Pubdate: Fri, 24 Nov 2017
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Authors: Stephanie Smith and Damian Kettlewell
Page: A11

LIQUOR STORES THE RESPONSIBLE WAY TO RETAIL POT

It's late afternoon and you receive a text message: "Friends coming
for dinner. Please pick up wine." You pull into the neighbourhood
liquor store, pick up a bottle of your favourite wine and head home. A
familiar scene taking place across the province every day.

When you go into your local liquor store, you have confidence knowing
you're buying a quality product in a secure environment, with stores
conveniently located in every community across the province.

B.C.'s public and private liquor stores have a proven track record
over many decades, selling controlled alcohol products to adults in a
responsible manner, with more than a 90 per cent compliance rate in
restricting sales to minors.

B.C.'s liquor stores are a perfect fit for non-medical cannabis sales,
especially given the tight timeline for implementation of July 1,
2018, provided by the federal government. B.C.'s efficient
liquor-distribution network has been serving controlled products to
British Columbians for 96 years.

During the B.C. government's public consultation on non-medical
cannabis regulation, some groups have suggested that co-locating
marijuana with alcohol is not recommended, as it contributes to co-use
of the products. Others have suggested that people using medical
marijuana to help treat alcoholism should not have to purchase
cannabis from a liquor store.

The Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance of B.C. fully supports an
evidence-based public health policy approach that discourages the
co-use of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. We also believe that medical
cannabis use should be administered by a safe, separate and effective
medical-cannabis distribution system.

As part of this evidence-based process, we point to a submission to
the federal cannabis task force by the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health, Canada's largest mental-health and addiction teaching
hospital, which states that "there is no evidence as to whether
selling cannabis and alcohol alongside one another encourages or
facilitates co-use."

In contrast to the lack of evidence of harm associated with
colocation, academic research shows that harm-reduction policies are
better implemented by public agencies such as the Liquor Distribution
Branch than by private networks.

The CAMH submission supports the distribution of non-medical cannabis
by "provincial liquor boards." Both Ontario and New Brunswick are
already using liquor boards to distribute and retail cannabis.

The Ontario government approach to cannabis sales uses the public
liquor-distribution network to sell non-medical cannabis in 150 costly
new public standalone sales outlets. However, only 40 locations will
be in place in the first year, with the remainder to open by 2020 -
creating continuing demand for a black-market cannabis industry.

By contrast, B.C.'s 868 public and private liquor stores, with our
highly trained staff, already provide secure sale of controlled
substances in every community across the province.

B.C.'s liquor stores are also compliant with current municipal zoning
bylaws and provincial licensing regulations, unlike the majority of
existing unlicensed cannabis dispensaries or potential stand-alone
outlets.

Given the short time frame for the province to implement federal
cannabis regulations, any stand-alone distribution network would be
extremely costly to implement, and would duplicate the work done by
the existing Liquor Distribution Branch. It would be difficult, if not
impossible, to have a parallel system in place by next summer.

We believe that B.C.'s existing sales and distribution system
maximizes the benefits to our province while minimizing risks. Done
properly, the retail and distribution of non-medical cannabis through
our current liquor distribution system will create good jobs for
British Columbians and generate revenue to fund public services, while
minimizing potential harms associated with cannabis use.

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Stephanie Smith and Damian Kettlewell are members of the Responsible 
Marijuana Retail Alliance of B.C.
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MAP posted-by: Matt