Introduction
Lobbying is a process of articulating concerns in policy making. Lobbyists are active in Canada, especially in Ottawa regarding the use of medical marijuana. Legalizing marijuana is a big concern in the country, and it looks the right time to influence legislators. Apart from recreational marijuana and criminal activities, production and distribution of marijuana are some key concerns. The study emphasizes a particulate lobbyist along with his role in the policymaking process. After understanding the goals of marijuana laws of Canada, lobbying strategies, techniques, styles and results are to be evaluated. The research and analysis at the end can help to obtain the impact of lobbying on policymaking.
The study starts with a comprehensive background and current marijuana laws. However, a new event (Policymaking) is to occur this month, and accordingly, several insights will be illustrated.
· Background
Marijuana legalization has become a major concern in Canada. Many organizations in this region are registered to become key lobbyists and create an impact on marijuana legislation. The Marijuana industry has been converted into the corporate sector. Lobbyists are quite active to take short and long-term benefits. Legalization of marijuana is a current issue in Canada. Lobbyists are focusing on medical marijuana. They are taking part in the recreational cannabis process. This study revolves around different lobbying activities in Canada regarding marijuana legalization. The content empathized with key lobbyists, who intended to influence legislative decisions.
· Marijuana Laws
Cannabis Act of Canada usually depicts three main goals. The goal of the marijuana act is to keep marijuana away from youth. Youth or young adults usually depict a negative use of marijuana. Thus, to sustain the healthy environment in this country, this goal is to be accomplished. The second goal of the marijuana act is to keep profit out of criminals (Justice.Gc.Ca, 2018). Marijuana has become a business in these regions, and the law can restrain criminals from spreading marijuana illegally. Allowing access to legal cannabis is the third goal of the marijuana act. The government wants to ensure public health and safety. Legal use of marijuana is essential to treat people. However, it must be restricted or legalized. According to law, promotion and enticement are prohibited to reduce criminal activities.
· Hopes
Legalization of marijuana can help authorities to reduce the illegal use of marijuana. The country is intended or determined to create a sustainable, healthy environment for people. People are getting high in Canada, and legalization is the only option. The recreational process can help to ensure the medical use of marijuana. The lobbying process is going to create some good results in policymaking.
· Overview
Lobbyists in Ottawa are in the limelight due to their roles. Lobbyists want the use of marijuana as a regular medicine for the patient. However, it is not simple. Criminal activities and even the illegal use of marijuana in different medical institutions are major concerns. The adequate legislation is to be depicted along with different concerns of lobbyists in Ottawa (George-Cosh, 2018).
Philippe Lucas, being a vice president of patient research and advocacy at Tilray, is responsible for producing and distributing the medical marijuana (Lupick, 2016). He is playing the role of the key lobbyists in the country create an influence. He wants flexible marijuana legalization in the country that can also support the production and distribution. His goal is to ensure the health coverage for cannabis, remove taxes on purchases, and to support the government of Canada to get approval for oral-mucosal sprays. Marijuana is to be used in different formats, and the purpose is to enhance the usage in medical prescription. However, different issues can emerge with time. Accordingly, style, timing, objectives and mechanism are to be streamlined to get pertinent or favorable results.
Lobbying
Lobbying is a process at the government level to influence different decisions through individuals or interest groups. These individuals and interest groups usually have concerns regarding the legislation. These people create some interventions and create an impact on votes in the particular legislative process. In Canada, Philippe Lucas, a key lobbyist, contains associations with the national organization of physicians and health-care professionals, has articulated his interest to the federal government. The current decision regarding marijuana does not go in favor of medical marijuana. For Instance, Canada is looking to legalize recreational marijuana. However, lobbyist Philippe Lucas wants more to strengthen the medical marijuana industry. Canada aims to limit the medical use of marijuana; it is quite aware of illegal usage and public health. Philippe Lucas has lobbied the government several times in the past. Now, influencing the government seems obvious. In the legislative process, he is lobbying to review medical marijuana production and distribution. He wants some other measures which are to be undertaken to limit criminal activities. By sustaining the distribution and production of recreational marijuana, he can ensure both public health and corporate benefits (Brown, 2016).
· Objective
The objective of lobbying is to increase the patient’s access to medical marijuana. The government aims to limit the use of marijuana in the country, even in different medical institutions. However, the lobbyist is trying to enable more delivery options for different licensed products. The legalization of marijuana must create a win-win situation for both public health institutions and distributors or producers. Thus, the change in the government policy has become the main objective
· Lobbying Strategies
Different lobbying strategies must be shaped and implemented by the lobbyist in Canada. First, the lobbyist must be registered with the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada. Also, some effective strategies are needed to make lobbying purposeful and meaningful. The elaboration of lobbying strategies is as under
Defining issues
The key issue is legislation or recreational marijuana. The recent legislation of marijuana creates an impact on production and distribution. Philippe Luca, serving Canadian Medical Cannabis Council (CMCC), as an executive director is aware of the possible impact and negative consequences of this legislation. Philippe Lucas wants the legislators to make some changes in this health policy. If the government or legislators limit the use of medical marijuana, it can also cause the shortage or inadequate supply to different medical institutions in Canada. The possible controversial legislation may also create some hurdles in meeting corporate goals of producers and distributors. These are the main issue, which is to be streamlined by Philippe Luca as a key lobbyist in Canada.
Target of lobbying
The main target of this particular lobbying is a group of politicians or legislators in Canada. For Instance, Individual cabinet ministers & their senior bureaucrats are targets of lobbying. These people intend to make decisions regarding the legal use of marijuana. Legalizing marijuana is a good initiative to sustain the healthy environment of the general public. Philippe Lucas has good relations with representatives, and he wants to streamline some options to review. Politicians in the house have to navigate these options and change the number of votes.
Timing
The government intends to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2018. Philippe Lucas is ready for lobbying this month. It looks the best time to meet stakeholders and raise concerns about the legislation. The government is ready for lobbying on different pot matters, and Philippe Lucas wants to become the main stakeholder in this process. It seems the right timing for other interest groups to streamline their concerns and restrain legislators from making unfavorable legislation of health policy. Philippe Lucas aims to meet several stakeholders this month and try to influence policymakers. Also, policymakers may approve the legislation this month. He has to come up with a pertinent lobbying mechanism to derive some favorable results.
Use of Mechanism
Philippe Lucas has lobbied several times in marijuana legislation. However, the lobbying mechanism is informal talk. He has to talk with different policymakers and tell them about possible impacts on legislation. Increasing criminal activities, recreational marijuana, production, and distribution are key concerns to discuss in this informal talk. The formal presentation may be criticized in the house. Therefore, informal talk is a suitable mechanism to change the minds of policymakers. Interestingly, Philippe Lucas will not do it alone, as it has to build the coalition. Nanaimo can be a key coalition partner in the lobbying process. However, they have to come up with the same point of view to put pressure on policymakers in Canada.
Lobbying Styles
Lobbying should be transparent, as goals are clear. For Instance, Philippe Lucas, along with the collation partner will propose positive aspects of any changes in the policy. They must have a clear understanding of strategic vision and goals, which can also be communicated to other stakeholders.
· Reactive/ Proactive
Proactive lobbying style has been preferred. The event is yet to occur in November. Philippe Lucas has done his homework to make some positive intervention. For Instance, he knows what policymakers are going to review and decide.
· Alone/Collaborative
Accordingly, he intends to plan with the partner and depict positive interventions. Philippe Lucas’s lobbying style is unique because he wants to have continuous contact with the government. Even before the legislation. He is meeting with coalition partners and policymakers in informal meetings. He wants to create the hype and set the tone of the legislation, which can make it successful and result oriented. During crises or problems, lobbying may face resistance from policymakers and other interest groups. Interestingly, it is quiet diplomacy.
· Confrontational or Collaborative
Instead of going with a confrontational approach, a collaborative approach is the best option. To contain long-term strategic relationship with policymakers, he has decided to use a collaborative approach. He agrees with the negative consequences of medical marijuana. However, through the collaborative approach, he has to put his arguments to change minds.
· Public/Private
Going public may activate criminal activities in the country. He is using the diplomatic approach to keep it precise and confident.
Lobbying Results
Philippe Lucas is expecting some positive results from this particular lobbying. The most important thing is to ensure access to medical marijuana. Companies in the industry will integrate with the new policy, which supports adequate production and distribution. The new policy regarding recreational marijuana can help these companies to limit the supply. However, business sustainability and better healthcare can be sustained. Philippe Lucas and coalition partner are expecting these results to set a future direction. New penalties will be imposed on organizations in case of illegal supply. Philippe Lucas will accept these results in the end.
· Advice
The policy advice matters. For Instance, including several cannabis form factors in marijuana should be legalized. Based on health concerns and needs of medical marijuana, it is a key recommendation. Legalizing edibles and vaping are effective to contribute to better health treatment in Canada. The advice revolves around the review of some limitations. Some factors are to be excluded to keep the health treatment as a top priority of different healthcare institutions. After results, the pertinent advice, proposed through direct contact, is to sustain the policy for some years. However, policymakers have to review the impact. They have to set some measures to examine or evaluate the effectiveness of the new policy. Making the policy flexible to make some changes in the future is the right approach.
· Timing
The time factor can play its role when giving advice or recommending the policymakers in Canada. Advice and recommendations are to be given mid-November. Of course, policymakers want some alternative strategies to make some changes. The best strategy is to advise crises or issues as well. Coming up with some good solutions or advice can help policymakers review several options and make the final call.
· General approach
The general approach to giving advice is direct lobbying. The lobbyist has contacted different policymakers to streamline his concerns and propose some solutions. As mentioned above, the lobbyist has used the informal approach in the whole process. When giving advice, he can carry it as a general approach to keep the influence.
Result & Analysis
The lobbying and advice have depicted remarkable results. Now, recreational marijuana is legal in Canada. People across the country can easily buy, grow, and carry cannabis. Lobbying has created an impact on the new policy. For instance, according to new federal cannabis act, the recreational marijuana can be used by adults. People 18 or up can carry cannabis for different purposes. Lobbying has helped to sustain production, distribution, and availability in different parts of the country (Ferreras, 2018). However, the medical use of cannabis is preferred. Lobbyists involved in the production and distribution of marijuana are going to take benefits regarding sales. In the United States of American, marijuana cannot be used publicly. Also, the distribution and production are quite limited. American travelers can use marihuana, eager to hightail it. They are free to use cannabis in this country. Maybe, beyond positive consequences regarding the medical use of marijuana, it seems a negative aspect. Easy access can get people high all the time, and it’s not good for people’s health (Cecco, 2018). Intentionally, Lobbyists in Canada have enabled the marijuana a controlled a substance. Lobbying in the United States is quite different, as the focus is on health concerns instead of availability, distribution, and production. Apart from Canadian citizens, US citizens can intend to travel to Canada because they are free to use it. Interestingly, it can increase demand and make the industry more lucrative. Another aspect of this particular lobbying is to make this industry lucrative to contribute to the Canadian economy (Lopez, 2018).
The result looks moderate because it contradicts with the US legalization of marijuana. Besides, US travelers are trying to carry marijuana in the United States. US policymakers can negatively perceive lobbying in Canada. Thus, it can impair the political relations of both countries. It has been observed that people are carrying a small amount of marijuana at Los Angeles international airport. Carrying marijuana there is illegal, and criminals can take benefits (Gajanan, 2018).
The prominent result of lobbying regarding marijuana is the availability of medical marijuana. The lobbyist has raised health concerns and problems in the process of medical treatments. Due to the shortage or legal complications, medical institutions have to use several alternatives (Lastoe & Levenson, 2018). These alternatives are costly for both health organizations and patients. Now, due to the new policy, influenced by lobbying, medical institutions, and research centers can have easy access to producers and distributors. Lobbying did not focus on the negative use of marijuana. For Instance, smokers will enjoy weeding. It is a major public health concern in Canada. Policymakers will try to design some awareness programs for people. The protection of the negative use of marijuana is mandatory, and negative, lobbying in this regard should be strictly prohibited (NPR.Org, 2018).
Canada has become the second country in the world, which has legalized recreational marijuana. Profit pouring into the black market is $4.5bn. Policymakers, influenced by lobbyists, argue that they can have this cut and contribute to economic growth. Thus, health concerns are not a single factor in this whole process, as associated factors are integrated. This legalization and advice can delegate provinces to contain the age restriction. In some provinces, People over 18 can buy marijuana for recreational use. In some provinces, people over 19 can buy and use it. The lobbying process and advice are flexible, which delegates Canadian provinces to implement the new policy. Some provinces may implement the policy by opening stores in urban areas. On the other hand, Ontario, the most populated province, can implement the policy through online stores (Sang-Hun, 2018).
It has been perceived as positive lobbying in Canada. Lobbyists and policymakers intend to tell the world about effective legalization. After spending a quarter of a century, lobbyists have achieved their goals. However, some people or policy makers are arguing that legalization of marijuana is a process of criminalizing many aspects. Lobbyists intend to legalize the official stores or legal marijuana. People can get it from these stores. The policy may restrain people from purchasing from unofficial stores. The positive aspect of this legalization is to reduce or eliminate racial differences. Previously, unequal access to the marijuana has created many controversies in Canada. Now, lobbyists have worked with policymakers to eliminate these differences (Cecco, 2018).
Technically, 30 grams of marijuana is legal in Canada. It is what the lobbyists have expected in the policymaking process. This limit is to be sustained. However, advice has been given to policymakers in different informal meetings regarding some changes in the legal quantity. Thus, accordingly, lobbyists, involved in production and distribution, can take decisions and tale benefits.
After examining results and researching the impact of the particular legislation, it looks easy to predict or estimate the popularity.
· Popularity
As mentioned, Canada has become the second country, which legalized marijuana. Canada is now a country to watch regarding policy implementation. Beyond health concerns and availability or marijuana, counties may look at how Canada will handle criminal activities. The perception of giving a free hand to criminals and US travelers is obvious. However, people have to navigate several perspectives of lobbying, rationale, and policymaking.
· Overall Good
Lobbying and advice is successful due to its style, technique and general approach. The lobbyist has used a collaborative approach that helped to create a positive influence. Lobbyists wanted to reshape goals and objectives of marijuana act in Canada. Now, due to the new policy, goals, and objective re reshaped. Main stakeholders are health care institutions and research centers, which can use marijuana effectively and legally. Importantly, policymakers must have to integrate these new goals and objectives in different public awareness programs. People must be aware of negative consequences, and ultimately, it may limit production and distribution. The diplomatic approach has worked well for lobbyists, and even in public awareness programs, they want to become more influential. Overall, lobbying is good because it achieves goals successfully.
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that recreational marijuana legalization needed effective lobbying. The collaborative approach has helped Philippe Lucas and coalition partners to make some successful and workable intervention. Timing and style of lobbying are effective to change the mind and decisions of policy makers. Canada, being a responsible country, must have to execute or implement the policy. Integration with lobbyists in the policymaking process is a good approach, as it assists in navigating several perspectives. Of course, the marijuana industry is to be sustained, and lobbyists have to play a role in the future as well.
Summary
Legalization of marijuana has become a major concern in Canada, and lobbyists are ready to play their roles. Lobbyist, Philippe Lucas, has come up with new goals and targets, which are to be attained by influencing policymakers. Philippe Lucas came up with an effective lobbying strategy. For Instance, he decided to intervene before the event. The proactive approach is successful to be relevant in the lobbying process. The collaborative approach has been preferred, and it is the main part of the strategy. Informal meetings helped to create an impact informally. The advice is flexible, as lobbyists want policymakers to overturn the existing marijuana law and support the production and distribution. The use of medical marijuana is to be legalized. By using a general approach, advice has been given to policymakers. It looks effective to examine the result and research the policy impact. Overall, the impact of the policy is good. After defining issues and illustrating different strategies, a comprehensive analysis of the result is presented along with several insights. Examining or evaluating the policy and results is also effective to evaluate the effectiveness of lobbying. Some negative consequences are also presented. Interestingly, perceptions of people about marijuana may be changed after the result.
Learning Outcomes
The big learning aspect is the effectiveness and relevancy of lobbying. Philippe Lucas has identified issues quite effectively. Identifying issues and presenting some legal complexities before initiating the lobbying process is the right approach. It is a key example of different lobbyists in the country. The selection of strategy and approach is also a big learning aspect. Based on the nature of the issue and intentions of policymakers’ strategies, styles, time, and approach is to be selected. Every policy may be different due to different consequences. Therefore, it can be learned from Philippe Lucas, who did everything according to the plan. Being a lobbyist in the country, one should be aware of possible consequences.
Interview Questions
Some interview questions, which have been asked to Philippe Lucas, are as under
- What complications do you find in the current marijuana act of Canada?
- How can you create an impact on policymakers to change the decision?
- Do you think it can criminalize the country?
- What are your expectations regarding the new policy in Canada?
- How can you justify the new cannabis act, as far as the sales, distribution, and production are concerned?
- Can a new marijuana policy justify the fair use of medical marijuana?
References
Brown, D. (2016, May 12). Philippe Lucas on the Canadian Medical Cannabis Council and patient advocacy. https://news.lift.co/philippe-lucas-cmcc-canadian-medical-cannabis-council-and-patient-advocacy/
Cecco, L. (2018, October 16). Dazed and confused: Canada cannabis legalization brings complex new laws. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018
/oct/16/Canada-legalizes-recreational-marijuana-law-problems
Ferreras, J. (2018, October 16). Marijuana is legal everywhere across Canada now. https://globalnews.ca/news/4559085/
marijuana-legalization-canada-midnight/
Gajanan, M. (2018, October 17). Canada Has Legalized Marijuana. Here’s What That Means For American Travelers. http://time.com/5427522/canada-marijuana-travel/
George-Cosh, D. (2018, October 1). Canadian pot producers emerging as major lobbyists ahead of legalization. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/canadian-pot-producers-emerging-as-major-lobbyists-ahead-of-legalization-1.1145535
Justice.Gc.Ca. (2018, January 1). Cannabis Legalization and Regulation. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/
Lastoe, S., & Levenson, E. (2018, October 17). What Canada’s legalization of marijuana means for travelers. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/traveling-with-marijuana-in-canada/index.html
Lopez, G. (2018, October 17). Toronto police to Canadians: stop snitching on your neighbors about marijuana. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/17/17989448/canada-marijuana-legalization-toronto-police-911
Lupick, T. (2016, July 20). Ahead of legalization, lobbyists for the marijuana industry jostle for a say in Ottawa. https://www.straight.com/news/739071/ahead-legalization-lobbyists-marijuana-industry-jostle-say-ottawa#
NPR.Org. (2018, October 17). It’s Legal. In Canada, Recreational Marijuana Gets Green Light. https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/658038965/
its-legal-in-canada-recreational-marijuana-gets-green-light
Sang-Hun, C. (2018, October 23). Smoking Marijuana Is Legal in Canada, Unless You’re South Korean. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/world
/asia/cannabis-canada-south-korea.html
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