Pubdate: Sat, 07 Oct 2017
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 The Calgary Sun
Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Yolande Cole
Page: 3

POT LEGALIZATION CASH CRUNCH WORRIES TOP COP

Calgary police chief roger chaffin said a proposed framework released
by the province on legalized marijuana this week is "a start" as
police examine their next steps to prepare for recreational cannabis
to be legalized July 1.

"On its first blush, there's not a lot of detail in that yet, but at
least the framework sets up at least an idea of where the province
wants to go around age limits, around consumption levels, growing the
plant, so there's lots of areas there at least we can start to go to
work on," chaffin said Friday.

"We don't have that much time between now and when legalization occurs
for us to really get ready in terms of understanding if there's going
to be any new legislation, any policy development, training that would
have to occur before that time. So it's nice to see we at least have
that."

Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley unveiled the government's proposed
framework for legal marijuana Wednesday.

The province set 18 as the legal age for consumption and mandated that
legal weed be sold only in standalone stores, with no sales of
alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals in the same facility.

Police face a challenge when it comes to the issue of impairment,
Chaffin said.

"The cost of delivering the current regime of training for drug
recognition experts is probably unsustainable if you have to present
it service wide," he said.

"It's very, very expensive, it's very time consuming, and the
likelihood that we can do that is difficult. So we're looking for some
support from some orders of government."

Chaffin also said the complexity for police on the enforcement side is
"what actually happens outside of the legal realm."

"So when they said there's 30 grams of legal possession that's
allowed, what happens when you exceed that amount? What happens when
you exceed it by say five grams?"

"We have to look at that - the grey area or the seam that happens
between what's legal and then what is deemed outside of the legal
regime. Has that now become a legislative issue, a provincial matter,
a criminal matter?"
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