Editor’s Note: Editor’s Note: The following is presented in keeping with CRE’s commitment to ensuring that all responsible viewpoints on regulatory issues are fully ventilated. See also Canada’s criminalization of the Indigenous tobacco trade.
From: Now Toronto
For some Indigenous communities, legal weed represents liberation, but hanging over the possibility of future prosperity is whether the country will be able to enforce cannabis regulations fairly
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But the inherent treaty rights of Indigenous peoples to engage in their traditional economies aren’t always recognized by the federal government and its provincial counterparts. A burgeoning trade in tobacco on reserves continues to be a target of law enforcement. The former Harper government, for instance, created a new offence for trafficking in contraband tobacco, introducing a minimum prison sentence for repeat offenders while it was in office, cutting off an economic lifeline.
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BIGGER THAN TOBACCO
Already, cannabis is emerging as a flashpoint in Indigenous communities. In Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory east of Belleville, more than 30 storefront dispensaries – from dedicated medical compassion clubs to more permissive operations – dot the main strip.
