Pubdate: Tue, 08 Dec 2015 Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2015 Black Press, Inc. Contact: http://www.nanaimodailynews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608 SOLVING THE MARIJUANA QUESTION IS GOING TO TAKE TIME Will the cat-and-mouse game continue? Headlines were made last week, when the Nanaimo RCMP raided three marijuana storefronts in the city and arrested several dispensary employees. Police said they took action against the dispensaries after receiving 'several' complaints from the public. In one case, the police allege, a 15-year-old girl had purchased marijuana from a storefront. Last month, the RCMP issued letters to dispensaries giving the storefronts seven calendar days to shut down or they would be raided. There was no 'where or when' specifications on any crackdowns, but they were to be expected. Also expected is the dispensaries reopened and resumed their business. Who knows how long until more enforcement is taken? We again put out the call for a quick resolution to the issue. We noted previously that with the election of Justin Trudeau's Liberals signalled the likelihood of a quantum change in the way government viewed marijuana. To quote Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould: "We are proceeding in a concerted way in respect to marijuana in terms of legalization and regulation and working with other jurisdictions to approach this in a thoughtful way, so we will be moving forward with that and I'll have more to say in the coming weeks and months." But until those changes actually take place, it only makes sense that we can't have people making up their own rules. The job of the police is to enforce the laws of the land. In no cases should we have people or businesses openly carrying on with potentially illegal activities. While police did not make clear what, if any, charges would be forthcoming, they nonetheless send a message. Heavy-handed? Perhaps. A waste of resources? Debatable. But it remains their job. Again, should there be sympathy for a business that pours capital into a project before they get a full green light, whether from a municipality or the federal government? One thing we have to keep in mind is this is going to take a lot longer than people would like to get the details sorted out. The RCMP simply say enforcement is guided by existing laws and legislation, that there is no legal mechanism in Canada that allows medicinal marijuana dispensaries or compassion clubs to sell to the public. So what happens next? The dispensaries may have jumped the gun and if they want to stay in the game, they will have to abide by the rules and participate in the process of developing new ones. We have a model for this, in alcohol, and it's been adapted into a profitable system, far from the original puritanical intentions. Similarly, we have a model for tobacco production that can be used and adapted to regulate and control the production and sale of marijuana. One issue emerging as a result of dispensaries is separating out health and recreational use. New laws need to acknowledge both and restrict access accordingly since it may be difficult to separate out the two. Education is vital. The risk of irresponsible use has to be countered with an acknowledgement that those who will choose to use pot must also not drive and so on. Many municipalities are waiting for direction from the federal government as to how to deal with the dispensaries. While that direction needs to come quickly, these are also complicated issues that will require time to resolve. In the interim, skirting the law - or outright breaking it - will not bring solutions any faster. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt