Post by drpgq »

iamatworknow wrote: post #5

I live on the border of New York and Ontario/Quebec and I can't see how this won't spur legalization here. The border is already incredibly porous and the smuggling routes already exist. This will just make it even easier.

Well another reason to go to Niagara Falls I guess.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#35

Post by jstanley »

criddell wrote: post #13
JPKab wrote: post #7

I live in Colorado. I think they are really blowing it by making the stores government owned. In Colorado, the stores are privately owned but very, very strictly regulated. Plants are tracked with an RFID all the way to the products derived from them, with a full chain of custody all the way to purchase. Only adults 21 and up can enter them, with a strict dual-check of identification (once to enter, and again when pa…

You're making a lot of assumptions about how they will run the stores. Other people have already mentioned how the government runs the alcohol stores and (IMHO) they do a pretty good job of it. I live in Texas now and when I go back to Ontario to visit my family, it does seem weird that I can't buy beer in a 7-11 or a grocery store or in a drive through shop (not sure these are a good idea). Being the sole seller als…

> Being the sole seller also means that they can negotiate ruthlessly and drive prices down to maximize profit for the people of Ontario.

Being the sole seller also means they have a monopoly. It's much easier to run a monopoly profitably by charging high prices than by negotiating low prices. Even if they do negotiate low prices, what incentive is there to pass the savings on to the customer?

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#36

Post by jakef »

criddell wrote: post #13
JPKab wrote: post #7

I live in Colorado. I think they are really blowing it by making the stores government owned. In Colorado, the stores are privately owned but very, very strictly regulated. Plants are tracked with an RFID all the way to the products derived from them, with a full chain of custody all the way to purchase. Only adults 21 and up can enter them, with a strict dual-check of identification (once to enter, and again when pa…

You're making a lot of assumptions about how they will run the stores. Other people have already mentioned how the government runs the alcohol stores and (IMHO) they do a pretty good job of it. I live in Texas now and when I go back to Ontario to visit my family, it does seem weird that I can't buy beer in a 7-11 or a grocery store or in a drive through shop (not sure these are a good idea). Being the sole seller als…

The LCBO doesn't negotiate. The vendors set their price, LCBO adds its automatic markup and thats it. Of course, they will only stock your product if people are buying it.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#37

Post by wolco »

mwdalrymple wrote: post #28

The LCBO is a good employer for stupid people. Those salaries go right back into the economy. These unionized jobs also come with a great pension providing retirement security. I am quite happy with this. The government privatizing things such as Ontario Hydro has been a huge disaster. At least they are not stupid enough to give this up.

Privating hydro is different because it is still a monopoly. The little guy cannot setup a power company. But this is a new industry with small business being wiped out. Imagine we all had to wait in line for our block of cheese once a week.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#38

Post by wolco »

slavik81 wrote: post #29
mfoy_ wrote: post #2

A step in the right direction, I guess. Ontario can be surprisingly conservative about these things... they only recently started allowing alcohol to be sold in grocery stores. Seems the initial round of legislation will legalize it, but with heavy restrictions.

The government of Ontario makes a net profit of ~$2B/year off the LCBO and employs about ~7000 people at wages way above what you'd probably see in a privatized market. There's not too much grumbling from consumers, so nobody in government really wants to rock the boat. Having experienced both, as a consumer I prefer the Alberta model with privatized retailers because there are far more stores and the hours are bette…

Think of how many more jobs we could have.

Re: Ontario unveils plan for government chain of marijuana stores

#40

Post by ontarioborn »

Para2016 wrote: post #18
criddell wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making a lot of assumptions about how they will run the stores. Other people have already mentioned how the government runs the alcohol stores and (IMHO) they do a pretty good job of it. I live in Texas now and when I go back to Ontario to visit my family, it does seem weird that I can't buy beer in a 7-11 or a grocery store or in a drive through shop (not sure these are a good idea). Being the sole seller als…

Being the sole seller and negotiating "ruthlessly" leaves a lot of room for black market.

Not anymore. Beer, cider, and wine are available in some supermarkets since 2016. see https://www.ontario.ca/page/beer-wine-cider-sales-grocery-st... .

But it's not like the USA, where cigarettes and beer are the first things one sees when walking into a 7-11.

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