Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jul 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Dan Werb
Page: B7

OTTAWA FAILS TO PROVIDE CLEAR POT POLICIES

Ian Mulgrew's recent column on Vancouver city council's decision to
regulate marijuana dispensaries takes an exceedingly myopic view of
this important issue.

Some of Mulgrew's concerns are valid, particularly on medical
marijuana being used as a front for recreational cannabis.

But lambasting city council for the fact that "(t)here is no legal
supply for any of the 100 or so shops in the city" misses the mark.

There is increasing agreement that strictly regulating recreational
adult cannabis use is likely the most effective way to reduce its
harms. But the lack of a regulated system for cannabis use is not city
council's fault.

It is, instead, a function of the federal government's failure to
develop a coherent cannabis policy, and it is this policy vacuum that
has allowed the number of dispensaries in Vancouver to skyrocket.

City council, with its hands mostly tied, has enacted a first step to
solve this problem. Vancouver has been forced to go it alone on the
cannabis file in the face of a rudderless federal stance on this issue.

Mulgrew should aim his scorn at those truly responsible.

Dan Werb, PHD Director, International Centre for Science in Drug
Policy Toronto
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt