Pubdate: Fri, 16 Dec 2016
Source: Whitehorse Star (CN YK)
Copyright: 2016 Whitehorse Star
Contact:  http://www.whitehorsestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1493
Author: Sidney Cohen
Referenced: http://mapinc.org/url/spC7LQBu

DETAILS OF MARIJUANA REGULATION REMAIN HAZY

Legal weed may not be the "revenue cash cow" provinces and territories
were hoping for, says the Yukon's assistant deputy minister of justice.

Legal weed may not be the "revenue cash cow" provinces and territories
were hoping for, says the Yukon's assistant deputy minister of justice.

While the recreational marijuana market will open up new revenue
streams, said Al Lucier, those dollars, at least in the early days,
will be funneled into awareness and education campaigns, research and
policy enforcement.

"The regulatory and enforcement aspects that will come in with these
changes will certainly offset revenues generated by the taxation of
the products," Lucier said in an interview this week. He is also a
senior official in a working group on the legalization, regulation and
restriction of cannabis in Canada.

On Tuesday, a cannabis legalization task force, chaired by former
Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, released a report with more
than 80 recommendations for how to regulate marijuana and end nearly a
century of prohibition in Canada.

Among them, the federal task force suggests a minimum age of 18 for
the purchase of pot, or slightly older, in keeping with the legal
drinking age in different provinces and territories.

It also proposes strict rules around pot promotion, similar to those
surrounding tobacco. The task force calls for a ban on packaging that
would make pot look like candy or be otherwise "appealing to children."

It's also important, the task force noted, that marijuana not be taxed
to the point where consumers turn to illegitimate dealers for cheaper
herb.

How legal marijuana will be regulated, sold and policed in the
territory remains hazy, to say the least.

Will the Yukon government wholesale to private dispensaries, or will
it operate its own weed stores? Might marijuana be sold at pharmacies?

Will the government approve marijuana lounges? What about smoking in
public places, like parks?

Whatever the marijuana legislation looks like, it's likely the
territorial government will be a major player in the pot market, said
Lucier.

"The mechanisms of a controlled and regulated substance usually lends
itself to a regime that has some government involvement," he said.

"If we look at tobacco, if we look at alcohol, certainly the latter of
those, in every jurisdiction, even if the sale point is different, the
main regulator in the distribution is government."

Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee is reviewing the report and will
work with the federal government to determine how marijuana policy is
rolled out in the territory, said cabinet spokesperson Sunny Patch.

"It's still pretty early days," she said.

The task force also made recommendations on how to curb criminal
prosecution for minor marijuana-related offences, specifically those
around underage use, which would criminalize youth.

"You want to ensure that there are safeguards around age, but at the
same time, the age becomes difficult because you don't want to create
and illegitimate venue for illicit products," said Lucier, who
previously served with the RCMP in the Yukon.

"One of the federal tenets in moving on this item is to not
criminalize individuals for social behaviour."

Indeed, the task force recommends that "social sharing" of marijuana
not be a criminal offence, and that users be allowed to carry up to 30
grams in public.

Cannabis possession accounts for a relatively small proportion of
criminal charges laid in the Yukon.

In 2015, for example, 1,507 people were criminally charged in the
territory, and 18 of them were charged with cannabis possession,
according to data from Statistics Canada.

Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 10 of this year, 11 charges were laid in the
Yukon for possession of 30 grams of weed or less, said Coralee Reid, a
spokesperson for the Yukon RCMP.

The task force noted that cannabis-impaired driving "generated a great
deal of concern" during consultations. There is a worry that
legalization will lead to more stoned drivers on the road.

Of course, drug-impaired driving is not a new issue.

Cpl. Shawn Pollard with the Yukon RCMP said already sees "a fair
amount" of cannabis-impaired drivers on the Whitehorse roads.

"A lot more in the last few years," he added. "A lot of people don't
understand that it's still illegal."

He gets suspicious if he can smell weed, or if the driver is
displaying physical signs: bloodshot eyes, slow movements, "basically
some of the same signs as impaired by alcohol," he said.

Still, testing for cannabis impairment is not so cut and
dry.

For one thing, the task force determined that the level of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive chemical in
cannabis, in the body is not a reliable indicator of impairment.

THC can stay in the bodies of heavy users, such as those who use
marijuana for medical reasons, for days or weeks. Frequent users may
also have a higher tolerance to the drug, and won't show signs of 
impairment.

Determining the legal limit for THC in the blood is "something the
government is struggling with," said Pollard.

Whether to impose a legal limit, and what that limit might be, are
questions the task force said need further study.

Ultimately, concluded the federal task force, revenue generation
should come second to public health and safety.

Lucier agrees.

"It really comes down to what's the right thing for society, and how
do the legislators take that on and bridge the public health with
public safety, with responsible access, with the elimination of
organized crime and profitability," he said.

"It's a pretty difficult and complicated matter to deal with."
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MAP posted-by: Matt