Pubdate: Fri, 24 Nov 2017
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 North Shore News
Contact:  http://www.nsnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311
Author: Jane Seyd
Referenced: http://mapinc.org/url/TPdVfU8M

FEDS SEEK INPUT ON POT REGULATIONS

North Shore residents should be able to buy marijuana in either
private or government-run outlets, similar to liquor stores, but there
should be strict regulations banning youth under 19 from accessing
weed and roadside suspensions for drivers impaired by pot.

Local municipalities also want a cut of marijuana revenues to help
with enforcement of the rules and a say about where pot shops are set
up.

Those are some of the messages put forward by all three North Shore
municipalities in response to a provincial call for submissions as
B.C. considers how legal marijuana will be sold and regulated next
year. Those responses received are now posted online by the province.

Local municipalities generally favoured marijuana being regulated in a
manner similar to alcohol, with a minimum age of 19. West Vancouver
also favoured a ban on outdoor growing of pot by the public, for fear
it would increase mischief and property crime.

This week, the federal government also announced a set of proposed
regulations for legalized marijuana, connected to the way pot will be
produced and distributed when it becomes legal.

Ottawa has proposed a system of suppliers for recreational pot
including both large and small producers.

Both types of producers, along with nurseries that supply seeds and
seedling plants, would require a government licence, under proposed
rules.

Producers would not be allowed to operate from private homes and would
be required to have adequate security systems in place, including
alarms and video surveillance, according to the proposed
regulations.

The government would also require key people in control of such
operations - including directors and officers of parent corporations,
and major shareholders - to have federally issued security clearance.
Those would be denied to people with convictions for drug trafficking,
corruption or violent offences, under the proposed regulations, as
well as people associated with organized crime.

People with more minor convictions for possession of pot or
small-scale cultivation may still be eligible for security clearance,
according to the draft regulations.

The proposed federal regulations also called for independent testing
to check for contamination by pesticides or mold, ensure product
quality and standardized amounts of THC and other active ingredients
in pot. Marijuana products would have to be documented in batches, to
allow for recall, and would have to be sold in child-proof packages
with warning labels, and a clear marijuana symbol, according to the
proposed regulations.

The public can weigh in on the proposed federal rules on marijuana
suppliers until Jan. 20 at  .
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MAP posted-by: Matt