Keeping criminals out of cannabis

Regulations considered for new pot industry

As the federal government inches closer to legalizing recreational marijuana by next summer, it is still figuring out where to draw the line on how much previous criminal history should disqualify someone from taking a senior role in the industry.

In draft regulations released this week, the government proposes requiring everyone in “key positions” at licensed marijuana companies to hold a security clearance issued by the health minister’s office. But it’s also asking for feedback on whether people with “histories of non-violent, lower-risk criminal activity” should be allowed to pass security checks.

Police forces have been urging the government to set up even tougher rules on security clearances than currently exist for medical marijuana licence holders.

“Health Canada’s security clearance processes do not go far enough to prevent the infiltration of organized crime in the medical marijuana industry,” said Rick Barnum, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, in testimony to the Commons committee that studied the bill this fall.

“Starting with the large grows that will be regulated and licensed, it’s important to recognize ... that is what organized crime will target. That’s where the most amount of money they could make would be, and that’s our biggest opportunity to get them out.”

Thomas Carrique, who chairs the organized crime committee of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, told MPs that Canada currently has a $7-billion illicit marijuana industry, and some of it will inevitably continue after legalization.

“There are over 300 criminal organizations currently involved in the production, distribution, importation, or exportation of cannabis,” he said. “We can mitigate it, but we cannot eliminate it.”

The draft regulations contain measures such as mandated security systems at marijuana facilities and a national Cannabis Tracking System. The proposed security clearances would apply to anyone holding a designated “key position” in companies licensed to grow, process or sell marijuana. These positions would include the top manager, the chief of security, the master grower (for cultivators), the head of quality assurance (for processors) and the head of client services (for retailers).

It would also apply to the company’s directors and officers, and to shareholders who own more than 25 per cent of the company.

In general, the proposed security clearance regime is stricter than medical marijuana when it comes to company ownership, but more lenient in the actual business operation (currently, a security-cleared employee must be present whenever medical marijuana is being handled).

Getting a clearance would include not only a criminal record check, but also a review of any relevant files held by police agencies, including “intelligence gathered for law enforcement purposes.”

Crucially, the consultation document suggests that clearances could be given to people with non-violent criminal histories, such as charges of possession or small-scale cultivation of cannabis.

THERE ARE OVER 300 CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION ... OF CANNABIS.