Pubdate: Sat, 01 Apr 2017
Source: Medicine Hat News (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 Alberta Newspaper Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.medicinehatnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1833
Author: Gillian Slade
Page: A3

COMPLICATIONS COME WITH LEGAL POT: POLICE CHIEF

Legalizing marijuana is not going to reduce policing costs, and in
fact, the opposite is true, says Medicine Hat Police Service.

"There are a lot of details to be determined and it certainly is not
going to save the police time and money and will probably cost more in
the end because there will be regulations to be enforced," said police
chief Andy McGrogan.

In the next 10 days the federal government will introduce legislation
to legalize marijuana, which will come into effect about a year from
now. Provinces will set an age restriction for buying marijuana and
determine how it will be accessed at the retail level.

"It is easy to snap your fingers and say cannabis is now legal but the
devil is in those details, and it is going to be a huge job for the
provincial governments across the country to figure out where they are
going to land," said McGrogan.

The federal government has talked about the maximum number of plants
any person may grow for their own use. What the penalty would be if
you grow an extra plant is not known yet and officers will need to
know how to monitor that. "If there are eight plants, are we going to
kick the door in with a search warrant?" asked McGrogan.

There are already laws in place around impaired driving but there is
no "tool" to measure a threshold for marijuana. There has been
considerable research to determine what alcohol impairment is and how
to measure that, said McGrogan. Currently, for marijuana it comes down
to the observations of police and so it subjective. McGrogan says he
has been told if you use marijuana regularly there is always some
level of THC in your system, even though the impairment effect may be
over.

A year to make the necessary decisions federally and provincially may
seem like a long time but there are complex issues and numerous
stakeholders.

It is extremely early to answer a lot of questions around marijuana
without even having the federal legislation yet, said a spokesperson
for Alberta Justice.

"Our main priority is protecting public health and safety, including
keeping marijuana out of the hands of children, and ensuring road
safety. We know this issue is complex, and will require all levels of
government to work together. We will review the federal legislation
once we receive it," said Kathleen Ganley, minister Alberta Justice
and Solicitor General.

There are still many decisions that need to be made, including retail
locations, building and safety codes, distribution and age. No final
decisions have been made, said a spokesperson for Alberta Justice.
Experts from across government, which include most ministries, have
been working for several months to understand the issues and potential
options.

Medical marijuana is currently dispensed through companies selling
online. McGrogan sees some merit in continuing that because it would
create an online record that could be tracked.

There are huge financial incentives for the retail sector selling
marijuana.

"At the end of the day big business is probably going to have a big
say in it and how it is dispensed," said McGrogan.
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MAP posted-by: Matt