Pubdate: Thu, 07 Jul 2016
Source: St. Thomas Times-Journal (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Sun Media
Contact: http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/letters
Website: http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/953
Author: Anthony Furey
Page: 7

LET'S AVOID A MASSIVE POT BUREAUCRACY

Everyone has their own way of celebrating Canada Day. For some it
involves a touch of vice. Like having one drink too many.

But many Canadians opted for a more relaxed approach and decided to
get stoned.

And is there really anything wrong with that?

Tens of thousands of Canadians, if not more, chose to smoke a joint
rather than knock back a six-pack.

Should they go to jail for it? No way. Yet, technically at least, the
law as it stands still says those are the potential consequences for
people who pick their poison in this way.

This is why it was timely for the Liberals to launch their task force
on pot legalization the day before July 1.

A nine-member panel, led by former justice and health minister Anne
McLellan, will spend the summer engaging with experts and soliciting
feedback from Canadians to assist them in crafting recommendations to
the government, due in November.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has championed his party's plans to
"legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana."

It's the right move and long overdue.

Trudeau's just doing what governments before him should have done,
measures most Canadians support.

But clearly the Liberals need to strike the right balance.

There are legitimate concerns from stakeholders about how we move
beyond prohibition.

For example, who will be given licences to sell pot?

How much, if any, will you be able to grow in your
backyard?

Which details will be federally determined and which left to the
provinces?

But there's an overarching issue that isn't about the specifics of the
law, but what kind of system will be put in place to administer pot
production and sales.

The Liberals and the provinces need to do everything possible to make
sure their oversight of pot doesn't become a massive bureaucratic empire.

A century ago, alcohol laws loosened across the country.

But instead of leaving as much of the industry as possible to the free
market - to producers, consumers and vendors - government plopped
itself right into the middle and never left.

In Ontario, the LCBO has almost exclusive domain over booze sales in
Canada's largest province.

It's a monopoly that engages in legal price-fixing.

The whole thing would arguably be illegal if it wasn't being done by
the government.

It boggles the mind that for almost a hundred years the government has
been in the retail business of selling booze.

It even produces a popular, glossy magazine with recipes.

As of last count, the LCBO had 242 employees on the sunshine list,
each making over $100,000 annually.

It makes no sense. But good luck shutting down such a massive,
entrenched operation.

It's arguably worse when it comes to The Beer Store, Ontario's near
exclusive seller of beer.

In this case it's not even the government running it, but three large,
foreign-owned breweries.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is moving in the right direction by
letting select Loblaws locations sell beer, but the status quo is
still ridiculous.

Canada's alcohol system and laws were a mess from Day 1. Let's not
make the same mistakes with marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Matt