Congratulations to you if you know for certain that whoever supplies you has no connections to gangs, but you would certainly be in the monority, so my contention is far from bullshit.
Just curious who you think is supplying most of the illegal drugs if it isn't gangs?
Other than pot, I suspect there are a number of not-nice people involved somewhere in the chain prior to the consumer. I also suspect that organized pot growers with large operations (not all of whom fit the stereotype of "gangs" or who would resort to violence -- although obviously some do) sell most of their product either to the US (where BC bud is highly desireable, as we have a reputation for quality) or to mid-level suppliers in Vancouver or other large Canadian cities. The situation in other provinces unblessed by the local supply, I can't say.
Everyone I know personally, or are aware of, taps into the same loose networks of growers and suppliers -- and I am sure that is also true throughout all the smaller towns and rural areas in this province. But, I am sure, since these people make their income from cooperating to sell an illegal product, they would be considered "gangs" in the eyes of the law, and subject to the harsher new minimum sentences -- which will do nothing except ruin the lives of some pretty decent people.
And of course, the price for a decent ounce will end up rising -- if there is any greater effort at enforcement.
Meanwhile, if you buy beverages containing alcohol, you are supporting an industry which provides the means to cause a great deal of death and destruction and ruined lives -- without violent gangs involved in the chain, except for the ones that wear suits and file taxes and reap the profits. And remember how Seagram's got their start on the way to being a huge multinational corporation.
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