Pubdate: Tue, 08 Dec 2015
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Page: A8

LET B.C. LIQUOR STORES SELL POT

Selling marijuana in liquor stores makes sense - the stores are in 
the business of selling a controlled substance that alters the mental 
state; they have the necessary expertise and infrastructure.

The B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union has partnered with 
the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association to push for the sale of 
recreational marijuana in public and private liquor stores - if and 
when the federal government legalizes the drug.

It should be sold in a socially responsible way, "in an 
age-controlled environment with a proven track record of ID checks, 
and that's what we currently have within our liquor stores," says 
BCGEU president Stephanie Smith.

The two groups are jumping the gun, but just a little.

Marijuana is still illegal under Canada's Criminal Code, but that will change.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the throne speech on 
Friday to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana" in 
order to keep the drug away from children and the profits away from criminals.

He promised during the election campaign that the government would 
decriminalize marijuana consumption and incidental possession, while 
creating stronger laws to punish those who sell to minors or drive stoned.

Selling of marijuana would require a strict regulatory framework, and 
such a framework already exists with the sale of alcohol. Such an 
arrangement would fall in line with the thinking of many who have 
long advocated that marijuana be treated the same as alcohol.

The marijuana issue in Canada is a mess. Supreme Court rulings have 
made it difficult, in some cases impossible, to prosecute those who 
use marijuana, even though possession and use of it for other than 
medical purposes is still a criminal offence.

The resulting legal limbo has created a Wild West situation that only 
promises to become more confusing.

Federal regulations will be welcome. Federally mandated research will 
be even more welcome. We know marijuana is not as portrayed in the 
1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness: a drug that turns users into 
psychopaths. But neither is it a benign herb with no ill effects. 
Finding the truth that lies somewhere between those two extremes has 
been difficult, because marijuana has not been adequately studied 
scientifically.

Many tout marijuana as a medicine, and evidence indicates the plant 
has considerable pharmaceutical potential, but it should undergo the 
rigorous testing of any drug.

Decriminalization is long overdue, and putting it under the same sort 
of regulations that govern liquor seems appropriate.

But taking it out of the Criminal Code is only one step.

The federal government should open the doors to research that can 
bring to light more information, good and bad, about this drug.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom