Opening Statement



Saturday 13 August 2016

Oh Cannabis! Towards Legal Pot in Canada!

Stay tuned for more links! 



The Trudeau government has finally released it's long awaited "discussion paper" on the legalization of marijuana in Canada. You can now read and study "Toward Legalization" now Doc

One would think this would be a good news story! Regretfully, as NORML Canada's [National Organization for The Reform of Marijuana Laws] points out, there is little cause for celebration! The perspectives we are presented with to frame the legalization discussion, with a Spring 2017 target date for implementation, are very mean spirited, and punitive! 

"Toward Legalization" blurs the lines on the proposed legal age for buying pot, to propose limiting the sale of pot to those of us age 25 or older! How so? It passes off the "causal link" of marijuana's effects as an "associative" one, to make a quite less than scientific case for limiting access. That could prove quite problematic, and even a violation of the charter rights for our younger Canadian medical and recreational marijuana users



Sadly, the discussion paper also presents the government's case in a very big biz, corporate, monopolistic light! It seems to confirm that Canada's long persecuted marijuana advocates and indie grass root users, growers, and indie ganjapreneurs will now be largely shut out of the new system that's being discussed. Tragically, many of the proposals could prove quite unrealistic and unmanageable. Indeed, as NORML Canada's very bleak critique advises us: 
On June 30, 2016 the federal government released a discussion paper on cannabis legalization entitled “Toward the Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to Marijuana.” The paper tells us that the new regime will be punitive, monopolistic, and unmanageable. The paper is premised on various mean-spirited and wrong-headed assumptions about cannabis. Perhaps most offensive of all, the paper repeatedly stresses the “especially important” need to prevent the normalization of cannabis and thereby continue the almost one hundred years of stigma and prejudice against cannabis.
The paper is a dark message about the future of cannabis regulation.The paper is obsessed with the dangers of cannabis. Organized crime is looming around every corner. Those who do not comply with the new system must be stopped. Dispensaries are so obviously evil there is no need to explain why. Home growing will cause your house to explode. And of course, think of the children.
The paper favors mail delivery as a means of distribution as is required in the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR). There is not a person alive who would rather purchase cannabis by mail. This is an idea that must have been pushed by licensed producers as they have the infrastructure to do this. It is an astonishingly bad idea. All consumers will want to see and smell what they are buying and speak with the people from whom they are purchasing.
The paper considers storefronts as something that “may be required in order to provide an alternative to the current illegal sellers that exist in certain Canadian cities.” In other words, new dispensaries might have to be permitted if only to help extinguish the current dispensaries.
The paper indicates that home growing brings risks of mould, fire and home invasion. These myths were debunked in Allard v. Canada where Mr. Justice Phelan found that the risk of mould can be avoided by having a proper ventilation system, the risk of electrical hazards can be addressed by having a certified electrician take care of any electrical installations, and the risk of home invasion was speculative without a foundation. I can grow tomatoes in my home, but if I grow cannabis then my house explodes. The paper seems to favour the MMPR licensed producer model over home-growing.
The paper advises there are health risks associated with cannabis use during adolescence. The paper says there is good evidence that cannabis use in early adolescence can harm scholastic achievement. They use the word ‘associated’ because there is no causal link. Science has not established a causal link between cannabis use and poor outcomes for youth.
The paper should be upfront about its shortcomings, but instead it uses this weak science as justification for a potential minimum age of 25. There could be no more sure-fire plan for pushing young people towards the black market than a minimum age that is oblivious to the reality of cannabis use in Canada in 2016.
The paper seems to think that strengthened sanctions are necessary for those that act outside the boundaries of the new system. In other words, the previous government’s mandatory minimums are not enough. Our cannabis laws need to be made more draconian.
The paper suggests limits on THC levels, limits on how much may be possessed, limits on where cannabis may be consumed, limits on hours of operation, limits on advertising, limits on density of retailers, and limits – perhaps even a complete ban – on edibles.
Reasonable limits on advertising could be a practical means of guarding against big cannabis. There is nothing wrong with the government requiring reasonable regulation of packaging and production. The issue of age is a complex one in which despite an absence of peer reviewed science, a government might choose 18 or 19 as a minimum age because there is probably a consensus on this issue and that is how we have approached alcohol.
However, this document is hysterical. It signals the government’s intention to shut the cannabis community out of the cannabis industry. It suggests an unrealistic expectation of micro-managed control. It reveals the government’s sinister plan to fight the normalization of cannabis. The discussion paper’s mean, punitive, monopolistic, and unmanageable proposals will guarantee many years of conflict, litigation, legal uncertainty, and a thriving grey market.
– Paul Lewin, @PaulLewinLawyer

Read the above and more of NORML's notes on "Toward Legalization" many shortcomings @ NORML


To further add insult to injury, please note that after many decades of bummers, burns and rip offs under prohibition, Canadian weed aficionados and med pot patients are now only are handed some more really bad shit! Alas! You only have until until August 31 to respond using the links provided at the end of the discussion paper! Better get writing!

Some more advice? See if you qualify for a medical marijuana patient licence now! As NORML Canada warns, we could be facing many, many years of awful legal challenges, wrangling, bad laws, logic and other such nonsense! Indeed, it could well prove to be your "Gold Card" to avoid many of the awful problems that "Towards Legalization" shows us lie ahead! 



MORE LINKS:

Moved: My August Toronto Med Rec Pot Report is @ Here!

Legalized Marijuana in Canada by Spring 2017? What do we already know? Not know? An overview of the Trudeau governments approach to legalization prior to the discussion paper? More CBC ]
Very, Very Vague: See what the Canadian Department of Justice has to say about the legalization and regulation of marijuana on it's site @ GCA

Busted? Ontario's Wynne government has also already locked out our province's indie, grass root “free market” advocates, users and ganjapreneurs [i.e. growers, dealers, dispensaries], who have borne the brunt of the so called “War on Drugs”, from the legalization process! They seem determined to hand over the new growing, marketing and profit opportunities to the corporate big biz interests, and maybe even government monopolies such as the LCBO. This writer argues that Ontario shouldn’t be setting up such a rigid, corporate system for controlling the weed market @ Star


MORE WEED BLOGS:

My blog on the Wynne government's crackdown on pot in our province is explained @ On Bill 45!


Reefer Madness Canada: The Harper Era @ Bummerz!

A Visit to Bob Marley birthplace in Nine Miles Jamaica @ Hi! Hi! Hi!

More links to follow! Also, read my monthly Teacher Free Speech News y Views blogs! Lot's more progressive links and updates on developments in the legalization of weed in Canada can be found there! 


MORE WEED NEWS

The Canadian government announces it will allow licensed medical marijuana patients to grow their own weed or designate somebody to grow it for them @ Reuters

Med Pot Gold Card? The inside dope on the latest new rules for growing medicinal pot is Ottawa 



Ganja Grrrrls! Join NORML's Women's Alliance @ Here!

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