Pot plan another Liberal mess
My favourite moment in the unfurling disaster of marijuana legalization was the one in which First Nations leaders demanded control over pot sales, distribution, regulation and policing within Indigenous communities, and the right to set the laws that will oversee its use by their people.
Of course they did. First Nations view themselves as just that — sovereign nations — with the right to govern themselves as they see fit. Why would control of pot be any different than anything else?
My second favourite moment occurred just shortly afterwards, when federal and provincial finance ministers got together to divvy up the loot. The gathering reminded me of the scene in James Bond films when the well- dressed hoodlums of SPECTRE sit around a table tallying their proceeds: kidnapping revenue is a pleasant surprise, extortion income is way up, and blackmail is thriving. It took some arguing, but in this case No. 1 — that would be Bill Morneau — agreed to cut the federal take to 25 per cent without having to push a button and have one of the ministers carted away as a corpse.
There are plenty of other treasured moments I could mention. Canadians who understood that legalizing pot would free the police from the bothersome and wasteful procedures that current laws require must be baffled at persistent police complaints that new enforcement needs will put great demands on their ability to cope. They keep pestering Ottawa to delay the scheduled July 1 legalization date, allowing them more time to prepare. To prepare for something that’s not an offence?
Of course, their worry — and that of many others — is that the parameters being assembled to support the law won’t be adequate to achieve the promises that have been made. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau proclaimed his determination to legalize pot for recreational use, he didn’t mention all the problems involved. It was all going to be part of the sunny ways movement: adult Canadians would be allowed to freely acquire their supply, safe from fear of arrest, crushing the business model of organized crime and cutting into the problem of underage drug abuse.
Voters signalled their support for this Valhalla, based mainly on the theory of the thing. If you can drink booze, why shouldn’t you be able to smoke pot. Same thing, right?
I guess. Except it’s proving to be a lot more complicated. In asking voters whether they support legalization — which most say they do — pollsters should have added a second question: “Fine, but do you believe Canada’s politicians are capable of handling this without making a complete mess of the situation?”
This government is prov- ing itself to be long on messes. The electoral reform mess. The botched inquiry into murdered and missing women. The shambles of a policy on procuring new fighter planes for the military. ( We’re now buying used planes from the Australians. Seriously.) Marijuana policy is just another in the list, but with significant repercussions.
Rather than one nationwide distribution policy, there will be 13, as each province and territory invents its own. The limited number of outlets planned in jurisdictions like Ontario will only encourage users to find more convenient suppliers, i.e. the same illegal dealers they’re used to. Advertising rules will prevent pot being marketed to the underaged, but it’s not advertised now, at all, and that’s hardly stopped anyone. If anything, the fact that pot is legal can only help convince teens that there can’t be anything wrong with it, so why wait until they reach legal age?
Doctors point out that legalizing the drug won’t reduce its harmful impact on the developing brains of young smokers. Police remain concerned about detecting marijuana use in motorists. No one wants a “dispensary” — the polite name that masks the reality of the fact that we’re talking about drug sales — anywhere near schools, parks, playgrounds or anywhere else kids might be exposed to it. Other than making it easier for adult users to get their supply without having to be sneaky about it — that is, if they decide to use one of the legal outlets rather than stick with what they know — how is this progress?
As Ottawa hurries towards its July 1 deadline despite repeated pleas for caution, the real attraction of legalization — that would be the money — is becoming more evident.
“There’s a lot of money to be made off it,” acknowledged Donald Maracle, Chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. At a recent First Nations gathering he indicated that band councils “want in on the economic benefit to create jobs and earn revenue.”
He’s well aware of the risks, topped by health dangers, damage to communities and ongoing lawbreaking. Already “dispensaries” have started crowding onto reserves in hopes of evading provincial and federal regulators.
“There is a huge question about whether Ontario’s laws can even apply on reserve,” noted Maracle. Chief Randall Phillips, of the Oneida Nation near London, Ont., was clear on that score: “We will decide who gets it. We will decide how it gets distributed. We will decide how it gets protected and we are going to look at all those things. But I don’t need a regulatory framework.”
That’s not the story the prime minister sold to Canadians when he pledged strict rules and reliable enforcement, with a focus on safeguarding young people. It’s more like the status quo, but with Ottawa charging $ 1 a gram in tax, plus 10 per cent on anything above 10 grams, and the provinces getting 75 per cent of the take. The only crime in illegal pot sales, it appears, was that Ottawa wasn’t getting its share of the profits.
NOT THE STORY THE PRIME MINISTER SOLD TO CANADIANS. — KELLY McPARLAND