Pubdate: Tue, 22 Sep 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Frances Bula
Page: S1

CITY COUNCILLORS FORCED TO GRAPPLE WITH POT ISSUE

When Craig Speirs was first elected as a councillor in the quasi-
rural community of Maple Ridge five terms ago, marijuana was a minor
issue the police dealt with.

Now, Mr. Speirs and his fellow councillors have nine well-capitalized
businesses applying to start marijuana-production facilities in their
city. Two are already in operation, even though they do not have
Health Canada permits and are technically illegal.

And the Maple Ridge council, like that of many others in cities and
villages around the province, has been forced to grapple with the issue.

"It's a visceral shift the last five years," Mr. Speirs said. "There's
a lot more acceptance, a lot more wanting to understand the job
possibilities, and just wanting to manage the impacts."

Mr. Speirs was one of dozens of local politicians at a session on
marijuana on Monday in Vancouver at the Union of B. C. Municipalities
annual convention. The event on how to deal with marijuana grow-ops,
shifting Health Canada regulations, illegal pot dispensaries, people
growing plants in their own yards, and more has become a regular part
of the annual gathering.

This year, complaints about crime and policing of grow-ops were
replaced by questions about the technicalities of what local
governments can and cannot do to regulate the business side of a
product that falls under federal jurisdiction.

The general consensus: City councils cannot legalize marijuana. Only
the federal government can do that. On the other hand, it is not up to
councils to enforce federal drug laws.

Vancouver lawyer Francesca Marzari told the gathering that cities are
within their rights to create bylaws that stipulate where dispensaries
or unlicensed production facilities are allowed or to charge them
fees, as Vancouver is doing.

"Recognizing that they are unlawful doesn't necessarily mean that
saying where they can be located is a criminal matter," Ms. Marzari
said. "As long as it's understood that we can't make anything lawful,
I think it's an acceptable use of local government authority."

That contradictory situation is also what has unfolded in Washington,
said a lawyer who worked on that U. S. state's initiative to legalize
marijuana.

"Washington State is breaking federal law," said former prosecutor
Tonia Winchester, another speaker at the session. "[The Department of
Justice] could go into any store and shut it down."

But the U. S. justice department has not done that. Washington voters
first supported marijuana legalization in 2012 and the state has
created a regulation and tax system that went fully into effect this
year.

Ms. Winchester said B. C. seems to be where Washington was in 2010 and
2011, when people got together and decided to work for
legalization.

"Like you, we said, ' We need to do something within our jurisdiction
because the federal government is failing to act.' "

Ms. Winchester said voters were persuaded to support legalization with
three arguments: It would free up police to focus on violent crime. It
would generate income for research and education about drugs and
addiction treatment. And it would take the business out of the hands
of criminals.

B.C.'s local-government politicians did not debate those arguments,
though.

They wanted to know details of how to manage the quasi-legal industry
they now have. A councillor from Sechelt wanted to know what the
council can do to regulate noise and dust; Health Canada is not doing
it and B. C. legislation says a farm operation cannot be prohibited
from producing noise or dust. Another, from Victoria, was concerned
about insurance issues. A third, from Chilliwack, worried about how
councils deal with the effects of agricultural marijuana operations on
nearby residents in a subdivision.
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