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In its final report, the federal Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation offered its best advice for “keeping cannabis out of the hands of children and youth and keeping profits out of the hands of organized crime.” But it warned, “we may not anticipate every nuance.”

“After all,” it observed, “our society is still working out issues related to the regulation of … tobacco.”

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That’s certainly true in Ontario. On Monday, the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco (NCACT) released its latest read on the market: provincewide, it reckons 32 per cent of cigarettes sold in the fourth quarter of 2016 were contraband; in Northern Ontario, it was a remarkable 51 per cent.

The problem is not new. And while it is complex, it is hardly mysterious. In Ontario, roughly 65 per cent of the cost of a carton is tax. That allows for huge profit margins on the black market, and the province could hardly be set up better to supply it.