We will regret legal cannabis

Dear Editor: Given the policy options available at the time, I originally supported the proposal to legalize marijuana. As is always the case, however, the devil is in the details and given the way federal and particularly provincial legislation has evolved, I have changed my mind and predict that as currently conceived, legalization will result in a major public health crisis in Canada. Here’s what went wrong. First, and against all independent advice, instead of restricting sales to public, LCB-like outlets where non-promotion of the product would be easy to enforce, provincial governments have generally approved sales of marijuana by private retailers. Private retailers are in the business of making money and will thus have a strong incentive to promote consumption. From a public health perspective increased consumption is the last thing that Canadians need.

Second, it appears that the taxes generated by marijuana sales will end up in general revenues. Good public policy would have dictated that those revenues be earmarked exclusively for:

1. Research (from a medical perspective, what if anything cannabis is actually good for remains largely unknown);

2. Prevention programs that aim to reduce consumption, and

3. Treatment programs for those individuals who run into problems as a result of use (make no mistake, like any other psychoactive drug, marijuana has its victims).

Sadly, this crisis will be self inflicted and could easily have been avoided if our elected officials had the backbone to resist the marijuana lobby and the intelligence to develop good public policy. Lacking both, Canadians are about to suffer the consequences. Chris Fibiger Kelowna