Bitcoin Forum

Source: https://www.mtlblog.com/news/canada/the-government-of-canada-is-now-officially-warning-canadians-to-buy-legal-marijuana-with-cash-to-protect-their-personal-information

In my opinion these are quite interesting news, as we often talk here how all the governments only want to replace cash, because they want to monitor all transactions, but it seems to be more complex than that. Privacy can protect people from criminals and malicious outside actors, and I think the benefits are far more important than some small number of criminals getting away with crimes.

In this light, crypto can find its place in economy as "digital cash", and some governments might officially recognize it.

It's an interesting article indeed, but I would imagine that if the US government thought it was important enough, they could figure out who's bought marijuana with crypto.  It might be way more difficult than if the weed was paid for via a credit/debit card, but it's possible. 

I'm not sure why this is such a friggin' big issue for Canadians.  It's not like marijuana has gotten any more criminalized in the United States, and I don't see why they should be denying Canadians entry into the states because of pot purchases.  IMO, in this situation cash is still king as long as there aren't other ways of tracking marijuana purchases that the US gov't can find out about.

But hey, I wasn't even aware that marijuana had been made legal in Canada.  I'm not a smoker myself, but I've always supported people's choice to partake in it if that's their thing.  I think that's excellent progress, and thanks for posting the link.

They could do it with some coins, but I doubt that they would be able to break privacy of coins like Monero.

I also don't know the reasons why Americans are banning Canadian pot users (https://globalnews.ca/news/4556304/marijuana-canada-us-border/) from entering the country, my guess is that it is politically motivated. Also they are saying that they are viewing legal pot users as criminals, so maybe they are afraid that those people will try to buy weed in the US.

The progress is painfully slow, but at least it's progress. Many countries in the world seem to be going backwards in time.

I wonder, why a governments want protect their citizen's privacy and that too with the reason of dealing with drugs.
Moreover, I suspect about the reliability of this article as it sounds a government work like close friend or colleague lol, a complete news and shocking. I read Justin Trudeau is a good hearted person and welcoming refugees but now it seems he is more friendly for preventing family problems too. lol.

Democratic governments always value their citizen's preferences rather than sticking within policies and may loosen up legal issues slowly where the people push. This is what happening as per that article. It must be one good positive news for the people who concern on protecting their privacy and identity. I am sure, in near future we are going to have another article like a government may ask to use bitcoin to stay anonymous as responsibilities should come by own and not just due to regulations in a matured society.

Yes, that will happen but not sure how quick it will happen. Developed countries may do it at first (still I wonder why no other governments are not yet following Japan's decision of legalizing bitcoins.) Cryptos will be part of our daily life but government may monitor us by what we are buying and where we are going and whom we are meeting which may be like another family member as that is the only way to collect taxes and to control/monitor criminals and terrorists after leaving off the control over existing financial system.

The Canadian government is weird. ;D
All the other govenments want more and more personal data from their citizens,the Canadian government wants the opposite.Crypto is pseudo anonymous,so cash is still the best way to buy stuff like marijuana.
By the way,is marijuana legal in Canada?

If the government advises its citizens to buy marijuana with cash, it means that crypto will be a good currency, and not tarnished with some kind of money laundering. Many countries whose citizens are prohibited from consuming marijuana, while Canada gives permission.

Who wants to wastes their coins to some weed? They could really buy it with cash only and it has nothing wrong with that.

You mean coins are more precious than cash ? I understand coins and cash are same at a time taken for comparing (considering the fluctuations of cryptos). I guess you are from a country where buying/obtaining coins is more difficult, right ?

That's the thing, I'm sure they don't think it's important enough. It wouldn't be worth the funds to pursue. With the POS payment processing industry being so concentrated and centralized, it's infinitely easier though.


Don't be so sure. It's still an experimental currency that's not well understood by many people. If the NSA wanted to find a hole in XMR, they'd have a lot of resources to throw at it. ;)

It just depends on if you plan to replace those coins or if you even bought them with the intention of spending them. Personally I'd rather pay a slight premium in fiat on smaller transactions than go through the hassle of buying new crypto to replenish that which I've spent.

They should implement the rule, that only offline purchase is possible.

Fully agree with this.

Why would a government entity suddenly feel compelled to protect privacy?

Governments literally fight each other for more access to population's private habits!

Considering how many issues have surfaced regarding companies selling private data of their customers, I'm not surprised that Canada has issued a warning to its citizens. Not that the world is still against marijuana or anything, but then again it could be one of the grounds that a citizen might not enter another country's territory or be framed-up for cases involving 'illegal drugs'. Bitcoin and crypto could shine on this particular area and might cause another push on the price should 'potheads' unite and use bitcoin/crypto for their transactions.

Common, you did a bit of clickbait on this

Topic: Canada warns its citizens to only buy marijuana with cash
Linked article:  The Government Of Canada Is Now Officially Warning Canadians To Buy Legal Marijuana With Cash To Protect Their Personal Information
The content of the official guide (https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/collecting-personal-information/gd_can_201812/)

That advice can be given for every purchase, even if you buy ice cream.

I guess most will use cash not because they are scared their personal data might leak but because their wife/husband dad/mom might look at the bank statements.


Because once you throw away your tinfoil hat you realize that governments are not evil demons from the underworld but the guys you voted in power and some governments actually do their job.

When governments are not protecting your privacy:  It's an evil plan to rob our data.
When governments are taking active steps to protect our privacy:  It's an evil plan to rob our data.
When the government is not doing anything:  They surely are doing something!

I know in most countries why marijuana purchases can't be made with bitcoin or any other crypto currency. It is mainly because they do not want to make the purchases anon and want to be able to keep track of who buys how much because too much of weed could be considered intend to sell after the purchase.

But, what I do not understand is why do they go with cash which is still quite anon and not with debit/credit cards. If you use debit/credit card it is known that YOU bought it, its right there on the card and on the bank system however when you use cash you are still quite anon and no one knows who bought it. So being "anon" while buying can't be the cause and reason for why they would prefer cash purchases. Even bitcoin could be more out in the open compared to cash where you can literally never tell your name to someone whereas at least they can track your btc wallet. I am not really sure what is the purpose of this.

That only prove their weak control, they cannot control the people and dictate them to use cash only because in the long run, cash is not going to be convenient anymore. What's the use of crypto if this will not be implemented as a way to solve this problem, I'm sure we are good with anonymity.

This thing probably makes people vulnerable.  It could be weakening the willpower and opening you up to more brainwashing. If you want to feel high eat fruits and vegetables before meals. Avoid bad foods. Drink hot tea. Take red wine occasionally.

Cash will always remain convenient as long as there is no solid form of fungibility in either digital fiat payments (which won't ever happen) or crypto currencies. Sure, there is XMR and a couple of other coins active in that field, but they aren't being used to conduct day-to-day payments, so it's rather pointless.

Bitcoin's fungibility is going to get a massive boost with Schnorr and Lightning, and I think that's exactly what people are looking for. They don't want a shitcoin that no one cares about doing X, they want a well known crypto as Bitcoin to be multifunctional and do X Y Z because of its global acceptance. It will take some time, but we'll be there eventually.

As long as nothing beats cash's current main utility as a fungible form of money, people will keep using it.

I wish my government was asking people to be careful buying weed.  ::) Instead they prefer the "don't buy weed! you'll be an addict, lose everything, go to prison, detox, maybe you'll die die, or be a homeless hobo living under a bridge".


Of course! I prefer to use cash than electronic payments, simply because everyone accepts it. There are stores with no terminals, or no Internet, but there are no stores that won't take a paper bill. Also, I've come to appreciate cash when dealing with contractors on various properties. Most of them will accept only cash, because you can't expect a plumber or electrician to have a card terminal. Some do, but most don't. My dentist only accepts cash because she doesn't want to pay the fees for card transactions.

Well I thinl the main reason for this was, Bitcoin holds anonymity, and this feature was barely a characteristic of a bitcoin already, we can't remove that, and if buying marijuana will be allowed given with the stated crypto it will cause so much disturbances to the equilibrium that they were trying to keep right, I am saying that illegal buying and using will be a main problem if this will be promoted so better in cash as an order for them.

Without being biased, fiat still remains the most convenient way of doing transactions (for now) but on the other hand, it doesn't mean that crypto got no future at all. Actually, if I really had a chance to buy goods with my btc then I would love to not mainly because of its anonymity, cashless transaction etc. but because I believe in its potentials and I want to give contribution to its adoption.

We're the opposite. I still prefer the negative perspective of our government or at least the majority of our population when it comes to marijuana's legalization, but the sad thing is I think this mindset will change sooner or later just because one of the answers of the current reigning Miss Universe strongly influenced others' way of thinking. How silly to think that a simple answer from a pageant suddenly made our government officials to consider passing a bill/law favorable to marijuana ::).

I'm not really against to its legalization because I know that it could  :)contribute a lot for medicating patients. Maybe I'm just scared that time will come when the obedience of the policies and regulations regarding this just become an option— that others will be out of control and can easily access it for "fun".

This is interesting news indeed. Buying with cash is fine, but buying with cryptos could be more useful and still guarantee privacy. I find it weird that legal marijuana purchases are being investigated and can become a reason to deny entrance to the US, though. I mean, it's not like US is some super strict country that banned weed... And information about purchases of anything via debit cards should not be available to third parties.
I don't know why you find cash convenient. When you move to another country, you need new fiat; those goddamn coins in the pockets; cash is very vulnerable and can be easily spoiled; cash can be fake; you have to count what you give and what you get. Debit cards are much easier, and if I could use a crypto card, I would.

Bitcoin user unaffected.

Hey that reminds me, I'll be in Seattle this weekend. Does anyone know of a dispensary there that takes bitcoin?

I'd recommend you not to blindly accept and follow the rules but question them. 100 years ago smoking weed was legal and nobody was put in jail for possession. Did that make everyone forget about their jobs and responsibilities and run high all day long? Of course not.
What you're experiencing is a baseless fear of the unknown that the government is inciting. They're telling you that if weed was legal your children would be able to get it and lower their IQ by getting high on regular basis. It's funny, because in many countries possessing small amounts of drugs for private use is not illegal, and in those countries there is no higher drug use than everywhere else. For instance in the Czech Republic possession of drugs is a misdemeanor, which means that if you're caught smoking in public you will get a fine, just like for pissing in a park. Despite that, people aren't smoking in public more than US citizens who can go to jail for the same thing.

I think this is because Bitcoin promotes anonymity, buying marijuana using Bitcoin maybe dangerous since it doesnt required so much things amd possibly this will lead for them to buy excessive one and probably will cause over dosing pr addiction. As far as I know Canada is also dtrict with allowing marijuana , and it js encourage only for the sake of medical purposes.

This is a very difficult situation wherein the government has to choose between these two. These governments have the obligation to protect the people from any criminal activities. Also they have the obligation for development of the country. I think they juat need to balance the situation.

I know my friend from Utah when went to buy in Colorado had to use cash to buy there. They did not wanted her to use credit cards.

No, the article state about protection of personal information, buying bitcoin could help as in terms of transaction it's more transparent but anyone can hide their real information and there will be no trail of transaction that would lead to their real identity.
Bitcoin is very useful on this type of transaction, it would help the government if they will study to implement this.

That could be for other reasons. Colorado (like other states who legalized a few years back) has a big problem with over-supply, which drives prices and profitability down. I've heard of dispensaries who combat this by encouraging patrons to pay cash, then they under-report the cash transactions to avoid steep taxes.

What are you talking about? Overdosing on marijuana? Addiction? You are very misinformed. Also, it's not about medical marijuana, recreational weed is legal in Canada now.


Actually it is, a huge number of people sits in the US for marijuana-related crimes. It's some sort of weird cultural/religious hate for some Americans and it's totally irrational. Buying with cryptos could be very important because it's one of a few ways to do it anonymously online, which is why I started this thread.

Canada is a strange country; It wants to be at vanguard, but in many respects it seems to me "too much" to the vanguard, especially when it is about politically correct.
In this case, the fact that the government warns citizens not to be traced by the government, ... well, it seems surreal ....

in my opinion, if so, the government of Canada would be difficult if the purchase of marijuana did not use physical money / bank transactions, this might be because the Canadian government wanted to control the use of marijuana in the country so that it was not misused. traded and for what purpose marijuana is used

Talking about privacy, it might be better to use cash rather than digital money to avoid being monitored by the authority. That is the reason why Canada want their citizens using marijuana to use only cash for their protection also. These might not make sense since they legalize the use of marijuana in their nation.

Other areas other than law, as happened in Canada, I also see where the country produces the biggest marijuana like vetnam and thailan, the law is different if the same thing could happen to the two countries it would be easy for the biggest investment in crypto like Bitcoin.

That was a big point. I haven't think there situation upon the legalization of marijuana.

By that being said it seems that this can be a big issue for those countries who were highly against marijuana.

I was just thinking if canadians might be ban from visiting other countries

that can happen, by legalizing marijuana in Canada, it is possible for a country to block Canadian people from visiting the country. but aren't many governments afraid of crypto being used for drug transactions? but what happened in Canada was the opposite

LOL why would any country prohibit Canadian tourist to visit their country?  What has to that will way of living they have in Canada?   In many countries they eat bugs and we let them visit Slovenia. Can you imagine they eat bugs.  Nicole Kidman said that 1 billion of people eat bugs.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3UqLAtdZ04

Using digital money make our transaction more transparant. If we are using crypto for every our transaction, i think its hard for government to trace the transaction but give more transprancy. I am believe crypto will regulated by government because its about technology and government must be want to apply new technology

Because marijuana is one of those drugs that can both be good as a medicine and bad when misused, I think their government are so critical and careful about how the users would be using it for good and not just a drug to be abused. I just think that it could be because it is a great tasked to be done if buying would have to go undetected via anonymous methods like cryptocurrency or any other means. But honestly other than what I think I was really confused as to why they do it that way. Maybe to avoid getting discriminated as users because other nations do not support it? The article didn't suggest as much though.

Seems strangely over the top for what is a normally occurring plant all over North america, especially when its legally available in some parts of the USA anyway so why would it really be such a big border issue for them.   

Canada wants to levy sufficient marijuana tax and prohibits the use of encryption because buyers buy marijuana from formal businesses. But I don't think this will affect the marijuana cryptocurrency market. Cannabis is a very easy to grow plant that does not prevent private planting.

What is the connection of your title and its content. there is a huge difference and the content does not talk about marijuana. Anyway, i will going to comment on the crypto that you wishes to.convey on how it could be use in a god way or abusively because of its privacy feature. The system could be regulated and this is the to prevent or minimize absuvive use of cryptocurrency.

Does marijuana already legal on canada ? by the way on our country marijuana is considered here as illegal drugs , thats why much better if you can buy it using a crypto with a strong privacy or anonimity like monero or deep onion so that you cant be traced by police and nbi's  .

Using a cash to buy marijuana is dangerous because you will not know if some one buy bust you   .

In terms of legality , i heard the press is already  planning it but i dont agree with thier idea because this plant can only cause addiction which can lead to crimes .

I really cannot relate this decision of the Canadian government. As long as marijuana is legal what would be the reason of warning citizens to pay for it with cash? Cash cannot be traced and transactions can occur in the dark so easily. This decision blows my mind and makes me think what game is been played under the table that we can't see.

I wish I know more reason for the control asides taking data. The anonymous coin exchange is still mostly use for drug, arms and other illegal goods, which are consumed by people with higher propensity for crime. The control is a good profess but since they have allowed it initial by such people, it might be a struggle by government to enforce it. Government can also can create coin in that part of exchange and monitor it for those who still prefer buying it with crypto

Marijuana will be legal for using and could be transaction by Canada people, we hope allowed for using bitcoin as payment and make bitcoin price will growing up.

As many people bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are used for all the transactions made on the deep web markets, which involves buying and selling drugs including marijuana, and because its is legal in Canada i don't see a real reason why people should be using cryptocurrency to buy it on the deep web and support criminal activities, i know that it does provide privacy but if you are not doing something illegal that you should not care if you use cash or crypto.

That's true, although Bitcoin possesses different and widely influencing advantages, I think this community has still a limitation which needs to be monitored like when it comes to marijuana, since here it doesnt required processes from the government which may be a reason for the drug syndicates to abused the power of Bitcoin which we dont want to happen.

If you actually read the article you will find out that you are the one not making sense here in this thread. OP is just merely expressing his opinion on the matter how he thought the government always wants to track us down even in our personal information. It is actually mind blowing what the Government of Canada did particularly its Privacy Commissioner they actually want to helped them to remain as much anonymity as they can when purchasing marijuana as they know it can be used against them. If only members like you are taking some time to read this forum will actually be a better place.

It's a plant that makes people feel happy, and a plant that makes people get rid of (physical or mental) pain in a very non stressing manner. It's much better than any other chemically manipulated drug people pump into their body that slowly but surely destroys them from within.

Criminality in whatever form is just a non argument. Whether you legalize it or not, it's always there.

People are indoctrinated to think that certain things in life aren't legal or shouldn't be allowed. Think for yourself instead of following a government that wants to keep you in check in every possible way.

Is this something new to them? Aren't they aware of the silk road before? They should probably have any laws already for acquiring weeds instead of using cryptocurrency as payment. They have all been there before i don't understand why they are making it an issue. Maybe the legalities of cryptocurrency and weeds depend on each border of their country.

Weed legality is still on a big debate, so does cryptocurrencies too.

If they already legalize the purchase and use of marijuana then why make a huge fuss if people starts using crypto currency for purchasing weed its not like you've committed a crime. I guess it's only normal for a country if  they want to protect the value of their fiat and crypto is currently seen as speculative investment so that's why they protect the fiat users.

But finally marijuana is getting attention ive read some benefits of it, im not a smoker of it but i hope more countries starts seeing its benefits in medical use.

I believe that the Canadian government is doing the right thing to warn its citizens about it. Not in every country is the government loyal to the people who use cannabis, so their warning makes sense for those citizens who like to travel frequently to other countries. In other countries, things may not be as friendly as ours in Canada.

So they are wasted when used for what they were designed?


Others have also replied along those lines, which makes me wonder how many actually bothered reading the article. It doesn't even mention crypto. If anything it would make it harder for them to monitor these purchases.

We respect all the policy of each country because we know already that Marijuana is limited become legal. I agree with the government of Canada to avoid using cash to free way the digital technology I know that United States will approved any kind of digital technology specially in Bitcoin crypto currency.