Province urged to delay legal pot
Alberta’s conservative opposition parties are concerned about the tight time frame for cannabis legalization.
NDP Finance Minister Joe Ceci said last week that despite major decisions needing to be made, Alberta will be ready with a regulatory regime and won’t ask Ottawa for an extension to its planned July 1, 2018, date for legal cannabis to be implemented.
However, Wildrose justice critic Angela Pitt said in a recent interview that Alberta should contemplate joining Manitoba in formally asking for the legalization date to be pushed back.
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Alberta to also ask for an extension on the deadline so we can get it right. This is a huge thing that is about to happen to our province, and the more time the better,” said Pitt.
Ottawa has rejected the notion of extending the timeline for what was a Liberal campaign promise.
Alberta’s NDP government has launched consultations on legal cannabis, looking at issues such as the legal age for consumption and where the product should be sold. The province must also create some sort of taxation regime for marijuana.
Opposition parties are themselves grappling with legal cannabis.
The Progressive Conservative caucus says it is still developing its position on what it called an “intricate topic.”
But at a recent local party fundraising event, PC Leader Jason Kenney warned that the provincial government must be “very deliberate and careful about the regulatory regime it adopts.”
He told reporters he would favour decriminalization rather than legalization of cannabis, but recognizes that legal marijuana is coming.
“I just think we need to ensure a strong provincial regulatory framework that ensures we don’t end up increasing the availability of marijuana to minors. I think you can have very negative health effects on adolescents and other public health implications,” he said.
Pitt said she believes the NDP is properly consulting on the issue, but Wildrose is doing its own consultations around marijuana as it prepares its policy response.
The party hasn’t settled on the suitable age for legal cannabis consumption, with Pitt acknowledging there is significant debate around the issue.
One position the party has determined, however, is that marijuana sales should be left to the private sector.
“We want to see it heavily regulated but we want to see the system similar to how our liquor stores are run,” said Pitt, referring to standardized training and centralized distribution centres.
The Airdrie MLA said, however, that liquor stores themselves should not sell recreational marijuana, with the party instead leaning toward stand-alone dispensaries for the product.
Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark said he also favours retail operations dedicated solely to cannabis, rather than having it sold by either government stores or liquor stores.
Clark also believes the legal age for consumption should be 21.
“Keeping it out of the hands of older teenagers is wise,” he said.
Liberal Leader David Khan, however, said the minimum age for recreational cannabis use should be 18, matching Alberta’s legal drinking age.
“If it’s set higher, it will simply feed the black market,” Khan said.