Pubdate: Sat, 14 May 2016
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Page: A6
Copyright: 2016 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Bartley Kives

HIGH TIME TO ANSWER BURNING QUESTIONS

By this time next year, weed will be well on its way to becoming a
legal in Canada.

Next spring, the Trudeau government intends to introduce legislation
that will effectively legalize the production, distribution and sale
of marijuana and other cannabis products and eliminate penalties for
possession. Precisely what that involves will depend on regulations
that may take longer to put in place - whatever Ottawa decides will
require Canadian provinces and municipalities to make changes of their
own.

Right now, the status of weed sits in a sort of limbo as law
enforcement agencies, governments and potential entrepreneurs watch
and wait to see what precisely winds up being proposed by federal
Health Minister Jane Philpott and parliamentary justice secretary Bill
Blair, the former Toronto police chief.

In the meantime, many Canadians have burning questions about
legalization. Here's what we know and don't know a year away from
Canada's cannabis-friendly makeover:

WHEN WILL WEED REALLY BE LEGAL?

That's anybody's guess. While the legislation is supposed to arrive
next spring, it has to be debated by the Liberal-majority Parliament
and pass through a Conservative senate. Making the changes envisioned
by that legislation will be far more complex, as those changes affect
everything from municipal law enforcement agencies such as the
Winnipeg Police Service, provincial regulators such as the Manitoba
Liquor & Gaming Authority and federal organizations such as the Canada
Border Services Agency.

Canada may also have to consult with the United States and other
countries, as Ottawa has a signed a trio of international treaties
governing the non-medical use of drugs. That won't be easy, regardless
of whether there's a Republican or a Democrat in the White House next
year.

CAN I JUST GO OUT AND START SMOKING RIGHT NOW?

No, not with impunity. Unless you have medical dispensation, cannabis
possession remains illegal. Police still have the discretion of laying
possession charges, though law enforcement agencies don't devote a
tremendous amount of resources toward possession crackdowns.

Marijuana smokers in Canada actually face more of an ethical issue
than they do a legal problem. Much of the weed sold in Canada is grown
and distributed by organized criminal groups who use cannabis
production to support other activities and barter marijuana for
cocaine, guns and sex-trade workers, said Sgt. Carrol MacDonald, the
head of the Winnipeg Police Service's marijuana grow-op unit.

In other words, if you don't know the source of your weed, your
purchasing habits may benefit very bad people. As well, biker weed
isn't known for its quality control.

MacDonald said every time a sample of marijuana seized from a large
Winnipeg grow-op is sent to a lab for testing, it comes back "unfit
for human consumption" due to the presence of contaminants ranging
from fertilizers and insecticides to E. coli and salmonella. Consumers
don't consider this, she said.

"If they don't have a medical licence, they're ingesting garbage," she
said. "What do you expect? This stuff is grown in pungent, mouldy basements."

SO MAY I JUST GROW MY OWN?

No, not unless you have one of those special medical licences. And if
you do start growing, your little home grow-op likely will remain
illegal next year.

Ottawa intends to control the way cannabis is produced and sold. Even
when pot is legal, growing a few plants at home probably will become
the modern-day equivalent of operating a backyard moonshine still.

WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES IN VANCOUVER AND TORONTO?

In those cities, the cannabis cat is out of the bag, and police are
tolerating the situation. In Winnipeg, the police shut down the only
entrepreneur who attempted to start a retail marijuana counter. Any
other efforts will meet a similar fate, MacDonald said.

"We will enforce the law until the legislation is changed," she
said.

City hall is also refusing to entertain the idea of allowing
grey-market dispensaries to set up shop in Winnipeg before Ottawa
rolls out its legalization legislation. An effort by Mynarski Coun.
Ross Eadie to ask city planners to consider the land-use implications
of marijuana dispensaries was shelved this month by other city
councillors.

SO WHERE WILL I BE ABLE TO BUY WEED WHEN IT'S LEGAL?

That depends on what Ottawa decides. It could be government outlets
such as provincial liquor stores, an idea favoured by former Manitoba
premier Greg Selinger, but not all Canadian provinces sell their own
booze at the retail level.

It could be private dispensaries, such as the ones in Colorado and
Washington, where "budtenders" advise customers about the relative
merits of indicus vs. sativa strains of cannabis and the ratios of
psychoactive compounds such as the stone-inducing THC and the calming
agent cannabidiol.

Or it may very well be that the public and private sector will both
play a role in cannabis retailing. Agencies such as Manitoba Liquor &
Lotteries are already studying the situation in Colorado in an effort
to prepare for whatever the Trudeau government proposes.

Liquor & Lotteries CEO John Stinson, who flew to Denver earlier this
year on a research trip, believes weed should be sold at stand-alone
stores of some sort, as opposed to Liquor Marts. But he advocates a
slow rollout, potentially lasting four or five years, in order to
create a retail environment that is not just responsible but effective
in the way it meets the needs of the cannabis-consuming market.

For example, inexperienced users will need to be steered away from
potent cannabis products - and THC-laced edibles must be governed carefully.

"I worry that the stakeholders, both government and private sector, go
'Wow,' rubbing their hands in glee around, 'We can make a lot of money
with marijuana,' and, 'We can make tons of money to help roads and
heath care and all kinds of things,'" Stinson told the Free Press in
March.

Manitoba's new government, meanwhile, isn't ready to even contemplate
legalization.

"Everybody hold tight. Let's first see what kind of legal framework
the federal government is going to put into place. I don't want to
pre-empt that process," said Ron Schuler, Crown Services Minister in
Brian Pallister's Progressive Conservative government. "We will have
to live by that federal legislation."

HOW OLD WILL YOU HAVE TO BE TO BUY CANNABIS?

No less than 18, for starters. Health Minister Philpott has said the
Trudeau government wants to keep weed out of the hands of minors.

The minimum age could wind up being higher, or differ from province to
province, much the same way the minimum age for buying alcohol is now.

Stinson said he favours a minimum age of 25, given the potential
mental-health consequences of cannabis consumption by younger adults,
but added he would also support a cutoff age of 21.

Preventing 18- to 21-year-olds from buying legal weed, however, could
defeat one of the stated intentions of legalization: getting rid of
the underground market for cannabis and depriving organized crime of a
revenue source.

OK, SO WHO WILL PRODUCE LEGAL CANNABIS?

That's a potentially billion-dollar question. Prospective growers are
already jockeying for position to ensure they'll be on the ground
floor when marijuana becomes legal to ship by the bale. How Ottawa
licenses growers will determine who makes a fortune and who winds up
with nothing for their efforts.

Potential distributors also want in. The Shoppers Drug Mart retail
chain, for example, wants to distribute medical marijuana.

Law enforcement agencies, however, warn the underground market will
remain no matter what Ottawa does.

"There's just too much money to be made, so it won't take money away
from the criminal element," MacDonald said. "The government won't be
selling it in large quantities."

HOW MUCH WILL LEGAL CANNABIS COST?

Nobody knows. But one thing is obvious: if regulated weed costs too
much, the underground market will continue to flourish.

WILL CANNABIS SALES ELIMINATE THE FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL DEFICITS?

Probably not. New tax revenue flowing from marijuana sales will be
mitigated by the cost of regulation and enforcement.

Canadian cities, provinces and Ottawa should, however, be able to reap
some financial rewards from the new cannabis industry. The Colorado
experience suggests there is some form of windfall to be had, as
consumers of illegal weed begin buying from legitimate sources that do
pay taxes.

Colorado, for example, collects US$12 million to US$14 million worth
of marijuana taxes, licensing revenues and fees every month, according
the state's revenue department.

It's less reasonable to expect people who don't smoke marijuana now to
suddenly take up the habit.

WHY? WON'T THERE BE CURIOSITY FACTOR?

Sure, at first. But jurisdictions where cannabis is legal have not
reported a huge uptick in cannabis use. Some academics expect the end
of cannabis prohibition to result in less cannabis use.

WHAT ABOUT OUR ROADS? HOW WILL POLICE DEAL WITH STONED DRIVERS?

The same way they deal with them now. If police suspect a driver is
under the influence of THC, they may issue a physical co-ordination
test. If the driver fails, he or she may be subject to a more
extensive drug-recognition evaluation, which involves checking blood
pressure, heart rate and body temperature.

The Winnipeg Police Service already implements both measures and will
continue to do so when cannabis becomes legal.

"Nothing changes in my world," said Const. Stephane Fontaine, the
impaired-driving countermeasures co-ordinator for the Winnipeg Police
Service. "We're still looking for the impaired driver. It does not
matter what the impaired substance is."

While there is no simple test for the presence of THC, some U.S. law
enforcement agencies conduct blood tests to determine the presence of
the psychoactive agent. Fontaine does not favour such a test in
Canada, noting police are probably not the best people to administer
needles to intoxicated motorists.

"I don't want to open that can of worms," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D