When the founding fathers had a vision of government of the people, by the people, for the people, they may have taken inspiration from Abe Lincoln. He said, “The people – the people – are the rightful masters of both congresses, and courts” and hence the latter are there to serve. Problems for business do arise when they serve too diligently and over govern. This throws the relationship out of balance between commerce and the state.
This may be happening in California, where legislators are trying to dot every imaginable ‘i’, and cross every conceivable ‘t’, as they regulate Senate Bill 94. Joseph Schumpeter – who approximately invented economics – believed the role of business is to innovate, and profit is the reward for taking educated gambles. An interest, if you like, on money put at risk.
Rolling Stone relates the tale of a California couple who took a chance with a new medical product, succeeded, and are now losing their business to legislators. Their product is marijuana-infused ice cream. Alex Zafrin and Rekka Nicholson’s Coffee Pot, Vanilla Kush, and Go Fudge is going down a treat, and everything was looking good, but only for a while
Unfortunately for them, the Department of Public Health has decided perishable cannabis products – ice cream, for example – will be illegal come January 1, 2018. No doubt, they have their reasons for this. If ice cream is a dangerous product, will they ruin kids’ birthdays, and ban it outright?
We are of a common mind with Rolling Stone, when it says the new regulations seem set to make life difficult to for small marijuana business. We have expressed concerns in the past that waving a corporate big stick, could have us end up with a market dominated by a few players, along similar lines to alcohol.
It would be a sad day indeed if hundreds of people lost their livelihoods in the scramble to meet a deadline we imposed on ourselves. Right now, we still have a thriving cottage industry reminiscent of early pioneering days, but it seems this may be set to change. Perhaps we need to take a step back, pause, and review where we are going with marijuana before we lose the dream.
Albert Einstein was on the button when he said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer”. The real mistake is stopping trying.