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: Joe Warmington
Page: 6

HAPPY CANNABIS DAY

Pot could become legal on July 1, 2018 - but at what cost?

Legal pot is coming on Canada's 151st birthday - but what else will
come with it?

This is a question with many unknowns.

What we do know is problems that come with legal marijuana will soon
be part of Canada's reality.

What we don't know is what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government
will do to deal with them.

"It's like there is a rush to start up the marijuana growing companies
and decide who are going to be the distributing agencies, but no
wording or discussion about the effects this decision will have on
health of people and their safety," said Brian Patterson, president
and CEO of the Ontario Safety League.

He hates to be a party pooper. But of all the people who were talking
about this July 1, 2018 shift in Canada's landscape, Patterson was one
of the few pointing out some pretty important things.

"We are getting the press release and that is it," said Patterson. "I
think they are trying to compensate for their previous announcement by
rushing to a press release before getting the education and
enforcement piece in place. It's political - not practical."

It was not lost on anybody Monday that the focus was on the high of
the legalization announcement and light on the lows of the reality of
what marijuana is and what it does to people.

"I am personally shocked that between now and July 1, 2018 that the
public education campaign has not been identified in this huge sea
change in drug consumption in Canada," said Patterson. "All of the
partners in education, the doctors and nurses, psychiatrists and
organizations curbing substance and alcohol abuse, are all looking for
that piece."

Before legalization, we need a trial period to learn what happens in
real time. Perhaps Ottawa can decriminalize marijuana for now instead
of rushing this through so that Canada Day becomes Cannabis day - at
least until we really know what we are really dealing with.

There is, after all, just a little more than a year to make sure what
Trudeau is introducing to Canada is implemented safely and
appropriately.

Patterson has this question: "Who is responsible in the workplace if
someone decides to recreationally partake in marijuana, or self
medicate and it goes wrong? Is it the employer? Is it the insurance
company? We don't know who is?"

What if that person is a bus driver or taxi driver?

"The operation of motor vehicles is a huge part in this," said
Patterson. "This places Canadians in general, and road users at risk.
That's the bottom line."

Toronto Police Const. Clint Stibbe said training in both scientific
"standard field sobriety testing" and impaired-by-narcotics detection
techniques are already well underway as officers prepare for the new
laws. But how this will shake out and what will the increase in
impaired driving be? It's difficult for them to know until it becomes
a reality.

"We do know impaired driving from drugs has been on the rise," he
said.

In 2015, there were 26 charges laid for narcotics and driving in
Toronto while in 2016 there were 86. It will be interesting to see how
it unfolds in 2018.

Patterson believes the only way for Canada to be safe after July 1,
2018 is for there to be a "zero tolerance policy" of driving after
partaking in marijuana consumption.

Will Trudeau have a law that allows you to drive anything after
consuming marijuana? If not, what are the acceptable levels? Will the
tests and detectors hold up when challenged in court?

These are just routine and responsible questions that have gone
unanswered. As Patterson says, instead of common sense it seems to be
more "important to get it done before pot day in Canada" which he - as
a safety guy - admits "that scares me."

Perhaps this birthday buzz should be dampened down a little bit before
the smoke and fire burns the whole country down?
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MAP posted-by: Matt