Pubdate: Sat, 05 Dec 2015
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Page: A12

POT SALES NEED STRICT REGULATION

Selling non-medical marijuana in liquor stores makes a lot of sense - 
the stores are already in the business of selling a controlled 
substance that alters the mental state and impairs abilities. They 
have the necessary expertise and infrastructure. The B.C. Government 
and Service Employees' Union has partnered with the B.C. Private 
Liquor Store Association to push for the sale of recreational 
marijuana in public and private liquor stores - if and when the 
federal government legalizes the drug.

It should be sold in a socially responsible way, "in an 
age-controlled environment with a proven track record of ID checks, 
and that's what we currently have within our liquor stores," says 
BCGEU president Stephanie Smith.

The two groups are jumping the gun, but just a little. Marijuana is 
still illegal under Canada's Criminal Code, but that will likely soon change.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the throne speech on 
Friday to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana" in 
order to keep the drug away from children and the profits away from 
criminals. He promised during the election campaign that the 
government would decriminalize marijuana consumption and incidental 
possession, while creating stronger laws to punish those who sell to 
minors or drive under the influence.

The legal selling of marijuana would require a strict regulatory 
framework, and such a framework already exists with the sale of alcohol.

Such an arrangement would fall in line with the thinking of many who 
have long advocated that marijuana be treated the same as alcohol.

The marijuana issue in Canada is a mess right now. Supreme Court 
rulings have made it difficult, in some cases impossible, to 
prosecute those who use marijuana, even though possession and use of 
it for other than medical purposes is still a criminal offence.

The resulting legal limbo has created a Wild West situation that only 
promises to become more confusing. Federal regulations are necessary, 
and they will be welcome.

Federally mandated research will be even more welcome. We know 
marijuana is not as portrayed in the 1936 propaganda film Reefer 
Madness: a drug that instantly turns users into raging psychopaths. 
But neither is it a benign herb with no ill effects. Finding the 
truth that lies somewhere between those two extremes has been 
difficult, because marijuana has not been adequately studied scientifically.

Many tout marijuana as a medicine, and evidence indicates that the 
plant has considerable pharmaceutical potential, but it should 
undergo the rigorous testing of any drug.

That testing could point to dangers of abuse or overuse; more 
important is the fact that without proper research, we do not know 
the true potential of the drug. It might have uses not yet thought 
of, applications that could relieve suffering and make lives better.

We do not endorse the smoking of marijuana, but neither do we 
advocate throwing people in jail for smoking pot, any more than we 
should make criminals out of people who choose to drink alcohol.

The decriminalization of marijuana is long overdue, and putting it 
under the same sort of regulations that govern liquor seems appropriate.

But taking it out of the Criminal Code is only one step. The federal 
government should open the doors to research that can bring to light 
more information, good and bad, about this drug.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom