Pubdate: Wed, 21 Oct 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Charles Hamilton
Page: A1

MARIJUANA ADVOCATES 'CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC' ABOUT GRITS' POT PROMISES

With a Liberal government headed to Ottawa, advocates of legalizing 
marijuana are optimistic it will soon be legal for anyone to fire up 
a joint in Canada.

"I think it really signals a change across Canada," said Ken Sailor, 
a longtime marijuana advocate in Saskatoon.

Justin Trudeau, the country's new Prime Minister-designate, has not 
yet outlined a specific plan for the legalization of the popular 
recreational drug, but he ran on a campaign promising to legalize it.

The fact that a pledge to legalize weed didn't sink Trudeau's 
campaign means Canadians are ready for more fair drug laws, Sailor 
said. "The idea that we are protecting anybody by making drugs 
illegal is just crazy. There is no evidence to support that."

Others are more cautious in their optimism.

"All we're going on is one man's word. Whether or not he actually 
delivers, we won't know that until after his first 100 days in 
office," said Jeff Lundstrom, owner of Skunk Funk Smokers' Emporium, 
a head shop in Saskatoon.

Despite Lundstrom's admitted distrust of politicians and political 
promises, he said he hopes Trudeau's campaign rhetoric turns into 
solid action. In the meantime, he hopes law enforcement takes notice.

"I hope the police take a step back and stop arresting people and 
searching people for marijuana because they know the platform of 
legalization is coming," he said.

Canada's top police chief said the laws as they are will continue to 
be enforced until Trudeau changes them.

"Until we hear anything further from federal prosecutions or new 
legislation, it will be business as usual for the enforcement of our 
marijuana laws," said Clive Weighill, Saskatoon's police chief and 
president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP).

Weighill and the CACP have already called on the government to reduce 
simple marijuana possession to a ticketable offence rather than a 
criminal charge. He said handing out tickets to people who are caught 
with small amounts of pot rather than arresting them will reduce the 
burden on police officers and the court system.

That doesn't mean the association favours legalization, however.

"We are not saying we want to see it legalized per se, but we are 
saying we can handle it in a different manner," Weighill said.

One man who's been watching the marijuana debate closely is Mark 
Hauk, head of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club, the province's first 
medical marijuana dispensary. While he's careful to keep discussions 
about medical marijuana and recreational legalization separate, he 
said he is breathing easier knowing the Liberals are in power.

"The difference for us today is feeling a lot less pressure, because 
we have a government in power that wants to move forward with 
sensible regulations as opposed to prohibition," Hauk said.

Users and people in the industry need to understand that legalization 
is not a free-for-all, he added.

"People are rejoicing in the cannabis community, thinking it's going 
to be a free-for-all, and the reality is we're probably going to end 
up with more regulations than we had before."

Sailor noted working models already exist in jurisdictions like 
Colorado, where pot is legal. He hopes Canada follows a similar model 
and reaps the tax dollars in return, he said.

"We have to provide a way of legal growing, legal distribution, legal selling."

Sailor said legalization will likely reduce the number of young 
people using the drug and make it safer because people won't have to 
turn to the black market to access marijuana.

"This can only be good for our children by taking the black market 
out of their world," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom