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The third necessity is a convenient distribution system for legal products. Think about it. If prohibition is ended for consumers, but the options to legally purchase products are too limited, this will create the conditions for a boom in the supply of illegal products through the underground market.

This is precisely what the province of Ontario is inviting through its recent proposal to limit supply to 150 government-owned sites by 2020. That distribution model will be vastly inadequate for Ontario and it will ensure that the illegal market thrives as the most convenient option for many consumers. Today, it’s easy to buy cannabis: If we make it hard to buy from legal sellers tomorrow, people will just continue to buy it elsewhere.

In other words, legalization can’t be successful if the provinces go only half-way. When consumption is legalized, the channels of distribution must allow sufficient access to the corresponding legal products. The new legal industry must be as inclusive as possible or underground activity will persist and, potentially, thrive.

To be clear, when we think of selling cannabis products in convenience stores we are thinking about the sale of pre-packaged, standardized products — not the sale of open products as seen in the many boutique “medical dispensaries” that have sprung up across the country.

Convenience stores are served by a distribution system that supports the legal sale of a variety of controlled goods, such as tobacco, and are well-positioned to adapt to include distribution of cannabis products as well. The stringent controls already in place to secure the collection of provincial and federal taxes on such products can accommodate any new products requiring similar controls — be they provincial or interprovincial.