Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2017
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.edmontonsun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Sarah Hanlon
Page: 6

BUZZ OFF - LET'S END THE POT RAIDS!

With a firm date on marijuana legalization, Toronto Police Services
and councillors need to wake up and smell the reefer.

The federal government will introduce legislation on April 10 that
will legalize cannabis by July 1, 2018. According to the CBC, this
past weekend, Bill Blair, head of the Legalization Task Force,
outlined a plan for the Liberal caucus which basically says that the
federal government will set health and safety standards but the
provinces will get to decide where and how it will be sold. (Other
developments: Ottawa will likely set a minimum age of 18 to buy
marijuana but provinces can adjust that as well and the government
will limit four plants per household to those who wish to grow their
own herb.)

But with so many of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's campaign promises
falling by the wayside, us potheads can only be patient and grateful,
right? But for the many Canadians who have (or will have) a criminal
record for using or selling cannabis for medical or recreational uses,
grateful isn't the word that comes to mind. Even the most cynical
can't come to terms with the fact that the prime minister continues to
dismiss calls to end pot arrests and raids with his
"current-laws-apply" rhetoric.

When a massive series of pot shop raids, dubbed Project Claudia,
happened in Toronto last summer, disapproval in the city was palpable.
Critics asked: if legalization is coming, why the raids? How did the
Toronto Police and the City of Toronto respond? More raids. And just
this month, TPS orchestrated a nationwide raid on a famous pot shop
chain, Cannabis Culture, owned by pot royalty, Marc and Jodie Emery.

Doubling down on Trudeau's justification for the pot raids, Toronto
Police Chief Mark Saunders and Mayor John Tory - when questioned about
why cannabis is still such a priority for the city, despite
legalization on the horizon - maintained it is their responsibility to
arrest anyone breaking the law.

Really, guys? How about Uber? The ride-sharing app used to operate
outside the law. Where was Project Ubergator? I didn't hear a single
story about a driver being pulled out of his or her car, strip
searched or charged with a crime that will forever impact the driver's
life.

Airbnb - an online app that pairs real estate owners or renters with
people looking for a place to stay temporarily - has been in the
spotlight for essentially operating hotel-style accommodations without
any of the rules that hotels have to follow. Tory recently went on
record supporting the regulation of such illegal suites to "bring them
into the fold." Why is his attitude so drastically different when it
comes to pot? Tory, Saunders and crew need to take this July 1, 2018
announcement from the government as a sobering wake-up call. Whether
you like it or not, legalization is in our midst and not in some
future haze. Our politicians need to prioritize the law. (Um, hello,
can we start with a real crisis: fentanyl.)

Echoing my thoughts are Ontario Crown Attorneys Association President
Kate Matthews, who has called our criminal justice system a failure.
Resources are so maxed out that 46 cases were stayed in Ontario in a
5-month period due to delays.

Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack recently pleaded
for more resources and officers on the streets of the city. He claims
that morale is at an all-time low and understaffed officers are
stressed and burnt out.

Now that we have a timeline and marijuana prohibition is almost a
reality, it's time to start planning ahead. Here's an idea - let's be
on the right side of history and not use these next 430 days arresting
people under laws that will change.

Our resources and our patience can't handle it.
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MAP posted-by: Matt