Pubdate: Thu, 20 Apr 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: Jonny Wakefield
Page: 3

A HAZY SITUATION

Questions around planned pot legalization still in the air as police
prepare for 4/20 events

Edmonton's police chief says he doesn't expect a larger-than-usual
4/20 gathering Thursday as the city prepares for legal marijuana.

"I imagine we'll get a few people there, but nothing that's really on
the radar we're concerned about," Chief Rod Knecht said Wednesday.

The annual smoke-up at the Alberta legislature could be one of the
last under existing marijuana laws, as the Trudeau government prepares
to legalize the drug.

The federal Liberals introduced bills this month to legalize and
regulate marijuana by July 2018. Under the new law, adults will be
able to possess, grow and buy limited amounts of cannabis from
provincially authorized retailers or federally licensed producers.

For the Edmonton Police Service, plenty of question marks still hang
over legalization.

"We're concerned about the driving aspects. We've got a long ways to
go in terms of deciding what level of THC makes you legally impaired,"
he said.

One challenge is that there's no single system for roadside
tests.

"That's a huge concern for us," Knecht said.

It's also not clear how people in high-risk jobs like policing can be
monitored for marijuana intoxication.

Knecht said marijuana enforcement is not a high priority for the
force, and it's rare for anyone to be changed with marijuana
possession. He's also on record supporting safe injection sites for
hard drugs.

It was a different story when he began policing 40 years
ago.

"When I first became a police officer, marijuana was a very high
priority,"said Knecht, a 34-year RCMP veteran when he became EPS chief
in 2011. "We put people in jail for significant periods of time,
certainly for trafficking marijuana, even for small amounts ...
There's been a significant transition over the years, and I think
police have responded to that." Marijuana activists say that with
legalization pending, this year's 4/20 events will be geared more
toward celebration than civil disobedience. Komrade, an Edmonton rap
artist with the group Brothers Grim performing at this year's event,
said the legalization bill is far from perfect.

He said the government's decision not to offer amnesty for past pot
convictions would disproportionately affect minorities and indigenous
people.

"It's definitely not a perfect bill," he said. "Even with the bill
passing, there's still a lot of work to be done."

Smokers start to arrive at the legislature grounds around 1 p.m. for
the 4/20 spark up.
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MAP posted-by: Matt