Pubdate: Thu, 25 Aug 2016
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Kelly Sinoski
Page: A1

B.C. CITIES PUSH OTTAWA FOR A SHARE OF POT TAXES

B.C. municipalities are appealing for a share of future taxes to help
cover the costs of regulating pot dispensaries as marijuana appears
set to become legal in Canada by next spring.

The cities of Duncan, Nelson and Prince George have each put forward
resolutions to the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention next month,
suggesting the UBCM petition the federal government to provide local
governments with a portion of future federal or provincial taxes
collected through marijuana sales and distribution.

Duncan's resolution also suggests the tax-sharing concept be forwarded
to the federal task force set up to design the new regulatory
framework for marijuana.

"We want to make sure there aren't negative impacts for
municipalities. Different communities are dealing with it in different
ways. It's quite a mess out there right now," Duncan Mayor Phil Kent
said.

"If they're going to allow storefront-type dispensaries, there's going
to be a competitive clamouring for space and we would have to decide
where they go. We want to be part of the conversation, so if they have
a framework that affects us, they should be providing some revenue to
support that."

It's not the first time such a request has been made. B.C.'s municipal
politicians voted at their 2012 convention to lobby Ottawa to
decriminalize pot and study the benefits of taxing and regulating
cannabis. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked doctors for their
opinions on the Liberals' promised legalization of the recreational
use of marijuana. He's about to hear an earful from them.

At one of the final sessions of the annual meeting of the Canadian
Medical Association in Vancouver on Wednesday, delegates aired
concerns that a psychoactive drug that affects brain development is
being legitimized to the point the public thinks it's a benign
substance, along with other objections.

Marijuana can be prescribed for medical purposes in Canada, but it is
still illegal for recreational use - although numerous doctors
attending the conference commented on the ubiquitous smell of cannabis
every time they went outside the Westin Bayshore, where the annual
meeting has been held.

Jeff Blackmer, the CMA vice-president of professional affairs, said
after the feds announced plans to legalize marijuana, the CMA was
asked to collect the views of the profession, so an electronic poll
was recently done, eliciting nearly 800 responses. Poll findings include:

Forty-five per cent of doctors said Canadians over the age of 21
should be able to buy legal marijuana and 35 per cent said the age
should be 18 or 19.

When asked where people should be allowed to consume non-medical
marijuana, 80 per cent of doctors said their homes, 36 per cent said
designated public places and 43 per cent said wherever tobacco is permitted.

Seventy-two per cent said government should regulate THC levels in
non-medical marijuana.

Dr. Barb Blumenauer of Kamloops said children have required intensive
care unit admissions and mechanical breathing support from using
marijuana. She called for the establishment of a national database to
measure hospitalizations.

"It is a misnomer that marijuana is a harmless substance. That is
certainly not the case with children," she said, adding that B.C. has
seen pediatric poisoning cases, seizures and comas.

Ottawa obstetrician and gynecologist Jennifer Blake said she can't
recall another drug that has been licensed and legalized with "such
little evidence." She said when the CMA makes its submission to the
federal government, it should stress the need for quality research and
long-term monitoring.
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MAP posted-by: Matt