Pubdate: Sat, 21 Nov 2015
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Antonella Artuso
Page: 2

LCBO: SELL POT HERE!

Union cites 'social responsibility'

TORONTO - Government-owned liquor stores would be the best choice to
sell legal pot in Ontario, the union representing LCBO staff says.

"If it is legalized, the LCBO should sell it for social
responsibility," Warren "Smokey" Thomas, president of the Ontario
Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), said in an e-mail Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to legalize marijuana, and
Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger has recommended it be sold in
government-owned liquor stores.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa hasn't addressed the
possibility of selling marijuana in LCBO stores, but earlier said
legalization will be a "national conversation."

"I'm not going to speculate what this will mean ... We do know it's
complicated and we know that it's going to involve a lot of different
ministries, activity, jurisdictions, and looking at what happens in
other parts of the world," Sousa said.

Dave Bryans, CEO of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA),
said he hopes the conversation is more open and transparent than the
one the government held when deciding where to sell beer.

Although OCSA pushed hard for the right of its members to sell beer,
the provincial government offered it to only a select number of
grocery stores and the major beer companies still control the market,
he said.

Bryans noted convenience stores, unlike the LCBO, are subject to
mystery shopper checks from two oversight organizations - the Alcohol
and Gaming Commission of Ontario and public health units - to ensure
they sell tobacco and lottery tickets only to those who are of legal
age.

OCSA members haven't discussed the possibility of selling marijuana
because they believe it won't happen for at least three to four years,
he said.

However, Bryan warns that Ontario could become a major producer of
contraband marijuana, just as it has contraband cigarettes, if the
product is legalized.

The provincial government has shown little interest in confronting the
more than 50 cigarette factories on reserves, he said.

"There's no political will of the government to fix contraband
(tobacco) in Ontario, so should this product end up in the aboriginal
reserves and end up being sold on the streets ... there'd be no taste
for the government to fix that either," Bryans said. "I'm not sure we
have the right controls in place to have another smoking-like product."

He says 30% of cigarettes smoked in Ontario are contraband.
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MAP posted-by: Matt