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.
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MAP posted-by: Matt