In the face of the BCGEU strike, here’s how students can get creative during an alcohol and cannabis shortage
Illustration by Sage Blackwell.
The British Columbia General Employees’ Union (BCGEU), has been on strike since Sept. 2 in Victoria, recently expanding to include general employees in liquor and cannabis warehouses across B.C. The strike now includes more than 10 000 workers across the province, who are demanding fair wages in the face of an affordability crisis.
While this may not mean closure of retail outlets for the Cannabis and Liquor industry, it does mean that supply will not be replenished in the coming weeks. You may be seeing more empty shelves at your local dispensary or liquor store, and a restock will depend on the B.C. provincial government’s response at the bargaining table.
It’s no secret that substances like alcohol and cannabis are a common part of university culture, for better or worse. According to a survey by the Canadian Government, 79 per cent of post-secondary students have consumed alcohol in the past year, and 43 per cent have consumed cannabis in the last year. With more than three quarters of students accessing alcohol, and just under half accessing cannabis, students may have to find creative ways to satisfy their habits in the face of the BCGEU strike.
The Martlet has taken the time to brainstorm several innovative yet entirely feasible ways UVic students can cope with alcohol and cannabis shortages this fall.
McPherson Toilet Wine
Most UVic students who frequent the McPherson Library are aware of the mysterious empty stalls in the basement bathrooms. With so much empty space, there is some serious potential here for prohibition-style liquor production — it’s private, it’s free real estate, and people tend not to linger (thank you ghosts of bowel movements past). As UVic ranks #1 in Canada for contributions to sustainable cities and communities, finding new and creative uses for pre-existing spaces to serve the community is right up our alley. Additionally, maybe some light illegal activity in the bathrooms will inspire UVic to actually close the gaps between the stall door and walls. Win-win!
Enjoy a Nice Campus Fruit Salad
Food on campus can be a hit or miss. Most students at UVic have a story about buying fresh produce at a campus food outlet and being less than impressed with how “fresh” it really is. However, soggy pineapple and cantaloupe may just be a saving grace for supplying homemade liquor if shortages persist. Why buy expensive liquor when you can enjoy a lightly fermented fruit salad at the Cove, or an aged Health Food Bar smoothie? It’s basically the same thing as hard kombucha.
The Petch Building Sauna
Cannabis plants are often grown in humid and hot environments, and thankfully, UVic has just the space for this: the Petch building. This summer, graduate students in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology reported temperatures in the Petch building reaching over 32℃, despite the university’s standard being 23℃–25℃ for laboratories. This is due to factors such as south-facing windows, equipment heat, and hot water baths that generate great amounts of humidity, wreaking havoc on these students’ well-being and their research.
While students struggle for temperature regulation in the Petch building, there is another organism that would love this space in the meantime. Just picture the tour groups for prospective science students through Petch stumbling upon a sea of green plants thriving in the stifling heat, tended to lovingly by red-eyed and giggly biology students. While some may leave plugging their nose from the dank scent, others might leave with the word “utopia” on their lips and an application with UVic’s name on it.
Let the BCom Students At It
Now, surely you’re wondering, with so much production potential at UVic, who will be responsible for retail?
Canada’s cannabis industry has contributed over $76 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product(GDP) since legalization in 2018, and created nearly 100 000 jobs annually for Canadians. With such lucrative margins, Gustavson School of Business students may be interested in dipping their toes into the cannabis market. With so many young and eager minds, professors might consider assigning business students projects to explore creative market strategies on campus.
Instead of being a dreaded sight on the quad and in your classes, BCom students could become harbingers of good times and good kush.
That guy in the three piece suit who talks about the stock market like it’s god? He could be your next cannabis outlet, and you know the service will be good because he’s being marked on his sales margins. The mystery of what the hell is in all those tiny Euphoria-style purses BCom students wear to class, that could never fit a laptop? Solved.
Students have always been the innovators in society, and there’s no time like the present for UVic to be on the cutting edge of creative solutions in the face of the BCGEU strike. Until fair wages are bargained for, liquor and cannabis may remain in low supply, but students can still remain high (spirited) with these potential suggestions.
