Pubdate: Fri, 01 Jul 2016
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Robert Benzie
Page: A4

LIBERAL TASK FORCE DAMPENS HOPES ON POT

Making first move toward marijuana legalization, strict regulation
looks likely

Ottawa is taking the first step toward marijuana legalization with a
new federal task force led by former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan.

But advocates hoping for unfettered access to recreational cannabis
may be disappointed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government
plans a strict regulatory framework to limit the production and
distribution of weed.

Liberal MP Bill Blair (Scarborough Southwest), the former Toronto
police chief who has been Trudeau's point-person on the issue, said
Thursday "the science is overwhelmingly clear that marijuana is not a
benign substance."

"It represents a risk to certain sectors of our population,
particularly kids, in the impact on developing adolescent brains. But
it also can have an impact on very frequent users or people who may be
suffering from other illnesses, particularly mental illness," Blair
said in Ottawa.

"Unlike (growing) tomatoes, it is a substance that poses certain
significant both social and health harms and risks to Canadians."

McLellan, a former health and justice minister, said her task force of
medical and legal experts would consult with provinces, municipalities
and the public before releasing a report in November that will be the
blueprint for next year's legislation.

"The current situation is not working and we need a better way
forward," McLellan said.

Also on the volunteer panel are McGill University medical professor
Mark Ware; Centre of Addiction and Mental Health president and CEO
Catherine Zahn; University of Victoria criminologist Susan Boyd;
former Vancouver city councillor George Chow; Newfoundland police
Supt. Marlene Jesso; B.C.'s chief public health officer Perry Kendall;
former RCMP deputy commissioner Rafik Souccar; and University of
Saskatchewan law professor Barbara von Tigerstrom.

Ottawa has instructed them that the new law must "protect young
Canadians by keeping marijuana out of the hands of children and youth;
keep profits out of the hands of criminals, particularly organized
crime; reduce the burdens on police and the justice system associated
with simple possession of marijuana offences; (and) prevent Canadians
from entering the criminal justice system and receiving criminal
records for simple possession of marijuana offences."

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould stressed marijuana laws should
remain in place, meaning Toronto's more than 100 "dispensaries" are
operating illegally so police crackdowns and criminal prosecutions
should continue.

"The possession, production and trafficking of marijuana remain
illegal. This includes storefronts selling marijuana, commonly known
as 'dispensaries' and 'compassion clubs,' " Wilson-Raybould said in a
joint statement with federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and Public
Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

However, the Toronto Dispensary Coalition's Michael McLellan (no
relation to Anne McLellan) said the shops work in Colorado and other
places where marijuana is legal.

"Dispensaries in our coalition strive to ensure the product we sell is
safe and ethically grown, free from organized and violent crime. The
repeated accusations by anti-dispensary business interests to the
contrary are false and unconstructive," he said.

Despite a B.C. court ruling that Ottawa has until August to address,
medicinal marijuana will still only be legally available to patients
with a prescription from a medical doctor and provided by one of
Canada's 33 licensed producers.

Those Health Canada-inspected facilities must ship their cannabis by
registered mail and are not allowed to sell directly to the public
through storefronts. Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberals have a dozen
provincial departments working on a marijuana strategy in preparation
for legalization.

"(If) you're asking me about revenue from marijuana sales, I can't
tell you what that would be. We've got people in our ministries
working on what it might mean," said the premier, who wants
recreational marijuana sales to be handled by the LCBO, the provincial
liquor monopoly.
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MAP posted-by: Matt