Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jun 2016
Source: Detroit News (MI)
Copyright: 2016 The Detroit News
Contact:  http://www.detroitnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126
Author: Charles E. Ramirez

WINDSOR WONDERS IF POT RULES WILL DRAW VISITORS

Windsor - Canada is moving to legalize recreational marijuana use 
next year and authorities here say it could mean an influx of Metro 
Detroiters craving cannabis.

However, experts said that depends on how Canadian laws on the drug 
are set up and whether Michigan's legislators and municipal 
governments continue relaxing marijuana rules.

"Being neighboring jurisdictions, we've always taken advantage of the 
other jurisdiction for one thing or another," Windsor Police Chief Al 
Frederick said. "Canadians have shopped in the United States, and 
because we had a younger drinking age, Americans took advantage of that.

"If we look at those trends, I would certainly expect an uptick in 
Americans coming to Canada, based on past history and practice, to 
take advantage of the marijuana laws."

As in Michigan, the use of medical marijuana is already legal in 
Canada, including Windsor, its city on the Detroit River. There's one 
big difference: Medical marijuana is regulated by Canada's federal 
government; in Michigan, it's regulated by the state.

In Detroit, the city enacted laws last year that require medical 
marijuana dispensaries to be licensed, and regulate where they can 
set up shop. Several communities, including Detroit, Flint, Grand 
Rapids, Jackson, Lansing and Ypsilanti, have decriminalized marijuana 
possession.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has yet to legalize recreational use 
of the drug, even though several states have.

One entrepreneur hoping legal cannabis in Canada will lure more 
Americans across the border is Jon Liedtke, co-owner of Higher 
Limits, a medical marijuana lounge on Ouellette near University 
Avenue in downtown Windsor.

"I hope it does, but I don't think it will," Liedtke said, since 
Metro Detroiters would have to go through Canadian and American 
customs to visit Windsor and return home.

Liedtke, 27, describes the business as a place where medical 
marijuana users can consume the drug in a social setting. The club 
has sitting areas with large sofas around coffee tables, a pool table 
as well as foosball and an area with a video game console. It also 
regularly offers entertainment, including live music and stand-up comedy.

He says his 6,000-square-foot establishment, which opened in January, 
is the largest of its kind in Canada, the first to open south of 
London, Ontario, and the first in Windsor.

Higher Limits charges patrons $5 for admission, which gives them 
access to the club's vaporizers and bongs. The club's customers have 
to bring their own cannabis. The club also sells pipes, bongs and 
other medical marijuana-related accessories.

Legalizing the recreational use of marijuana was one of the campaign 
promises Justin Trudeau, Canada's new leader, made in the country's 
general election last fall.

Last month, Canada's health minister, Jane Philpott, said the 
country's Liberal government will introduce legislation to 
decriminalize and regulate recreational marijuana next spring. 
Philpott made the remarks during a special session of the United 
Nations General Assembly in New York. The session's topic: drug 
problems around the world.

Philpott said the law will keep the drug away from children and keep 
criminals from profiting from its sale.

Economists predict the move could generate $4 billion to $8 billion 
in annual revenues for the country's federal and provincial governments.

But that's "only if all the underground sales are effectively 
curtailed," according to a Canadian report on the fiscal impacts of 
cannabis legalization published earlier this year. "That's on the 
order of 0.25 percent of GDP, no barn-burner."

Frederick said American cities with legalized marijuana, such as 
Denver, have seen an influx of tourists, and he expects something 
similar in Canada.

One of the big challenges Canadian police expect to face, he said, is 
determining whether someone who comes into contact with police is 
under the drug's influence.

"We don't have a tool to detect impairment by marijuana," he said. 
"It doesn't exist yet. There's a safety risk that will be created by 
the legalization of the drug."

Wendy Atkin, a spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency, 
said the agency can't speculate on how a change in marijuana laws 
might affect border crossings.

In the meantime, the agency will continue to enforce Canadian laws, she said.

Like Atkin, Kris Grogan, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection's Detroit office, said he thinks it's too early to tell 
what kind of impact legalizing marijuana in Canada will have on 
traffic in the tunnel under the Detroit River or the Ambassador 
Bridge spanning it.

U.S. cities along the Canadian border that have legalized the drug's 
use don't seem to offer any insight on what will happen if and when 
Canada legalizes cannabis, either.

Jason Givens, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection's Seattle office, said traffic into the state of 
Washington hasn't changed much since it legalized marijuana in 2014.

Liedtke said other reasons Metro Detroiters may remain on the U.S. 
side of the border to get cannabis are that access to medical 
marijuana in the Motor City is easier than in Canada and many 
Michigan communities have already decriminalized possession of the drug.

But legalizing cannabis may still attract Americans to Windsor for 
another reason, Liedtke said.

"We may not be getting tourists coming over to buy a joint and smoke 
it," he said. "But we could get some if they can see the cannabis 
culture here is different."

Jonah Komon, 22, of Windsor, one of Higher Limits' customers, said he 
thinks the city may see an influx of Americans when marijuana is legalized.

"I definitely feel it's a possibility," he said at the club. "And 
sure, it would be great for tourism.

"But it depends on whether the government allows people from the 
United States to purchase cannabis. There has to be some sort of 
regulatory system in place and safe zones where people can buy and access it."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom