Pubdate: Thu, 17 Mar 2016 Source: Metro (Edmonton, CN AB) Copyright: 2016 Metro Canada Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/Edmonton Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4475 Author: Samantha Power Page: 3 POT IS NO LAUGHING MATTER: ADVOCATES Finance Minister Joe Ceci said he won't be quitting his day job after his comedy routine failed to land a laugh. In an address to the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties in Edmonton Wednesday, Ceci included a joke that liquor stores could become pot dispensaries if marijuana was ever legalized by the federal government. Twitter exploded. Ceci quickly backtracked. "It wasn't that funny, unfortunately," Ceci said to reporters after the talk. And pot advocates were not laughing, either. Melissa Finlay of the Alberta Cannabis Culture Society said the use of pot and liquor are two very different things, and that marijuana dispensers must be knowledgeable in the medicinal uses of the drug. "Cannabis is used medicinally and that seems to get lost in this hype of legalization for recreational use," Finlay, a cofounder of the society, said. Although Ceci was joking, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne made a similar suggestion late last year. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt