Northern Prohibition = Black Market Opportunity

(Legalize it)
Every denomination
Every color
Every religion
(Legalize it)
--Cypress Hill

Alcohol, as you may know, is not legally purchased for personal use in Nunavut, except through the once-a-year shipments from Rankin Inlet, via water shipment. Otherwise, your only options are a)the black market, or b)having beers at the bars.

Now, I suppose this may cut down on the social ills of alcohol, although it doesn't stop some of the citizens of Iqaluit from getting completely plastered during daylight hours and walking down the middle of the street blowing motorists kisses (yes, I actually saw this last week).

As we know, and myself especially coming from Vancouver, the prohibition of a popular substance leads to a black market sparking a parallel power source (ie: gangs, mafia) which leads to the law of unintended consequences. The attempt to stamp out social ills (alcohol abuse) leads to more social ills (alcohol abuse and gangs).

Which leads us to the news:

Man charged after liquor bust at Iqaluit airport

A 25-year-old man from Pangnirtung, Nunavut, has been arrested after RCMP seized 69 bottles of alcohol at the Iqaluit airport over the weekend.

Jamesie Ishulutaq has been charged with the illegal possession of liquor and keeping liquor for sale.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Iqaluit on May 4, said a Tuesday RCMP news release.

Iqaluit RCMP said they executed a search warrant at the airport on Saturday, seizing 59 12-ounce bottles and 10 60-ounce bottles of liquor.

The street value of the alcohol is estimated at about $13,000, police say.

Yeah, the police estimate of $200/bottle is about as ridiculous as it gets, methinks, but whatever. The higher the estimate, the more impressive the bust.

Anyways, there is no reason to suspect that Jamesie is a gang member or anything, but the potential for gangs to form is there. Iqaluit is a growing town, and will become a serious power centre in a few short years, if capital planning and expenditures stay on track. This means that in the medium term, there will be a push for more alcohol, meaning a more lucrative and thus more competitive (ie: dangerous) black market opportunity for entrepreneurial black marketeers.