Hey!
The topic of legalization has been heavy on my mind lately. Recently, I bumped into a community member at a street festival in Toronto, and he shared with me that one of the reasons he moved to Canada from India 🇮🇳 is because cannabis is legalized here. I also got an email from a subscriber in the UK 🇬🇧 the other day who shared his story about the disjointed medical market over there, and how there aren’t legalization efforts or representation in his country.
This week, I’ve been reminding myself what a gift it is to be able to live in a country where cannabis is legalized, where I’m able to safely consume in public (although I sometimes get dirty looks) and share my passion for the plant 🇨🇦
Of course, there are still issues with the Canadian cannabis market, but the fact that we are legalized is already a huge win. Now we just have to fix the handful of other issues in the market 😅 (wasteful packaging, marketing and event restrictions, no consumption lounges, heavy taxation on producers, the list goes on…)
This week I posted my Thailand vlog from my trip earlier this year. When I visited in February, there were talks from the Thai government that they were thinking of reversing recreational legalization and reverting back to just a medical market. In the last few weeks, there’s been some articles and Twitter posts about this potential change, but it doesn’t seem like anything is confirmed. Just two weeks ago, cannabis advocates and business owners protested in front of Parliament House in Bangkok against the potential reversal. The people of Thailand are fighting the good fight, and I hope that the government reconsiders.
Check out my travel, weed and food vlog where I hit up dozens of dispensaries in Bangkok and Koh Samui and ate way too much mango sticky rice 🥭
The main reason why the Thai government wants to reverse recreational use seems to be due to the risk to youth, although I haven’t seen any official data come out about how it has negatively impacted youth. When I was in Thailand in February, I noticed that we never got our ID checked at stores. The legal age of consumption is 20 years old in Thailand. Maybe I look older than 20, so I didn’t get checked at the door 🤣🚪Still, perhaps this is an opportunity for the Thai government to enforce ID check policy to reduce youth access, rather than outright banning it altogether.
Germany just legalized in April this year, and there have been talks of Japan relooking at their cannabis laws as well. Did you know 50% of the US is legalized now for either medical/recreational use, so it’s only a matter of time before we see full federal legalization in America 🤞🏻 (fingers crossed…)
The optimist inside of me hopes that countries that have canna cultures (Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, South Africa, India, the list goes on!!!) will see legalization efforts over the next 5-10 years. But the realist in me knows that this is an uphill battle, especially when we know there are powerful forces that don’t want this ancient plant to be legalized.
More studies are coming out about how cannabinoids like CBD and CBG have anti-inflammatory and potential anti-cancer effects, and I think big pharma is scared. My little theory is that big pharma is definitely aware of the healing properties of this ancient plant that our ancestors have used for thousands of years. But they want to keep people sick and uninformed. That’s just my little theory that I like to play around with 😆
I hope you enjoy this new format of the newsletter. Next week, we’ll be diving into cannabis and sex, and specifically how I increased my libido and healed my sex anxiety with weed 👀 🌿
As always, you can submit questions, topic requests, or feedback to me using this form or email me at community@thecannabinista.com. I also love when y’all share your personal canna stories with me! I respond to every email and DM and value your feedback and ideas!
Stay tuned for more next week… and remember to start low and go slow! 🍃
