Pubdate: Mon, 25 Sep 2017
Source: Varsity, The (CN ON Edu)
Copyright: 2017 The Varsity
Contact:  http://www.thevarsity.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2663
Author: Ramsha Naveed

Ontario's marijuana regulation plan is neither inclusive nor
effective

The provincial government should permit private dispensaries and
designated establishments for consumption

On September 8, 2017, Ontario became the first province in Canada to
publicly release an official plan for the upcoming legalization of
marijuana. The federal government seeks to legalize by July 1, 2018
but has left it up to individual provinces' discretion to determine
the finer details of how the substance will be sold, who will be
allowed to consume it, and where usage will be permitted.

Whether Ontario's plans will be successful remains to be seen, but the
government's emphasis on publicly-owned stores and privatized
consumption could ultimately work to its detriment.

The framework issued by the Ontario government has three key
features.

First, marijuana will legally only be sold online and in stand-alone
stores run by a subsidiary corporation of the Liquor Control Board of
Ontario (LCBO), thereby establishing a government monopoly of all
legal consumption. This means all private dispensaries will remain
illegal and will continue to be prosecuted.

In this vein, the Ontario government plans to have 40 stores open
across the province by July 2018, some in places where illegal
dispensaries are already located. That number will increase to 80
stores by July 1, 2019 and 150 by 2020. In addition, an online system
will be implemented by July 2018 to ensure the wide expansion of the
market, especially in catering to more remote areas where it is less
likely for official stores to be established.

The second feature of the framework is that sale and consumption are
limited to those at or over the age of 19, in line with the legal
alcohol consumption age. If caught, underage users will have their
marijuana confiscated, though the government has stated the
enforcement focus will be on "prevention, diversion, and harm
reduction without unnecessarily bringing [youth] into contact with the
justice system."

Finally, all consumption will be restricted to private residences, at
least for the time being. Private businesses catering to consumption,
such as vapour lounges, will not be permitted.

For a number of reasons, the provincial government's proposed
framework for legalization is neither effective at discouraging
illegal consumption nor inclusive of users. Allowing private
dispensaries and designated consumption establishments to operate
alongside government-owned stores would be a more effective approach
to regulation.

Legalize private dispensaries

Jenna Valleriani is a U of T PhD candidate in Sociology and Addiction
Studies whose research focuses on medical marijuana. Valleriani was
disappointed but not particularly surprised when she learned Ontario
had decided to pursue a government-controlled distribution model.

"I was really intrigued that the whole conversation was framed as an
either or," Valleriani said. Like many other critics of the proposed
plan, she would like to see a mix of both government stores as well as
licensed and regulated private stores in order to offer Ontarians "the
best of both worlds."

Contrary to popular perception, the dispensaries that currently
operate in Toronto are doing so illegally - and this will not change
under the new legalization plan. However, Valleriani believes that
most dispensary owners would likely welcome the chance to become
licensed and conduct their business legally. Dispensaries have been
thriving for a long time in spite of police crackdowns and security
issues - it is questionable whether the new regulations will do much
to change that fact.

Restricting legal purchase to government-run stores also raises the
question of supply. Establishing 150 dispensaries in Ontario - a goal
that will only theoretically be reached in three years - is nothing
compared to the high number of illegal dispensaries that are currently
supplying users with their product. Legitimizing just a fraction of
establishments will severely limit access, even with online sales.

Though Health Canada has doubled its staff to accelerate the licensing
process for marijuana producers, many industry experts estimate that
customers will still face shortages in the first few years of
legalization due to lack of supply. Shortages, in turn, would send
customers right back to the illicit market, which is exactly what the
government is trying to avoid.

Private stores are also popular for the sheer variety of products they
offer. Valleriani believes it is highly unlikely that government
stores will sell oils and edibles - products that consumers have been
obtaining from dispensaries over the years.

On top of this, the continuation of policing, shutting down, and
prosecuting dispensaries is a wasteful burden on already strained law
enforcement and court resources. Targeting dispensaries in this way
has been largely ineffective; where one store shuts down, another pops
up in its place. In fact, alleviating this burden from the criminal
justice system was one of the main reasons for decriminalizing
marijuana in the first place. If Ontario continues to shut out private
establishments from the market, it will be back to square one.

Working with dispensaries instead of against them could avoid all of
these problems; a more open, mixed system of regulation has better
chances of squashing the illicit market.

Legalize public consumption establishments

The plan also restricts consumption to private residences for the time
being. The government has expressed plans to consult on the
"feasibility and implications of introducing designated establishments
where recreational cannabis could be consumed" - a proposal that is
vague and shows a lack of real commitment to legalizing said
establishments, which ought to be a priority moving forward.

The current plan's emphasis on private residences as the only place
for consumption is not inclusive, and it prioritizes homeowners. It
leaves people who rent, lease, live in shelters, or are homeless
without a safe or legal place to consume. Residents who don't own the
buildings they live in are left at the whims of their landlords as to
whether or not they are allowed to consume in their homes. It is well
within the powers of condominium boards or apartment building
managements to ban marijuana on their property. Therefore, these
residents are put at increased risk of incurring criminal charges when
they inevitably turn to public places to consume.

This rule also disproportionately affects students of legal age,
including those who live on residence during the school year.
Dormitories are owned and controlled by the university, and U of T is
a public establishment. It is unclear whether students will be banned
from consuming marijuana on campus - particularly in light of recent
announcements that the university is investigating a smoking ban.
Legalizing designated establishments for consumption would provide
students with a safe alternative.

At the same time, Valleriani recalls a professor at Trinity College,
now retired, who was prescribed marijuana for medical purposes.
Accommodations were made to set up a sort of 'vapour lounge' area for
him in the basement of the college. The existence of bars near and on
U of T campuses, events where drinking is permitted, and the
designated smoking spaces currently in place on campus show that it is
possible to make allowances for the consumption of controlled substances.

The idea of creating a designated place for consumption at U of T is
not as outrageous as it may sound, and Valleriani thinks universities
will ultimately need to "figure something out." Such an arrangement,
however, would require the legalization of designated establishments
for consumption, an option that the proposed regulation framework does
not allow.

With nine short months until marijuana legalization launches in July,
little time remains for Ontario to perfect its plan. Costs of
purchase, whether the product will be taxed, and where government
stores will be set up are decisions that have yet to be made. In this
time, the government also needs to critically evaluate their plan and
recognize its weaknesses in achieving the ultimate goal of eliminating
the marijuana black market. Legalizing private dispensaries and
designated consumption establishments will help bridge those gaps.

- -------------------------------------------------------------

Ramsha Naveed is a third-year student at Trinity College studying 
Political Science.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt