Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Page: C8 Copyright: 2014 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Author: Peter O'Neil Referenced: Child well-being in rich countries - A comparative overview, See pages 50-51: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/rc11_eng.pdf CANADA'S POT CHALLENGE: KEEPING KIDS SAFE Consumption Rate Highest In Western World OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives are warning Canadians Justin Trudeau wants to make weed "more accessible to kids" by displaying and selling it in neighbourhood stores. Nonsense, the Liberal leader replies. Canadian youth already have easy access to the prohibited substance despite the Conservatives' hard-line approach to drugs. A regulated regime that legalizes cannabis, the Liberals claim, will actually make access tougher. "We are failing to protect our kids from the effects of marijuana," Trudeau said in an interview. The debate, a textbook wedge issue sure to polarize voters during the 2015 election, appears to be resting on a simple question: How would legalization affect Canada's youth consumption rate, already the highest in the western world? There's no simple answer, say experts, because if a future Liberal government fulfils Trudeau's highest-profile promise, Canada will be doing something no western developed country has ever dared try. So while both experts and advocates for and against prohibition speak with certainty about what they expect will happen, there's no model on which to base conclusions that back up either Conservative or Liberal claims. But the reality is even the best system can't remove the likely role played by organized crime in continuing to supply cheaper black market product to youth, said Rebecca Jesseman, a policy analyst with the Health Canada-funded Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse. Stanford University law professor Rob MacCoun suspects the Liberal proposal will lead to increased youth consumption, though he also agrees his views amount to informed speculation. "We're really in uncharted territory," said MacCoun, author of several academic studies assessing the effect of liberalized marijuana laws in jurisdictions like the Netherlands and several U.S. states. "If Canada is somehow able to thread the needle and restrict availability, ban advertising and somehow keep prices from falling, then I think it could have an experience more like what we are seeing in the Netherlands - modest levels of use not unlike their neighbours." While there are plenty of unknowns about the Liberal plan, what is clear is that the poll-leading party has made clear it wants to not just decriminalize but legalize and regulate the industry. That goes much further than the New Democratic Party, which favours decriminalization of possession of small amounts of pot, and the Conservatives, who are considering a ticketing and fine system for possession but oppose legalization or decriminalization. It's a huge difference, because legalization represents a government attempt to scoop through the tax system the bulk of the huge profits that now flow to organized crime groups like the Hells Angels. The Netherlands is perhaps the best-known example of a liberalized regime - it has regulated retail sales of small amounts since the 1970s. But trafficking remains illegal and police action against organized crime, as well as other restrictions imposed on the country's famous coffee houses, have kept prices high. Colorado and Washington states in the U.S. have both recently legalized cannabis, as has Uruguay. But experts say it's far too early to determine the effect. Neither U.S. state will necessarily be the model Canada would be expected to follow, since both are allowing advertising and marketing - - factors influencing use. As well, prices are expected to go down sharply as companies overcome startup costs, said MacCoun. Liberal deputy leader Ralph Goodale, in a Wednesday interview, ridiculed the Conservative allegation Trudeau wants to make pot more easily available to kids. But he said the exact details of his party's proposal won't be made public until the election platform is released. What is clear, according to Goodale, is the Conservatives' talk about keeping pot out of kids' hands is belied by the statistics. One UNICEF study said Canada's youth consumption rate was highest among a selection of developed countries both in 2001-02 and 2009-10. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D