Pubdate: Thu, 29 Oct 2015 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 NORTH AND SOUTH, POT LEGAL REFORM MOVING Can Canada help Orange County and the rest of California out of a legal haze on marijuana? The Great White North just elected Justin Trudeau as prime minister. His Liberal Party offered a campaign plank that promises, "We will legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana. Canada's current system of marijuana prohibition does not work. It does not prevent young people from using marijuana, and too many Canadians end up with criminal records for possessing small amounts of the drug." It's not total legalization, because the policy also calls for creating "new, stronger laws to punish more severely those who provide [marijuana] to minors, those who operate a motor vehicle while under its influence and those who sell it outside of the new regulatory framework." We'll see how exactly that is implemented, but the framework is similar to U.S. and Canadian laws concerning alcohol and to recreational-pot legalization laws in Colorado and other states. "It's a positive example for California," Dale Gieringer told us; he's the coordinator for the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "We welcome any countries jumping on the bandwagon of legalization." He also pointed to marijuana's legal status being taken up this month by the Mexican Supreme Court. "Our neighbors both north and south seem to be interested in proceeding," he said. The Huffington Post reported the Mexican case "could lead to the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes if followed up with legislation." Legalization could become a huge blow to the profits of the narcotraficantes, whose fierce rivalries have killed thousands of Mexicans. In California, confusion still reigns, especially for dispensaries in Orange County, over Proposition 215, which voters passed in 1996 and which legalizes medical marijuana. Only this year did the state Legislature finally regularize the dispensaries - yet the three bills only partly cleared up the confusion. A state initiative to decriminalize recreational use of marijuana could go before voters next year. Mr. Gieringer said NORML soon will submit the final wording, followed by gathering of signatures. In the meantime, we will monitor events in Canada. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom