Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jan 2016
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Mike Blanchfield
Page: B2

GRITS FACE LONG BATTLE TO LEGALIZE POT

MARIJUANA: Trudeau's plans could face stiff international opposition,
especially from the U.S.,

OTTAWA - The Liberal government will have to do substantial work on
the international stage before it can follow through on Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana, new documents suggest.

That work will have to include figuring out how Canada would comply
with three international treaties to which the country is a party, all
of which criminalize possession and production of marijuana.

Trudeau's plan to legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana
is already proving a complicated and controversial undertaking on the
domestic front, in part because it requires working with the provinces.

Internationally, says a briefing prepared for the prime minister,
Canada will have to find a way to tell the world how it plans to
conform to its treaty obligations. The note to Trudeau was obtained by
The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act.

Errol Mendes, a constitutional and international law expert at the
University of Ottawa, says the government faces a long, hard slog in
the global arena before it can legalize pot at home.

Legalization, he said, is a growing movement among some countries,
particularly in Latin America, but it faces stiff opposition in the
United States - including within some quarters of the Obama
administration. If the Republicans win the White House in November,
the opposition will be even stronger in a country where some see
legalizing pot "as the thin edge of the wedge," Mendes said.

"It will be an ongoing dialogue which has to be dealt with at the
highest levels, and it's not going to be an easy one, and it's not
going to be a quick one, either. It's going to take many years." The
memo to Trudeau noted the world's drug problem will be the focus of a
special session of the United Nations General Assembly in April.

"At the meeting, several South American countries as well as Mexico
wish to discuss what they perceive as more effective policy approaches
to respond to the current realities of the drug problem, which could
include decriminalization/legalization of illicit drugs, harm
reduction, and/or a call to renegotiate the international drug control
conventions."

Mendes said Canada could still find a way to adhere to the treaties,
but will have to show that legalizing marijuana helps reduce illicit
drug use. The Liberals plan to remove marijuana consumption and
incidental possession from the Criminal Code, while creating new laws
with heavy penalties to those who give it to minors or operate a motor
vehicle under its influence.

Trudeau has promised to set up a task force comprising federal,
provincial and municipal government, while seeking input from experts
in public health, substance abuse and the police, to design a new
system of marijuana sales and distribution.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt