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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom