Pubdate: Fri, 23 May 2014
Source: News, The (New Glasgow, CN NS)
Copyright: 2014 Transcontinental Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ngnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3343
Author: Al Muir
Note: Al Muir is a local businessman and resident of Plymouth who 
keeps a close eye on the political front, both local and nationally.
Page: 8

STELLARTON SHOULD PUSH FOR LEGALIZATION

Vida Cannabis projects initial job creation at its Stellarton 
facility in the range of 20-30, increasing to 200-300 at peak 
production. It is important, not only to the community of Stellarton 
but the county, for Vita to maximize those employment numbers. 
Everything possible should be done to support the enterprise.

Health Canada lists just under 40,000 medical marijuana users with a 
projection of 309,000 by 2024, along with a 1.3 billion dollar 
industry valuation in that timeframe. There are presently more than 
500 applications for a producer licence. While many applications are 
incomplete and applicants not fully capitalized there is no shortage 
of potential competitors. Canada's current laws require licensed 
producers to be headquartered in Canada or produce in a branch plant 
located in the country.

There is little reason to expect other country's to establish 
different regulations, making any export markets outside of the 
country for newly legalized medical or recreational use the exception 
rather than the norm.

At the same time, a new federal law forcing licensed users of medical 
marijuana to stop growing their own while relying on commercially 
licensed producers was met with a federal court injunction. That 
injunction has delayed implementation of the law until a 
constitutional challenge of the new regulations is heard. It is 
doubtful that a large number of the current licensed medical users 
can afford the quantities of commercially produced product that they 
require. Adding the accrued costs of the equipment many of these 
individuals have accumulated to grow what they require, there is a 
high degree of likelihood that they will , in many cases, resort to 
illegal production if the courts do not rule in their favour.

The greatest potential market, by far, is domestic recreational 
consumers. A conservative estimate of those would be in the millions. 
Reliable estimates of country-wide taxation revenue are pegged at 
4-7.5 billion dollars. While there are conflicting estimates of 
potential job creation numbers in production and distribution 
(probably through existing liquor control boards and stores) both 
would be expected to provide increased employment. The federal 
government's case for the replacement of self-grown medical supplies 
with commercially grown would apply equally to recreational supplies.

Hazards like mould, toxic chemicals, potential fires and the threat 
of violent theft apply to the much larger volumes being produced 
illegally for recreational use.

A June 2012 Ipsos-Reid poll found 66 per cent of Canadians supported 
decriminalization or legalization of marijuana. Justin Trudeau's 
Liberal party obviously considered these findings in his announcement 
of Liberal support for legalization, putting them well in front of 
the Conservative position on the issue.The Conservatives recently 
toughened marijuana laws are out of step with prevailing public 
opinion. Their backpeddling toward ticketing for possession of small 
amounts as suggested by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police 
does not come close to closing the gap. The irony of a new prison in 
Pictou County housing those that are faced with a mandatory six-month 
minimum sentence for growing as little as six plants in close 
proximity to a facility designed to produce medical marijuana (the 
stuff of a humorous political carton) is not lost on more than a few. 
That juxtaposition places the county in a unique position to be on 
the leading edge of a debate on the issue.

Colorado's experiment with legalized marijuana began on New Years Day 
2014 with Washington state to follow suit in June. New York state and 
others are lining up in the queue behind them. These widening moves 
toward legalization are more a response to the lingering effects of 
the worldwide recession and the search for economic alternatives than 
the ongoing political advocacy of users through tools like the 4/20 
movement. Widespread illegal use brought about by the counter-culture 
revolution in the 1960's ensured the war on marijuana was lost almost 
as soon as it began. The economic downturn more clearly focused the 
ongoing costs of that lost war.

While the Colorado experiment is still illegal under federal law the 
Justice Department has developed an eight-point regulatory scheme 
effectively suspending parts of federal marijuana law in the state in 
order to gauge the results of the experiment. Colorado has set up an 
elaborate control system similar to that required of medical 
marijuana facilities in Canada. The Feds are free to attempt to pull 
the plug on the experiment at any time but as the apparent successes 
in Colorado continue to mount up it is increasingly unlikely the Feds 
will flex their muscles in court.

There is an increasing recognition that the money spent on the lost 
war on marijuana would be better spent on education and any 
health-related issues related to marijuana use. Stellarton should 
make a bold move not envisioned in the Ivany Report embrace the 
inevitable- and petition the federal government for legalization.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom