Pubdate: Tue, 13 Sep 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Tonda MacCharles
Page: A1

TASK FORCE CHIEF SAYS GO SLOW ON REFORM

Anne McLellan says lessons from U.S. show changing laws will lead to
some 'surprises'

OTTAWA- Anne McLellan, leader of the federal task force on how to
legalize pot, says it's critical that Canada "go slow" on reforming
marijuana laws.

In an interview with the Star as the task force concluded public
consultations and begins to screen recommendations to government,
McLellan said there are "important lessons" to be taken from places
that have already loosened marijuana laws - chief among them to
introduce change slowly.

"One of the things we have learned, or we have heard . . . from states
like Washington and Colorado . . . is take your time because it's much
harder to pull something back than it is to perhaps be a little bit
more restrictive out of the box and then, as you learn, you maybe
loosen things up a bit," she said Monday.

The Canadian Medical Association has urged the task force to adopt a
phased-in approach toward legalizing marijuana, including possibly
starting with pilot projects in smaller regions. The group
representing Canada's physicians also wants a strict minimum age of 21
for marijuana consumption, with other controls on users under 25.

McLellan, who has served in previous Liberal governments as health,
justice and public safety minister, said the task force is still
working through what approach it will recommend.

She said the question of whether to have separate recreational and
medical marijuana regimes is "one of the toughest issues." She said
the task force will have a recommendation for the government but "we
haven't come to ground on it" yet.

McLellan said no matter how much planning all levels of government do,
it is clear "there will be surprises" that will require government to
adapt any regime. She said she was not speaking for the task force as
a whole but said it has learned from approaches adopted by other
jurisdictions, as well as from a series of domestic
consultations.

Any system that lifts criminal sanctions on marijuana and legalizes
sales must be a "robust regulatory system" accompanied by "very robust
and co-ordinated public education campaigns focused on public health
messaging" - for parents and schools about the impacts of marijuana
use on children, she said.

And all levels of government must closely work together - with some
experts recommending a national co-ordinating agency that would act as
"an early warning system" for developments that will require the
system to change, she said.

"There has to be a high degree of collaboration and co-ordination and
I can tell you the task force will talk about that as a general principle."

In Colorado, lawmakers did not foresee the popularity and explosive
growth of edible marijuana products - in chocolate, lollipops, candies
or gummy bears. McLellan said the state didn't have rules around
advertising, around whether producers could make "THC-infused
lollipops or jujubes that were particularly attractive to children."

McLellan acknowledged the legalization agenda "poses problems for
countries and individuals beyond our border." Canada's signature is on
three international law treaties that require criminalization of
marijuana. And while four U.S. states - Washington, Oregon, Alaska and
Colorado, along with the District of Columbia, have legalized access,
U.S. federal law means admitted or convicted marijuana users are
barred from entry.

Yet McLellan said the Canadian government has "an important narrative"
articulated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and in the Liberal party
platform - that "there's going to be strict regulation. And that
should be very reassuring to the international community."

McLellan "never thought it was going to be simple."

Still, she said she has realized after several weeks of travelling to
other jurisdictions, holding expert roundtables, and receiving 30,000
submissions (about 500 from organizations) that it is a massively
complicated project.

"The word legalization is a big word, it's an easy word to say, but
when you start to deconstruct what that means for Canadian society as
we move from prohibition to legalization, the complexity of the issue,
I think, is what has surprised me the most."

The government is working backwards from a self-imposed deadline to
introduce legislation sometime in the 2017 spring session of
parliament, which goes into June, and has given the task force until
Nov. 30 to report.

McLellan said a majority of the submissions are in favour of "moving
from a prohibitory model towards legalization" with a "distinct
minority" opposed to legalization.
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MAP posted-by: Matt