Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2017
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Mark Bonokoski

WHAT ARE THE FEDS SMOKING??

Reefer madness: Grits rush to table pot legislation by 4/20

Despite an already long string of broken promises, the Trudeau
Liberals seem bound and determined to table pot legislation in time
for the now cult-like obsession of dedicated dope smokers with the
Americanized date of 4/20.

It is a fool's mission on the Liberals' part, but so was electoral
reform and the pledge to make the middle class stronger by taxing them
to the point of despair.

The Liberals' track record, therefore, does not suggest they are
capable of success, especially on a file that has so many complexities
that the Rubik's Cube of the failed Meech Lake and Charlottetown
constitutional accords look almost simple in long reflection.

And then there is the rush to get there.

It's a bit like pushing to bring an end to prohibition in time to
celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

April 20, for those unfamiliar with everything from casual toking to
hot-boxing, has become the equivalent of a counter-culture holiday in
North America, as fans of the herb roll their spliffs and break out
their bongs at rallies to publicly celebrate their love of marijuana
and advocate for its universal legalization.

Even 4:20 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. have become sacred times.

The Liberals, of course, are not ready for this.

They have no solid plan. They have no consensus within important
departments such as Health Canada, Finance and Public Safety to answer
the unanswerable questions about acceptable strengths, the rules over
home grows, who can profit and who cannot, the limits of private
enterprise, the response of organized crime syndicates, or how to test
for impairment should a newbie Cheech and Chong decide to hit the road.

After all, even the more entrenched boozers, whose high tolerance
levels to alcohol can often guise physical signs of impairment, cannot
beat the breathalyzer.

They blow into the figurative balloon, and they're busted. Not so when
it comes to marijuana.

There is no such machine.

To those who worry about a deficit quickly approaching $30 billion,
who want to see the Liberals' promise of creating 100,000 jobs come
true and who want the other 90% of earmarked infrastructure projects
at least get a shovel in the ground, to watch the Liberals so focused
on the legalization recreational marijuana is a head-scratcher.

But, according to a CBC News report, the Trudeau Liberals want to see
marijuana legalized by July 1, 2018, and legislation tabled in the
week of April 10 before the House of Commons breaks.

In other words, they want it tabled before 4/20 so that celebrations
can literally go up in smoke.

With their popularity numbers slipping, the Liberals are no doubt
counting on an uptick. A Nanos Research poll last summer, for example,
indicated nearly 70% of Canadians supported marijuana legalization -
43% fully supporting it, and 26% somewhat in support.

In the meantime, illegal storefront pot dispensaries across the
country who have jumped the gun on legislation are still being busted
by the cops, and staff charged with everything from trafficking to
simple possession, despite the Crown dropping most of the charges when
the accused show up for court.

So it's a rat's nest of complexities in play right now.

The Liberals will be relying on a report submitted late last year by
former Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, who headed a task force
on how to regulate a legalized marijuana market.

Her words to the Trudeau Liberals back then? "Go slow," she said. What
the Liberals are doing now, however, does not look like "slow."

It looks, instead, like a rush to get to the 4/20 party.
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MAP posted-by: Matt