Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jun 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Page: A4
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Peter O'Neil

TRUDEAU PREACHES PATIENCE ON POT PLANS

Pot legalization activists who are frustrated that Canadians - 
especially youth - are still getting arrested and stuck with criminal 
records for simple possession need to be patient, says Prime Minister 
Justin Trudeau.

The prime minister, who believes pot should be legal and has admitted 
he toked after being elected to Parliament, defended the Liberal 
government's decision earlier this week to vote down an NDP motion to 
decriminalize simple marijuana possession.

Instead, he urged Canadians to wait until his government finishes 
extensive consultations, plus considers studies of other 
jurisdictions that have already legalized the drug, before drafting 
legislation expected in the first half of 2017.

That raises the possibility a new law won't be in place until 2018.

"I understand the impatience of people who want to have it legalized 
right away, but we know we need to do this right," Trudeau said in an 
exclusive interview while in Vancouver to announce transit funding 
and discuss the local housing affordability crisis.

One Liberal goal with legalization is to reduce access to pot for 
young Canadians.

"Whatever you might like to say about marijuana being not as bad as 
alcohol or cigarettes, it is bad for the developing brain," he said.

Trudeau said decriminalization would do nothing to deal with that 
concern and almost certainly put more riches in the bank accounts of 
organized criminals.

"Where do ... shops get their marijuana from? Largely from criminal 
organizations and gangs, because it's illegal. Now I'm sure some grow 
their own, but we do not have a controlled and regulated regime 
around that, and people are going to have to be patient."

Earlier this week, NDP justice critic Murray Rankin said the existing 
"patchwork" system is unfair because in cities like St. John's, 
Nfld., and Vancouver, pot possession charges are either minimal or 
non-existent, as police focus on dealers and other criminals.

The Victoria MP said Kelowna police lay charges at a rate 25 times 
higher than police in St. John's.

"We are faced with an injustice," Rankin said.

"We are faced with a situation that is difficult to explain to the 
parents of young adults, when I am called by a mother in tears who 
says her child has just been convicted of the possession of small 
quantities of marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom