Pubdate: Mon, 30 May 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page: A10
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168

DISPENSING WITH COMMON SENSE

Canada's medical marijuana fiasco came into sharp relief on Thursday 
when police in Toronto raided 45 illegal pot dispensaries and seized 
hundreds of kilograms of cannabis and its related products. Activists 
were outraged, the police were both apologetic and unapologetic, and, 
as always, the public was confused.

The situation is a mess. It is now looking as though the Liberal 
government should have anticipated Canada's chronic confusion when it 
announced last month that it would wait an entire year before 
introducing long-promised legislation to legalize marijuana.

The current law is straightforward. It is illegal to sell marijuana 
for recreational purposes, but legal to do so for medicinal purposes. 
Only patients with prescriptions can get the medicinal stuff, and it 
has to be supplied by a small number of authorized companies that 
deliver the product by mail or courier.

The companies growing medicinal pot cheered last week's busts in 
Toronto, as they worked in their interests. They hope to corner the 
recreational market when it comes online. But other people want in, 
too, which explains why close to 100 so-called dispensaries suddenly 
popped up across Toronto this spring.

Until last week's raids, there were more barriers to selling a hot 
dog in Toronto than there were to selling an ounce of marijuana. The 
owners of the illegal dispensaries argue they are providing a 
compassionate service by creating an easy source of medicinal 
marijuana for people with valid prescriptions. But that is a fiction. 
They are selling a prescription drug, but they aren't licensed 
pharmacies. Many will sell to anyone who comes in. They also peddle 
"edibles" - brownies, cookies, drinks and candies laced with pot that 
aren't subject to any manufacturing standards.

Whatever the Liberals imagine the new world will look like 
post-legalization, it surely won't involve the unregulated mayhem 
that cities from Vancouver to Toronto are now contending with. A 
future law legalizing recreational marijuana will not make it legal 
for anyone to sell it, anywhere and any time, to anyone they want, no 
questions asked. Be serious. The dispensary owners should be the 
first to recognize this.

But it's also understandable in the current legislative vacuum that 
they would stake a claim, even an illegal one, since the government 
has left the future open to interpretation.

The government created the climate that led to the Toronto busts. 
Everyone is angry, everyone is confused, but so far, Ottawa has 
washed its hands of the matter.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom