Pubdate: Mon, 03 Oct 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Grant Robertson
Page: A3

CITIES CHALLENGED BY OTTAWA'S POT PLAN

Vancouver mayor says lack of federal regulation has led to boom in
storefront dispensaries, leaving municipalities to deal with fallout

The federal government's handling of marijuana legalization has
created problems that Canada's cities are unequipped to handle,
Vancouver's mayor says.

Ottawa's plan to legalize the drug - a key piece of the Liberal
election platform last fall - has spawned hundreds of storefront
dispensaries across the country ahead of the legislation, although the
federal government has taken no responsibility for the boom it has
created.

Cities such as Vancouver and Toronto are grappling with problems
ranging from policing and zoning to the discovery of potentially
dangerous contaminants in some of the dispensary products that pose a
threat to public health.

"The lack of federal regulation and oversight has made the marijuana
issue a city problem," Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson told The Globe
and Mail in an interview. "And cities don't have the capacity or
expertise to deal with it."

Mr. Robertson's comments follow recent revelations that Health Canada
was warned about harmful contaminants in marijuana sold at several
Vancouver dispensaries, but did not act.

Documents obtained through the Access to Information Act revealed that
test results from a Health Canada-accredited lab that were sent to the
federal government showed that 13 of 22 samples of cannabis from
Vancouver dispensaries contained harmful contaminants, including some
not approved for human use.

The contaminants included the pesticide carbamate, which is not
permitted for cannabis, and dodemorph, which is not approved for human
consumption. The test results were sent to the government nearly a
year ago by Tilray, a federally licensed producer of medical marijuana
based in Nanaimo, B.C., which called for the government to regulate
dispensaries or shut them down.

The names of the dispensaries were redacted from the documents
obtained by The Globe due to privacy laws. However, the original
documents sent to Health Minister Jane Philpott's chief of staff
included information on each location. The government did nothing with
the warning, and did not alert the City of Vancouver to the problem.

Kerry Jang, a Vancouver city councillor, criticized the federal
government for sitting on the documents. Dr. Jang, a psychiatrist who
is a point person on marijuana issues for the city, called Health
Canada's actions irresponsible.

Although dispensaries have flourished, doing a lucrative business out
in the open in some places, the Health Minister's office said in a
statement that Health Canada considers them illegal, and therefore not
part of its responsibility.

"Whether it's illegal or not right now is not the question," Dr. Jang
said. "We need to see some action from the federal minister. Not this
'It's illegal and I am hiding.' It's just inappropriate."

While Toronto has attempted to control the dispensary boom through
zoning bylaws and sporadic crackdowns, the efforts have not prevented
new locations from opening. Vancouver has a nascent licensing program
for dispensaries that attempts to exert control over where the retail
stores are situated, but the city has no way to influence the safety
or efficacy of the product.

Mr. Robertson said the test results published in The Globe suggest
more needs to be done at all levels of government. "Knowing what we
know now, there's a need to do better," he said.

However, Mr. Robertson said the problems with potentially harmful
chemicals finding their way to the public is something the federal
government needs to confront.

"The production side - the products being produced - that ultimately
is Health Canada's responsibility," he said. "We can't deal with that;
we don't have those tools."
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MAP posted-by: Matt