Pubdate: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www.theprovince.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Derrick Penner Page: 2 B.C. POLITICIANS ANSWER QUESTIONS ON POT REFORM Feds aim to make it legal to smoke weed by next Canada Day The federal government on Thursday tabled bills to make the possession of marijuana for recreational purposes legal in Canada by July 1. Postmedia News asked the leaders of British Columbia's main political parties what system they favoured for the distribution of legal pot in B.C. and whether the province or local governments should share in the tax revenue. B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark Clark said she would consult an expert panel of health officials and law enforcement on how to distribute marijuana safely. She noted the federal panel that advised government recommended against selling pot through the liquor distribution branch and that no U.S. state that has legalized pot allows it to be sold where you can buy alcohol. "My No. 1 concern is making sure we keep marijuana out of the hands of kids and its distribution isn't in neighbourhoods that don't want it and isn't near schools." Clark said "My early thinking on it is we want to make sure all of the revenue that comes from marijuana goes back into our health system to support the health impacts of it, that it goes back into our law enforcement system to keep crime and gangs out of it." B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan Horgan said the B.C. NDP dispatched Carol James and Mike Farnworth to Washington and Oregon, which have regulated and decriminalized cannabis, to prepare a report. "First thing, we want to make sure that we keep marijuana away from children but we've got to make sure that the regulations are rigid," Horgan said. He supports using public liquor stores to dispense cannabis and sees a role for pharmacies as a "comfortable" option for older people using medicinal cannabis. Horgan said if prices are too high, the black market will remain so his party won't make decisions on what to do with tax revenue until the federal government's legalization process and amendments to its legislation have concluded. B.C. Green party Leader Andrew Weaver Weaver said the Green party doesn't want the industry "to be taken over by big multinationals." It favours a distribution model similar to craft brewing , which allows consumers to sample and purchase product at a producer's location, but also directs sales through the liquor distribution branch, though he would leave it up to the LDB to decide whether it wants to be involved. And he sees a role for pharmacies in distributing medicinal marijuana. "We would support that kind of model that's not one (distribution channel) or another, it's a combination of both," Weaver said. He said the province should recognize pot taxes as a source of income that can be passed back to municipalities to deal with "much of the provincial downloading (municipalities have absorbed) over the years. - - With files from Rob Shaw and Nick Eagland. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt