Pubdate: Sun, 26 Jun 2016
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Page: 25
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Andre Marin

PM'S POT CZAR NEEDS CREDIBILITY

If Grits are serious about legalization, things must change

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a shrewd political decision when 
he promised to legalize the use of marijuana in the last election. It 
made him look hip and no doubt delivered many votes and helped him gain power.

Since the October 2015 election, though, the messages from the 
federal government have pointed in the opposite direction.

First, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair was appointed the pot 
czar, overseeing the Liberals' legalization.

Being handed this high-profile file was likely a consolation prize 
for not making it to cabinet.

Regardless, according to statistics provided by the Toronto Police 
Services, during Blair's decade as chief, the number of pot-related 
arrests jumped from 1,837 the year he became chief to 5,610 in the 
first 10 months of 2013.

His appointment raised eyebrows - he sure doesn't look like the 
progressive kind of guy to handle this issue.

His defenders blame former prime minister Stephen Harper's 
tough-on-crime mentality for the charges. That's a weak answer. Prime 
ministers can't order chiefs of police to charge people.

And the police always have the discretion not to charge.

Blair was absolutely apoplectic in his reaction to the TPS raids on 
43 Toronto pot dispensaries, leading to the arrest of 90 people.

He told The Globe and Mail 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, don't care about 
communities, don't care about the health of Canadians. They're 
reckless about it. And so they're selling anything to make a fast 
buck before we get the regulations in place."

That tongue-lashing sounded more like Chief Blair, not so much like a 
government member of Parliament tasked with freeing up marijuana sales.

Second came former health minister Anne McLellan's appointment to 
head a panel on marijuana.

The spin on her appointment was that she is the only minister to have 
held the three relevant portfolios: Attorney general, health minister 
and public safety minister.

If that spin wasn't enough, one industry representative said "it's a 
good source in terms of someone with an understanding of all three 
departments."

Does having good knowledge of bureaucracy trump being forward-minded 
and committed to following through on the prime minister's pledge?

Seventeen years ago, in early 1999, another health minister, Allan 
Rock, presciently stood up in the House of Commons to announce that 
he had tasked his officials with developing a plan to include 
clinical trials for the medical use of marijuana, guidelines for 
medical use and the development for safe access to supply. As soon as 
McLellan replaced Rock as health minister, she halted the review. 
Again, a track record that runs against what she is now tasked to do 
by the federal government.

Meanwhile, the federal government's prosecution department, the 
Public Prosecution Service of Canada, hasn't hesitated in zealously 
prosecuting even the most minor of cases, despite the fact that in 
places like Vancouver and Victoria, the only way to get arrested is 
"to light up in a police station," according to NDP justice critic 
Murray Rankin.

Last week, the Ontario Superior Court overturned the conviction of a 
man who was stopped outside a strip club in Guelph with - wait for it 
- - $10 worth of marijuana, because the police violated his 
constitutional rights. The Crown then proceeded with an application 
under the Civil Remedies Act to seize almost all of the $25,000 in 
cash found in the man's car. All based on one gram, $10 worth of 
marijuana. Sounds like reefer madness to me.

If the federal government truly wants to legalize pot use, it should 
stop prosecuting minor cases and saddling people with criminal 
records for an act soon to be legal. It should also speed up the 
process and put credible, progressive actors to move the plan 
forward. It's losing face with every day it's delayed.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom