To weed or not to weed

Cannabis. Marijuana. Weed.

It has many names and, as we have learned, it has many detractors and many supporters in Kahnawake.

And so much has happened in old Mary Jane’s name here that it’s worth taking a look at what it means to allow the sale of this drug in Kahnawake.

And make no mistake, it’s a drug. People will argue it is not as bad as alcohol or obviously other hard drugs, but it is still something that alters your mind, that you shouldn’t drive under the influence of, and you definitely shouldn’t be smoking around your kids.

Although you also shouldn’t be smoking regular cigarettes around your children, either, but that’s another editorial for another time.

In terms of the consumption of it, it’s a personal choice. Smoke funny cigarettes, or not. If you’re not hurting others, no one will really care. Although if it means you’re not paying child support or your mortgage or rent - then you need to check into rehab, and check yourself.

The decisions you make while high are still decisions you made, so using it as an excuse is not a story anyone will buy.

But when it comes to selling weed in town and everything that comes with it; the permits, the outsiders, the money – oh so much money – the collective has a right to stand up and say what they feel; to have their opinions heard. To say yes or no to allowing weed stores in town.

Because it is the overflow of people who come to the stores who might decide to wander around the community, and as we have seen with the OCR roadwork fiasco of having so many people cutting through town, it can get ugly.

Will it bring money and jobs to the community? Sure. Is the cost worth it? That’s debatable.

People point to Kanesatake and how it has at once become the Wild West and Las Vegas, and it isn’t pretty.

It has led to sacred trees being cut down in the Pines, and for everything people fought for in 1990, our own have now continued the destruction of trees we can’t simply replant.

Will something similar happen here? Obviously, the landscape is different and there aren’t nearly as many green areas in Kahnawake as there are in Kanesatake, but the threat remains.

It’s important to note this type of community involvement and denouncement is happening (including the protest at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake offices not that long ago) because we are talking about a new industry and a drug. Plus, of course, the money.

But the community does not have a right, typically, to tell you what you can and cannot build on your own land, notably because zoning simply doesn’t exist.

So, it is important not to confuse the two, as we have seen multiple tobacco factories pop up in recent years, but no one can ever object.

Marijuana brings about a similar rise in public discourse as gaming, and we all see what happened there.

The short answer is it happened anyway.

So maybe the grumbling we see online, the pushback to disallow any permits, the “not one more inch” mantra when it comes to drugs in this case; maybe that’s fueling public opinion but also filling the minds of MCK chiefs.

After all, the Cannabis Control Board members simply resigned and there is, in effect and practice now, no mechanism to control the sale of weed in town.

Some have argued it is a recreational drug, but also one to deal with debilitating pain, and we get it. We understand if people use it for either purpose. It’s their choice.

But the boiling point it’s hitting now looks to be a big switch from all the years of MCK planning, drafting, hoping and praying this would just go through.

They almost got to the finish line but took too long. And the people woke up.

Granted, not all chiefs are for cannabis sales here, but, as many have said, they have to go along with what the table decides, so the big question of whether this will move forward or not is coming, sooner rather than later.

Steve Bonspiel

The Eastern Door