Pubdate: Wed, 14 Dec 2016 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Page: A9 Referenced: http://mapinc.org/url/spC7LQBu FOG LIFTS ON POT SALES Marijuana should be treated as a public health and safety issue, and governments should shy away from using it to raise revenue. That's the biggest takeaway from the report released Tuesday by the federal task force on pot legalization. Its 80 recommendations provide a roadmap Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should follow. The report from the task force, headed by Anne McLellan, a former Liberal cabinet minister, says there are big problems with selling alcohol and pot together, which had been Premier Kathleen Wynne's plan in Ontario. For instance, it notes that some 80 per cent of Canadians drink, while only 11 per cent use marijuana. "There is a significant risk of cannabis and cannabis advertising being introduced to a large number of Canadians who might not otherwise use cannabis," the report warns. It cites Ontario in particular: 137 million transactions are made at LCBOs around the province each year. "The potential for increasing rates of use and co-use run counter to the public health objectives of harm reduction and prevention," the task force says. It doesn't want pot and tobacco sold together, either. The public health approach is evident even in its recommendation that 18 be set as the minimum age to purchase marijuana. Health professionals prefer a minimum age of 21, but the task force felt that would only preserve the less-safe black market, since under-25s are the ones most likely to consume marijuana. "What matters is how we teach parents, children, the public about what the potential risks of cannabis use," said Mark Ware, the task force's vice-chair. The report repeatedly - and rightly - cautions against thinking of pot as a government cash grab, instead saying its legalization should stress harm reduction. "Tax and price policies should ... focus on achieving the government's public health and safety objectives," the report says. "Taxes should be high enough to limit the growth of consumption, but low enough to compete effectively with the illicit market." Many issues remain to be sorted out, such as what constitutes impaired driving under a legal pot regime, and how it's tested. And pertinent details must be dealt with at the provincial and municipal levels. The task force report is not law. But it gives the federal Liberals a fighting chance at framing some coherent ones. The sooner they proceed, the less our cities will be plagued with shady pop-up pot shops, and the sooner everyone will have safe rules for marijuana consumption. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt