Pubdate: Thu, 27 Oct 2016
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Brian Hutchinson
Page: A4

WHO WANTS CASUAL POT? NOT SO MANY

Deloitte survey says only 40% want legalization

A large majority of Canadians wants marijuana to be legalized and made
available for sale to every adult in the country, regardless of
medical need. Right?

Maybe not. A new survey conducted by a major financial advisory
company and obtained by the National Post ahead of its release casts
some doubt on that piece of conventional wisdom. Deloitte LLP surveyed
5,000 Canadians 19 years and older this summer and found that only 40
per cent favour marijuana legalization, with almost as many opposed,
throwing shade on one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's key campaign
promises from the 2015 federal election.

In B.C., the province most closely associated with pot production and
consumption, 42 per cent of people surveyed were in favour of
legalization, with 33 per cent opposed. Next door in Alberta, more
people were actually opposed to legalization than in favour of it. In
Ontario, 40 per cent were in favour with 36 per cent opposed, while
Quebecers were almost evenly divided.

The Deloitte findings seem at odds with results from similar but
smaller surveys conducted earlier this year by other firms, when as
many as 75 per cent of respondents nationwide said they supported
legalization.

The latest survey comes just ahead of a final report from the federal
Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, to be delivered
next month to Trudeau and his cabinet. Chaired by former Liberal
cabinet minister Anne McLellan, the nine-person task force is meant to
"provide advice for the design of a new legislative and regulatory
framework" for recreational pot.

Trudeau may never turn back from his commitment to make Canada the
first G7 country to allow casual marijuana consumption, but
implementing the scheme will be complicated. Legislation based on the
McLellan report is supposed to be introduced in parliament next
spring, but Canadians won't be buying from government-sanctioned pot
shops for some time yet.

Canada's existing international treaty obligations may have to be
"adjusted," as bureaucrats working on the file acknowledged, in a
briefing note sent to the prime minister and obtained earlier this
year by The Canadian Press. But that's just one of the serious
challenges that will keep recreational pot on the back-burner.

Who will be allowed to grow marijuana that's meant for the casual
consumer? Where will it be sold, in what form, and at what potency?
How much tax will Ottawa apply to the recreational-use product? What
role will the provinces play? And what is the point - and predicted
outcome - of all this?

According to Trudeau and his ministers responsible, the main objective
behind legalization is the removal of criminal elements from pot
production and sales. That could work. But don't expect a big windfall
to follow. Placing high taxes on legal pot would simply return
consumers to the underground market.

Washington State fell into the "tax-the-hell-outof-it" trap when it
legalized recreational pot two years ago, and the black market
flourished. State authorities had to scale back their marijuana
taxation rates in order to direct consumers into sanctioned pot shops.
Even so, illicit marijuana sales still account for about 28 per cent
of the entire market, says Rick Garza, director of the Washington
State Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Deloitte asked its 5,000 respondents - 1,000 of whom identified
themselves as current recreational pot consumers - to name their
preferred retail channel for legal weed. One-quarter of those surveyed
chose "pharmacies," while 18 per cent said they prefer privately owned
pot shops, and another 18 per cent picked "new government-owned
marijuana retailers." Existing government and private liquor stores,
groceries and supermarkets were less popular options.

Perhaps it's little wonder the Shoppers Drug Mart retail chain
announced this week it has applied for a federal licence to sell
medical marijuana to patients with a prescription.

Currently, Canada' s 40,000-plus medical marijuana patients with valid
prescriptions are allowed to grow their own weed, buy from other
individual growers with personal-use permits, or purchase from
large-scale, highly scrutinized and regulated "licensed producers" who
distribute their products using mail delivery only.

There are no federally approved, bricks-and-mortar pot shops in Canada
at present, only illicit dispensaries in such places as Vancouver and
Toronto. Should a chain such as Shoppers get a toehold in the medical
marijuana distribution network, asking permission to sell recreational
pot seems a logical next step.

If there's one thing on which everyone seems to agree, the appetite
for weed remains strong, despite warnings from the McLellan task force
and others about potentially adverse impacts to health. Deloitte
reports that based on its survey results, the annual market for legal
weed in Canada ranges from $4.9 billion to $8.7 billion, which is in
line with projections from financial analysts. Deloitte also sees a
"potential upside" of at least $22.6 billion per year in Canada,
should marijuana be legalized.

And that is why government-approved pot is coming to a neighbourhood
near you, eventually, like it or not.
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MAP posted-by: Matt