Pubdate: Tue, 19 Apr 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Page: A6
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Matt Robinson

4/20 PROTEST LACKS SPARK OF SUCCESS

Pot Activists Face Not-so-highlights, Including Continued Enforcement

Last year's annual 4/20 protest came during a year of major 
milestones for pro-pot lobbyists.

The City of Vancouver had just announced plans to regulate 
dispensaries in defiance of opposition from Ottawa, the Supreme Court 
said medical marijuana users could take the drug any way they choose, 
and the Liberal Party of Canada took office with a pledge to legalize weed.

While those recent highs are still fresh in the minds of pot 
activists like Jodie Emery, this year's protest could be a 
(relatively) more sober affair with pot shops across the city facing 
closure, no change in the federal pot regime in sight and police 
continuing to enforce marijuana laws.

"The last few years were so successful. Things were moving along 
really well," Emery said in a recent interview. "When the Liberals 
got elected, a lot of us felt (a sense of accomplishment). We did 
sign up (party) members, we did help get them in, and clearly 
legalization was a hot topic that didn't hurt them in any way."

But Emery claims that in the months since the election, it has seemed 
the government is more interested in meeting with pot prohibitionists 
than activists and industry leaders.

Meanwhile, public money continues to be spent on enforcing laws in 
relation to the production, trafficking and possession of marijuana, she noted.

"Every day, police are still going after Canadians for pot, and those 
same Canadians are expected to buy it legally a year or two from now. 
It's hypocritical and it's wasteful, and I don't know if it's just 
ignorance or if it's malicious. I don't know what this government's 
goal is, but for us activists, watching the last few months, we are concerned."

Marijuana is still a controlled drug and until parliament has enacted 
new legislation, pot laws remain in force and should be obeyed, said 
Ian McLeod, a spokesman for the federal justice ministry.

The government plans to design a system of strict regulation with 
strong sanctions for those who sell outside that system to keep pot 
"out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of 
criminals," McLeod said.

"We will take the time that is necessary to get this right," he said, 
adding that the next step for the ministry is to launch a task force 
seeking advice from health, law enforcement and public safety experts 
on how legalization should take place.

Changing Canada's pot laws will demand municipal, provincial and 
federal co-operation and international manoeuvring, said Neil Boyd, 
director of Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology. "I think 
they're recognizing that if they want to change the law, it's very 
complex," Boyd said. In the meantime, the country is in a period of 
transition and a "situation not unlike the prohibition of alcohol."

Boyd said there are appropriate ways in which police might want to 
act against marijuana before a new pot regime is in place, but 
criminally charging people is not one of them. Rather, a reasonable 
form of regulation such as confiscation or a ticket in the case of 
someone caught smoking in a public place would be more fitting, he said.

But calls to stop all forms of prosecution of marijuana were 
unreasonable, Boyd added, noting that offences like trafficking are a 
different matter. "The whole point is to take it out of the hands of 
the black market. You don't want to sort of give a green light to the 
black market."

Last year, 132 of Vancouver's pot dispensaries were ordered to shut 
down because they did not meet the city's zoning requirements. Of the 
62 shops that appealed the order, 13 have been heard by the city's 
board of variance and two were successful. The city inspects 
dispensaries regularly and can use fines and legal action to enforce 
its regulations, said Jag Sandhu, a city spokesman.

Emery said many issues remain for pro-marijuana advocates and "we 
need to make sure we don't sit back and let our former opponents - or 
I guess they're still our opponents - dictate policy.

"While we celebrate all the good things, we have to remember that 
it's still illegal and for the most part, nothing has changed." 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D