Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jun 2015
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Marni Soupcoff
Page: A11

THE MUDDLED MESS OF MARIJUANA REGULATIONS

It's all a little confusing. A decision by Vancouver city council to
regulate and license marijuana dispensaries has been vehemently
opposed by federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose. In the lead-up to the
passage of the bylaw, Ambrose warned that the new regulation would
increase marijuana use and addiction. Once it passed, she stated that
she was "deeply disappointed" and that "storefronts selling marijuana
are illegal and under this Conservative government will remain illegal."

The confusion comes in because at the same time as the federal
government was conjuring up visions of an explosion of pot
consumption, Vancouverites' options for obtaining medicinal marijuana
were being rather dramatically curtailed. The bylaw requires marijuana
dispensaries to obtain a costly $30,000 license and to be spaced at
least 300 metres away from schools, community centres, houses and
other stores selling marijuana.

Those conditions are not easily met and are expected to cause at least
a quarter of Vancouver's existing pot dispensaries to close. One
medicinal marijuana producer in Nanaimo has already laid off 61
workers as a result of the changes. Add in the bylaw's ban on
marijuana edibles (e.g., pot brownies or candy), and it's especially
hard to understand how the move could realistically be viewed as fuel
for increased marijuana use.

But it seems sensible to explore the reasons we've arrived at such
confusion, too. It seems to me there is an ironic lesson in this
demonstration that the surest way to maim any industry - including one
that has failed to be cowed by billions of dollars worth of
law-enforcement activity - is to simply impose on it a typical
municipal regulatory burden.

That's funny because it's true, as a character from The Simpsons might
say. But it's also evidence that we're still searching for a sensible
way to reconcile the desire to allow adults to make their own choices
about their own bodies, with the desire to protect kids and society
from the scourges of addiction.

Marijuana poses some risks, especially to young people whose brains
are still developing. Yet it's becoming increasingly clear to most
people, if not to this Conservative government, that the unintended
ill consequences of marijuana criminalization give the drug's own ill
effects a serious run for their money. And marijuana has its virtues,
including an ability to relieve suffering for people who are ill.

If one reviews the Supreme Court of Canada's recent unanimous decision
that possession and production of medicinal marijuana cannot be
restricted to dried cannabis - in other words, that if you're a cancer
patient with a prescription for medical marijuana, the government
can't demand you smoke the substance rather than eat it - one is
struck by the degree to which the current legal regime is a muddled
mess. Now, cancer patients who are too nauseated to smoke may legally
possess the pot brownies that offer them considerable relief, but
they'd better be proficient at cannabis baking because no one is
allowed to sell them the confections. It's still illegal to sell
medicinal marijuana edibles.

Last month, the ailing cancer patient might nonetheless have found
suitable pot brownies in one of about 100 Vancouver dispensaries,
since police weren't actively enforcing that aspect of the criminal
law. But now that a municipal bylaw that stands to make the city
considerable cash has come into play, and has taken a dire view of
edibles, obtaining pot brownies at a dispensary in the city is no
longer a likely option.

So this much-maligned indirect recognition of an illegal substance
simply makes things more difficult for those with a real, recognized
medical need for marijuana, as well as for everybody else. Is that
progress? If so, it's mainly for the city of Vancouver's coffers, as
far as I can tell. To the extent it's a win for others, Rona Ambrose
and those who agree with her that everybody's ability to access
marijuana should be as limited as possible, come next to mind.

When the British Columbia government defends its ban on citizens
buying private medical insurance, it says it is protecting the
province's health system. When the Vancouver government defends its
ban on marijuana edibles in medicinal marijuana dispensaries, it says
it's protecting the city's children. But who's protecting sick
Canadians of all ages - and their right to seek medical treatment and
solace from suffering?

Vancouver is not the villain it's being made out to be by Ambrose and
company, but neither is it the freedom-bearing hero that we need.
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MAP posted-by: Matt