Pubdate: Mon, 16 May 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Page: A11
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Joe Cressy
Note: Joe Cressy is the city councillor for Ward 20 and the chair of 
the Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Panel.

THE CASE FOR LEGALIZING CANNABIS

These days it seems everyone is talking about pot. The prime minister
often speaks about the impending legalization across our country. And
in Toronto, everyone is talking about dispensaries.

Later this month, Toronto's Board of Health will consider a report
from the city's top doctor regarding the legalization of cannabis in
Canada. For the sake of public health and harm reduction, the board
should endorse a legalization approach.

The move to legalize and regulate cannabis in Canada is long overdue.
The criminalization of pot and the war on drugs has failed. It doesn't
act as a deterrent. It's a waste of money ($1.2 billion is spent every
year on this failed approach). And the lasting impact on people is
awful: 60,000 Canadians are arrested for possession every year; and
more than 500,000 Canadians are carrying a criminal record for this
offence. Far too often, enforcement of these laws has
disproportionally targeted marginalized populations. These harms are
real . . . and with a regulated approach, they are avoidable.

It is time for a new approach to cannabis focused on public health and
safety. On this, many of us agree. The task now is to develop a
regulatory framework and that's where things get interesting.

Let's start with some basics. Cannabis is the most commonly used
(currently) illegal drug in Canada. According to research conducted by
the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 14 per cent of
adults and 23 per cent of high school students reported using cannabis
in the past year. Not insignificant numbers. People have smoked,
ingested and vaped pot for years. It's clearly not going away.

Cannabis use may be commonplace today, but so are the harms associated
with it. As Toronto's Medical Officer of Health and CAMH have
reported, there are real health risks. Like tobacco, there are serious
respiratory impacts. When used frequently, it can affect memory and is
associated with increased risk of impairment to cognitive
functioning.

Let's not kid ourselves, while cannabis offers very important
medicinal benefits, it can also bring significant harms. It is not
benign - that's why we need a strong regulatory framework.

For these reasons, it is very good news that the government of Canada
has committed to bringing forward a legalized regulatory framework. A
regulatory approach will allow us to mitigate the negative health
effects while avoiding the broader social impacts of
criminalization.

The challenge now is striking the right balance when implementing
federal regulations. Among advocates of legalization, many of us will
agree on principle and disagree on the details of the correct approach.

Legalization can take many forms with varying degrees of regulation.
If we approach cannabis legalization with public health and harm
reduction in mind, a range of issues need to be considered: cannabis
content, access, age-appropriateness, marketing restrictions, pricing,
medicinal and recreational use, among others. The details matter.

In Toronto, we're dealing with the growth of cannabis dispensaries:
there are currently more than 100. Let's be clear, under the current
federal law these dispensaries are operating outside the law and have
expanded their businesses and community presence far outside the
intended scope of current medical marijuana regulations.

While medicinal marijuana is legal (and should be!), under the current
law you have to be a licensed provider and you can't operate out of a
retail storefront. While recreational pot use will soon be legal in
Canada, it is not today. In the meantime, we're stuck in a legal grey
zone that isn't ideal for anyone. While we await new federal
legislation, municipalities and neighbourhoods are facing a situation
akin to unregulated legalization.

We need the federal government to move quickly to legalize marijuana.
Many have asked what, if anything, the city can do in the interim.
Mayor John Tory has asked Municipal Licensing and Standards to explore
options.

While it is appropriate and necessary for the city to explore all
options, this will take time and may not ultimately work. For example,
the city could spend months to develop new bylaws for dispensaries,
only to be told by the federal government cannabis will be distributed
via pharmacies or through the LCBO.

Municipalities are stuck in legislative limbo. We need direction and
we need it quickly.

With legalization coming we have a chance to implement drug policy
focused on public health. A century of trying to arrest our way to a
solution has failed. The task now is to get the details of a legal
regulatory framework right.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D