Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2017
Source: Hamilton Mountain News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Brabant Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3415

UP IN SMOKE

The Ontario Liberals' plan to sell marijuana in government-operated
stores may have provided some clarity on what has been a confusing
strategy by the federal Liberals to legalize marijuana.

But controlling weed like the province controls alcohol creates more
problems than answers to what has been a hands-off approach both
levels of government have managed on the issue. The entire roll out of
the legalization of marijuana by the federal government has been
botched with governments unsure about a distribution network or
enforcement strategy.

The idea the provincial Liberals have adopted is to open 40 shops,
operated by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, when the
federal government legalizes it July 1. The number of places will
expand to 80 by 2019 and 150 by 2020. In addition, marijuana will be
sold in plain packaging from behind the counter to people 19 and older.

By having the government control marijuana, the expectation is the
elimination of the mushrooming of illegal dispensaries across the
province, including in Hamilton.

Will it stop the marijuana black market? Questionable, since the
government is actually stimulating demand while also restricting supply.

The idea of the government overseeing another one of our human vices
is cringeworthy. Marijuana will become another glossy picture in a
government advertisement. Already, we have governments selling us
lottery tickets and alcohol, yet at the same time warning us that
gambling and drinking are bad. After taking over marijuana, will
governments' next focus be on prostitution and providing
union-sanctioned sex.

And what about those illegal dispensaries? It seems that
municipalities will yet again be left holding the baggie when it comes
to enforcement. Already, police and bylaw officials have taken a
cautious approach when it comes to those dispensaries in what has been
legal limbo prior to July 2018.

Currently, marijuana is only legally available if prescribed by a
medical doctor and comes from one of the 58 producers licensed and
inspected by Health Canada.

Taxpayers are already footing the bill for overburdened
municipalities' responsibility to inspect and lay charges against what
is an illegal operation, while neighbourhoods cry out for better
enforcement.

Government-run marijuana stores is the latest example of a strategy to
capitalize on the potential for needed revenue while leaving
municipalities searching for clear-cut answers on how to battle what
will be difficult enforcement questions in the battle against weed.
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MAP posted-by: Matt