Pubdate: Fri, 04 Dec 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Lucas Richer
Page: A13

THE FUTURE OF MARIJUANA IS STILL A LITTLE BLURRY

Recreational, medical use raise questions, writes Lucas Richert.

The future of medical and recreational marijuana in Canada remains
blurry.

What is clear is that we're in the midst of a pot predicament, and
health authorities, law enforcement officials and politicians, as well
as citizens in Saskatchewan and elsewhere, have a lot to
contemplate.

Public sentiment seems to favour decriminalization or even
legalization of marijuana for recreational use. One poll established
that two-thirds of Canadians favour altering the law so that people
are not given criminal records for minor, non-violent offences,
whereas in a recent Leger poll, not only do 86 per cent of Canadians
support regulated access to medical cannabis with physician support,
but 76 per cent believe that health insurance companies should cover
the cost.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on the legalization and
regulation of marijuana for recreational use, and has mandated that
Health Minister Jane Philpott help launch a federal-provincial process
to accomplish that.

Philpott, a family physician, said recently the government will create
a task force to gather information on sales restrictions and age
limits, as well as enforcement problems including testing for driving
impairment, but offered no timeline.

The realm of medical marijuana is also highly contested.

Under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, questions still
plague the new cannabis industry.

Today, 26 federally licensed producers including Nanaimo's Tilray and
Saskatchewan's Cannimed produce and sell medical cannabis under
rigorous safety and quality standards across Canada.

As Tilray CEO Greg Engel has written, "There is enormous potential for
Canada to correct the harms caused by cannabis prohibition, generate
meaningful tax revenue, protect children and establish this country as
a global leader in this rapidly emerging industry."

How this will unfold remains a mystery. Health Canada in July gave
growers the green light to begin producing plant-based extracts after
the Supreme Court expanded the definition of medical marijuana. Tilray
announced in October that it has a broad-based line of 20
cannabis-extract products awaiting Health Canada approval. These
included oils in liquid form, drops, gel caps and a topical
preparation for certain skin conditions.

In June, the company was forced to lay off a substantial part of its
workforce, about 60 employees, largely due to the rise of illegal
dispensaries in British Columbia, much like the Compassion Club in
Saskatoon. It is a story familiar to Saskatoon residents, who saw this
tension play out in city council in October when Cannimed's Brent
Zettl correctly argued that the Compassion Club operated outside the
federal system of medical cannabis.

The intersection of vaping and medical marijuana has also caused
tension. As vaping has moved from a niche presence to mainstream
practice, its unregulated nature - at the federal level - poses
problems to policy-makers.

For example, the Ontario government exempted medical-marijuana users
in mid November from a law that bans the use of e-cigarettes anywhere
regular cigarettes are prohibited.

These regulations were set to come into effect Jan. 1. This exemption
meant medical-marijuana users could vape in restaurants, at work or on
playgrounds. However, Ontario's associate health minister Dipika
Damerla stated last week that the government would revisit the exemption.

City council in Saskatoon recently voted to implement a vaping ban in
public spaces, with only a vape shop exemption predicated on "safety"
concerns, specifically for the uninitiated e-cigarette user who
doesn't know how to install batteries in the device. But it also was
also predicated on the notion that buyers should be able to see what
they're getting, which is the same argument made by authorized medical
cannabis users about the value of a local pot dispensary.

Finally, this regulation is problematic since it fails to recognize
the synergistic relationship between and potentially amorphous nature
of vape shops, head shops and dispensaries.

Together these developments and messages emanating from government and
industry amount to a considerable question mark. And one can forgive
the general public for being confused about the future of recreational
and medical marijuana.

Richert teaches in the department of history at the University of 
Saskatchewan.
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