Marijuana plan pleases some, but has many doubters
Safe-driving activists, pot dispensers and businesses all have their own views
Two cannabis activists aren’t impressed with the marijuana legalization plan Quebec announced Thursday. But a group that works to decrease impaired driving praised the proposed legislation.
Here’s a look at some of the reaction to Bill 157:
Marc-Boris St-Maurice, a longtime pot activist and founder of the Montreal Compassion Centre medical-marijuana dispensary:
“Their plan is still half-baked,” he said, noting guidelines announced Thursday are in a draft bill that might change.
“We still don’t know about the supply end and the federal government has yet to pass their bill so all of this is still, for the moment, promises and expectations, but I have no idea what it’s going to look like upon delivery.”
He objected to Quebec’s plan to conduct criminal background checks on Société québécoise du cannabis employees.
“That’s going to exclude a lot of people who have a lot of expertise,” St-Maurice said. “We’re not talking about hardened, career criminals here; we’re talking about just average people who may have a record for cannabis possession,” he said.
“I thought legalization was actually supposed to help these people who suffered at the hands of prohibition.”
St-Maurice said, “It’s a shame that they haven’t turned to people in the marijuana community to get more input. I don’t think the government has the expertise required.”
Jodie Emery, marijuana activist and co-owner of the Cannabis Culture dispensary chain:
“I’m not impressed at all — this is the most restrictive model we’ve seen yet,” Emery said of Quebec’s bill. “It sounds just like prohibition. The model they’re proposing will ensure that (people) continue to be criminalized, it will deny Quebec residents many of their different rights and freedoms.”
She objected to provisions that would bar drivers from having any marijuana in their system, restrict the amount of pot Quebecers could have in their homes, and forbid home-growing.
“It’s very disappointing because we know there is extremely high demand for cannabis access in Quebec,” Emery said.
Her husband, Cannabis Culture co-owner Marc Emery, was arrested in December after briefly opening six marijuana dispensaries in Montreal, all of which later closed.
Simon-Pierre Poulin, spokesperson for Montreal 420 Tours, a nascent cannabis tourism company:
Poulin said he’s disappointed Quebec’s bill appears to exclude the idea of marijuana cafés, one of the lines of business his company was considering.
Other problems: The bill severely restricts advertising of cannabis and related products and limits smoking in public outdoor places such as parks, he noted.
“We want to be able to promote Montreal as a festive, lively, young destination,” Poulin said. “We want to be able to take tourists out to enjoy the parks, enjoy the city.”
The company might offer walking tours where tourists consume marijuana in parks and then visit restaurants.
Poulin said he hopes “municipalities will tolerate people consuming in public spaces like parks,” as Montreal does with Tam-Tam events in Mount Royal Park.
Marie Claude Morin, spokesperson, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD):
MADD had suggested zero tolerance for youth smoking up and driving. Quebec went one step further, forbidding anyone from consuming pot and driving, and imposing an immediate 90-day license suspension as well as a fine, Morin noted.
“Most experts were a little worried about how to define what would be a legal limit for cannabis so imposing zero tolerance (for all) is a safe way to go,” she said.
“This would be the toughest legislation in Canada,” she added.
Chief Gina Deer, who sits on the Cannabis Working Group on behalf of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake:
Quebec’s bill says the province will enter into agreements with Indigenous communities in order to adapt the bill’s measures to “native realities.”
In Kahnawake, the council is consulting with community members.
“Our community has been zero tolerance for many years on drugs,” Deer said.
“Now when you tell them that we have to accept marijuana as a legal product and not as a drug, it’s hard to accept, especially for elders.”
She said one possibility is that manufacturing would be allowed in Kahnawake but not retail marijuana outlets.
“The reality is people are going to go to Châteauguay, LaSalle, Lachine and bring the product back,” but as for what cannabis businesses are allowed in Kahnawake, “it’s our jurisdiction and we’re going to be the ones to regulate it.”
Seychelle Harding, spokesperson, Portage, a network of drugaddiction rehabilitation centres:
Harding said Portage is disappointed that the legal age was set at 18, noting that brains continue to develop until age 25.
Martine Hébert, vice-president, Canadian Federation of Independent Business:
Hébert, whose group represents more than 100,000 businesses across Canada, said she was disappointed the bill includes no guidelines “to help employers manage the risks of a possible upsurge in workplace consumption.”
Stéphane Forget, president, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec:
The bill’s zero tolerance on smoking up and driving should have been extended to the workplace, according to Forget.
The bill should be amended to “to send a clear signal that combining cannabis and work is dangerous.’
Richard Lehoux, president, Fédération québécoise des municipalités:
Lehoux praised the bill but said municipalities will need to be compensated.
“The legalization of cannabis will impose significant additional costs on municipalities in terms of safety and supervision.”
That’s why equitable distribution of cannabis revenue between the different levels of government is crucial, he said.