Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jul 2016
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 The Edmonton Journal
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Paula Simons
Page: A4

PANEL TO STIR THE POT ON MARIJUANA POLICY

McLellan to lead advisory group through a tangle of thorny questions

"I've always been more interested in policy than politics," says
Edmonton lawyer and former Liberal deputy prime minister Anne McLellan.

Former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan has just been named to
chair the federal government's Task Force on Marijuana Legalization
and Regulation.

That's handy because late last week McLellan was named chairwoman of
federal government's new Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and
Regulation. She's going to need all of her policy-wonk passion - and
all her expertise as Canada's former minister of health, minister of
justice and minister of public safety - to succeed.

McLellan's nine-member panel has been charged with the task of coming
up with a regulatory framework for legalized cannabis. Its mandate is
sweeping.

Where should marijuana be marketed and sold? In pharmacies? In liquor
stores? In special adult-only pot shops? Via mail order and websites?

Who should be able to grow marijuana? Should individuals be able to
cultivate their own or should certain licensed growers be given a
government monopoly?

Who should be able to buy it? Should it be against the law for people
under 16? Under 18? Under 21? If so, what should the penalties be for
consuming it while underage or providing it to minors?

Where should people be able to use marijuana? In the privacy of their
homes? In their back yards? In special toking zones? While walking
down the street?

How should marijuana be taxed? And how should those tax revenues be
split between federal and provincial governments?

How do we test drivers or workers to see if they're impaired? And can
you test an employee for cannabis use if it's legal?

How do we regulate and label marijuana and cannabis products so that
people know how much hash is in their brownies or how much THC is in
their weed?

Those are just a few of the complicated legal, medical and social
questions and quandaries the volunteer panel has to tackle.

"We're all seized with the importance of this. We're the first country
to move in this direction. As a nation, we're breaking new ground and
that's obviously a big challenge," says McLellan. "But I think it's
clear now that the current situation is not working. We need to find a
new way forward."

"Pragmatic, useful, balanced recommendations - that is our
goal."

The illicit trade in marijuana, McLellan says, generates $7 billion in
annual income for organized crime in Canada.

"We want to take the profit out of marijuana for those who would
profit illegally."

McLellan says the government isn't imagining a future of cool cannabis
bakeries, bistros and bars.

"The government is not in the business of encouraging use," she
says.

"Most people who work and research in this area will tell you
marijuana is not a benign substance. But alcohol is not a benign
substance. Tobacco is not a benign substance."

What she's hoping for, instead, is a regulatory regime that safeguards
consumers, protects children, squeezes out organized crime and
basically makes pot as uncool as possible.

"We want to de-normalize marijuana use, analogous to tobacco in that
regard."

McLellan and her fellow panellists - who include doctors,
criminologists, lawyers and law enforcement veterans - will hold
roundtables with interested parties and policy experts across the country.

Some members may visit American states, including Washington and
Colorado, to see how their different approaches to legalization are
working. But they're also looking for online input from the general
public from anyone who has an informed opinion about what a legalized
cannabis system should look like.

The marijuana task force isn't proceeding at a stoner's laid-back
pace. McLellan hopes to have all the research and interviews completed
by the end of August so the panel and its staff can spend the next two
months coming up with a final public report by November.

"Now, at the end of the day, it will be up to the government to decide
whether they're going to accept all of our recommendations or some of
our recommendations, or modify our recommendations.

"Obviously," she adds with a slight chuckle, "I'll be disappointed if
they don't accept any of our recommendations."

Once the report is written, McLellan's role shaping policy will be
over.

It will then be up to the Trudeau government to finesse the pot
politics, and convince provincial premiers and Canadians on all sides
of the marijuana debate that whatever compromise the task force
recommends will actually work.
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MAP posted-by: Matt