Billions of dollars in potential tax revenue lost in a decades-long fight against a stubborn enemy.

Cross-border smuggling, home-grown factories that operate in defiance of the law and — some would argue — a weak-kneed approach to enforcement.

Ontario’s war on illegal cigarettes has done nothing to butt out the black market business, which by some estimates accounts for almost 40 per cent of all the smokes sold in the province.

With Ontario moving to monopolize marijuana selling as the only legal retailer of recreational pot once the federal government legalizes the drug later this year, the experience with tobacco raises a critical question: How can a province that can’t break the back of illegal smokes be expected to keep a grip on legal weed?

Bill C-45's sentence of up to 14 years in jail is on par with threatening to commit a nuclear or terrorist act.

Under the Trudeau government’s pot bill, anyone who shares a joint with a kid brother could end up sharing a prison cell with a terrorist.

Bill C-45 would make the giving or selling of cannabis to any person under the age of 18 a new criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in jail, a sentence in line with facilitating a terrorist activity, threatening to commit a nuclear offence, bribing a judge, child luring, recklessly discharging a firearm, aggravated assault, torture and human trafficking.

Province doesn't see sale of marijuana as a revenue generator, but is that a missed opportunity?

When Quebec passed its cannabis legislation into law this week, Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois stressed, not for the first time, that legalizing the drug was Ottawa's idea.

"It's important that Quebecers know that the federal government took the decision, and we are making measures that we think are going to protect the health and safety of the population," she said.

In other words, the province got it done, but not by choice.

Indeed, Quebec will be among the most conservative jurisdictions in the country when it comes to the sale, distribution and consumption of cannabis.

In 1950s geopolitics, Cold War politicians predicted that if North and South Vietnam were reunited under a communist government, other nearby nations would likewise become communist, probably by hostile takeover aided or orchestrated by the Soviet Union or China. This was referred to as the Domino Theory.

Historians disagree about the validity of this theory, however, since few of Vietnam’s southeast Asian neighbours “fell”, the theory was modified to include faraway influencers as well, as was the case in Latin American countries. The Domino Theory was used to justify United States involvement in and interference with governments and revolutionaries in Chile, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

The House of Commons continues to comb through about four dozen different ammendments after the Senate passed recreational marijuana legislation.

Bill C-45 was passed by the Senate last week with 50 votes in favour, 30 against and one abstention. It's a first for a G20 country to make cannabis completely legal on the federal level, and will end the 94 year prohibition of cannabis in Canada.

Canada's public health board will be regulating the packaging laws and who would able to smoke and purchase the drug; the minimum age being 19 or older across the country.

After the House of Commons is done with their process the bill will be passed back to the Senate where they will go through the same proccess.

The Cannabis Act has been approved by the Senate and the House of Commons has rejected 13 of the Red Chamber’s recommendations, including the prohibition of branded merchandise by marijuana companies and allowing provinces to prohibit home cultivation, but as Bill C-45 nears its official rollout, many details about how the market will be regulated remain unknown.

Trina Fraser, co-managing partner at Brazeau Seller LLP, has been a legal adviser to the industry for five years and was just retained by the Cannabis Canada Council. Earlier this year, the Cannabis Canada Association, Canadian Medical Cannabis Council and Canopy Growth Corporation merged to create the Cannabis Canada Council, now Canada’s preeminent marijuana industry trade association.

The County of Grande Prairie has started to make some decisions regarding marijuana.

At a council meeting this week, bylaw amendments were approved regarding production and distribution as well as cannabis retail sales.

County Planner Baily Lapp says they looked to the responses from a public consultation survey to form the changes. There were 1,852 completed submissions which outlined proposed changes to the Land Use Bylaw.

"The topic itself is a hot topic. I think it drew people into doing the survey. I think people are interested in completing a survey about cannabis and having input on what the final results are on the county's policy," said Lapp.

Any enthusiasm to pass amendments to the current smoking bylaw to include approaches on how to deal with recreational cannabis appears to have gone up in smoke.

At least, for the time being.

Coun. Deanna Lennox put forward a motion during the June 12 regular city council meeting to put off any decision making on the current smoking bylaw until August. The Fort, like many municipalities, has been working to figure out how to tackle marijuana once it becomes legalized in Canada.

City of Camrose administration is proposing a 150-metre buffer to be put in place between any school or health care centre and businesses selling cannabis.

The regulations were brought forward to the committee of the whole meeting on June 4 for discussion. Council will now seek public input at two open houses, this past Tuesday and on June 19 at the Recreation Centre.

The guidelines policy has become necessary as the federal government is set to legalize the use and retail sale of cannabis sometime this summer. It has been left up to the provinces to determine distribution regulations, much like alcohol, and Alberta, while maintaining control of distribution of cannabis and online sales, is moving forward with private sector sales.

Former cop turned Liberal MP has the life experience to run the delicate file.

The idea that Bill Blair was ever an undercover cop in the Toronto Police Services drug unit does not speak well to the intelligence of the city’s felons.

He stands erect as a grenadier at six foot four and might as well have: “Keep Calm, I’m a Police Officer” etched on his forehead.

He maintains it mattered more what you said than what you looked like, and that not all undercover officers are short guys with beards.