Police still ‘operating in the dark’ on legal pot

From sending officers to Florida to receive special training in drug recognition, to the possibility of having to build a greenhouse to care for pot plants that have been seized by police, the legalization of recreational cannabis is going to put additional financial pressure on the Ottawa Police Service “for years to come,” says Deputy Chief Jill Skinner.

Skinner told the Ottawa Police Services Board on Monday that the $6.2 million the legislation is expected to cost the force annually (in addition to a one-time training budget of $500,000) is based on the best information they have. But that information is not great.

To a large extent, she said, “we are really operating in the dark.

“I cannot highlight enough that we do not know the true cost of cannabis legalization until it comes. We won’t know the uptake in our community until it happens.”

Councillor Allan Hubley said he thinks the $6.2 million estimate — extrapolated from budgeting done by York Region — “is probably a very low estimate.”

With just months to go until new cannabis legislation is passed, Skinner said there are still many unknowns and concerns.

Her top concern, she said, is its impact on impaired driving.

“It is already a very significant concern and is something that we think is not going to be helped by adding another drug that can impair peoples’ ability to drive.”

She said she is also concerned about its impact on youth.

“We have done a lot of work and now we are telling youth it is OK to use and possess drugs. It does not really make a lot of sense.”