Pubdate: Tue, 28 Mar 2017
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2017 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mike Hager
Page: A3

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION MAY BE SLOWED BY PROVINCES

Ottawa's plan to legalize marijuana by next year could hit serious
roadblocks across the country, as provinces and territories are
expected to have different approaches to solving complicated policy
issues such as where to sell cannabis and how much to tax the drug.

The government signalled this weekend it expects to roll out
legislation before April 20 - a day cannabis is celebrated across the
globe - and that the recreational use of the drug would reportedly be
legalized by July 1, 2018.

But, to date, the federal government has indicated that it will leave
the contentious issues of regulating the wholesale distribution and
retailing of cannabis up to the provinces and territories, a move that
could make next year's target seem too ambitious for some
jurisdictions, several industry insiders and academics told The Globe
and Mail.

Perry Kendall, B.C.'s provincial health officer and a member of last
year's federal task force that informed the government's continuing
approach to legalization, said some provinces want a slower approach
while others favour bolder action. He said those who want faster
changes argued the current grey period - where the drug "is going to
be legal but isn't now" - has left municipalities, police forces,
provinces and territories hamstrung.

"They're all calling for clarity," said Dr. Kendall, who said he first
became attuned to the harms of cannabis prohibition while working as
the City of Toronto's chief medical health officer during the mid-1990s.

The independent task force gathered the widest range of opinions on
the issue of whether people should be able to grow the plant at home,
he said. Other contentious aspects of legalization included how much
people should be allowed to possess, whether edibles should be sold
and how to tackle drug-impaired driving, he added.

Brent Zettl, whose Saskatoon-based company Prairie Plant Systems has
grown marijuana under one federal system or another for the past 15
years, said he doubts Ottawa has buy-in from every region of the
country to unilaterally roll out the legalization of the drug.

"The [provinces] that are more in favour of it are going to move at
breakneck speed to endorse that, but the other ones are going to take
a look and see," he said. "The attitude has always been and, rightly
so, that unless there's something meaningful there [in law], they're
not going to spend the time and resources making it a priority -
because of all the other things that each province has to worry about."

Mr. Zettl said many provincial health ministers could be caught
flatfooted on the issue and that some provinces are going to have a
much more difficult time answering questions such as where the drug
will be sold.

Neil Boyd, head of Simon Fraser University's criminology school and a
scholar of prohibition, said that will be the trickiest issue facing
provinces.

The federal task force report informing the government's legalization
of cannabis recommended against selling the drug in liquor stores,
noting concerns that mixing alcohol and marijuana leads to higher
levels of intoxication. Before the task force issued its report last
December, politicians in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario
floated the idea of selling cannabis at such government-run outlets.

Pharmacies or private shops, such as the dispensaries currently
illegal under federal drug laws, are also possible venues for the
eventual distribution of cannabis, Prof. Boyd said.

Many of Alberta's mayors appear hostile to the retail sale of pot,
Prof. Boyd said, which could cause problems if the face-to-face
purchase of the drug is outlawed in that province after federal
legalization.

"The risk of a continuation of a black market is going to [remain] in
those provinces where there is opposition to any form of retail," he
said.

Publicly, many provinces have been loath to comment on a key campaign
promise of the Liberal Party in the previous federal election.

On Monday, B.C.'s Solicitor-General Mike Morris welcomed the coming
legislation and said a group of bureaucrats from various provincial
ministries are still in the research and analysis phase of developing
an eventual regulatory framework.

He said, in an e-mailed statement, that he could not provide any more
detail on B.C.'s plans until the federal changes are finalized and
released.

Dr. Kendall said it will be interesting to see what, if anything,
happens to provinces or territories that drag their heels on
implementing their own legislative challenges.

"They may be facing constitutional challenges," he
said.

John Conroy, long-time counsel for dispensaries and the leader of a
team that won a constitutional challenge forcing Health Canada to
overhaul its medical marijuana rules last summer, said using the
courts to challenge any recreational regime may prove difficult
because it does not involve a citizen's entitlement.

"If [the provinces] don't do anything, they're going to have a
thriving black market and not collect any taxes," he said. "So there's
some incentive for them to get in and regulate."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt