Pubdate: Mon, 06 Jun 2016 Source: National Post (Canada) Page: A7 Copyright: 2016 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 WHERE'S THE URGENCY? More than three years after revealing his desire to legalize marijuana, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is just now trying to figure out how. It appears the promise was considered so politically enticing it was made before any of the details could be addressed. Trudeau's views on marijuana were known when he was still campaigning to become Liberal leader. He reiterated them forcefully during last year's federal election campaign. The pledge to legalize pot was reaffirmed in the new government's throne speech in December. Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair would be in charge of the file, we were told in January. Trudeau said he wanted to get to work on the issue "right away." Yet, six months later, we learn that the Liberals are just getting around to appointing former Chretien cabinet member Anne McLellan to head a task force that will begin to sift through the nitty-gritty of legalization. When the task force actually gets down to work, it will - - as with so many other Liberal initiatives - consult "stakeholders," experts and other parties on how to regulate, tax, control, monitor and market the drug. It is expected have a report ready by the first week in November. Health Minister Jane Philpott recently told a United Nations gathering that the government expects to introduce legislation in spring 2017. It may be commendable that the government would take its time in dealing with an issue of such significance. Canadians have already seen the inexperienced Liberals stumble over other professed priorities: they have struggled to meet the June 6 deadline for passing legislation on an assisted dying law, and so mishandled their plan for reform of the electoral system that Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef has been forced into concessions to defuse widespread criticism. Given the potential implications in legalizing marijuana, it is reasonable that the Liberals would want to exercise care. Yet, of all the hundreds of pledges Trudeau made to Canadians, one would have thought his pot plan was one priority he would be prepared to address. Canadians have long since indicated their support for liberalization. Plenty of health studies have been conducted, and ample information is publicly available on other aspects of the issue. Other jurisdictions have moved ahead with legalization, providing models to study. And every province has a system for distributing alcohol and tobacco, offering a degree of experience in how to handle consumer sales of a controlled substance. Yet the Liberals appear surprisingly unprepared. And the ramifications of their sluggish pace have been on display in Vancouver and Toronto, where unlicensed pot outlets have been popping up by the dozen to peddle unregulated supplies of marijuana to recreational users under the guise of "dispensaries" serving "patients." Last month Toronto police raided 43 storefront marijuana shops and arrested more than 90 people, claiming they were acting on complaints from the public, and warning that - in the absence of a new law - there was no means of knowing the origins, strength or potency of the products being sold. The police concerns are valid: large-scale unlicensed pot production remains illegal, and the vacuum created by the Liberals is ripe for exploitation by organized crime. It appears the confusion is set to continue for at least another year. Blair noted in a recent speech that "the current licensed producers are competing with people who don't care about the law, who don't care about regulations, don't care about kids, they don't care about communities, don't care about health of Canadians. They're pretty reckless about it. And so they're selling anything to make a fast buck before we get the regulations put in place." Precisely. Unfortunately, the Liberals appear prepared to give them another year to establish themselves and book easy profits. A better prepared government would have had a more advanced plan. Once again, the Liberals appear far better at talking about government than delivering it. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom