Police need marijuana money, but so do other public agencies

Peterborough County won’t be giving Peterborough city police any of the provincial grant money the county received to offset costs of Ontario’s legalized marijuana regime.

Peterborough city council, on the other hand, was extremely generous when police came calling.

In March, council agreed the city’s entire $253,639 would go to policing.

Other agencies identified by the province as being affected by legalization and eligible for a share of the grant — public health, fire, ambulance, bylaw enforcement — were shut out.

That decision was based on a report from city police, one that didn’t include a total cost figure and didn’t ask for a specific amount.

The police report did make it clear that training and equipment costs over several years would exceed $250,000. The bulk of that bill is salary costs to cover for officers who are away getting training.

Devoting all the cash to policing was perhaps a defensible call given the costs involved, but not the right one.

It appears to be grounded in two beliefs.

First, that after years of the previous mayor and council waging budget war with the police service there is a need to always be seen as supportive.

No more public disagreements, very little questioning.

Second, that legalized marijuana is a serious threat to law and order. Whatever bad stuff law enforcement types fear is coming must be coming.

However, experience in the two U.S. states that legalized recreational pot eight years ago doesn’t bear that out — even if the city police report suggests otherwise.

Police can’t be blamed for laying out the strongest possible case for a big share of marijuana mitigation money. Like all city-funded departments, they are on a tight budget and would like to be able to do more with what they have.

In making their case the force picked supportive facts and statistics. Councillors declined to question them.

According to the police report, Colorado motor vehicle accidents and fatalities were up seven and 11 per cent, respectively, one year after legalization. Emergency room visits were up 29 per cent.

Those figures presumably are intended to prove a need for more RIDE checks. The report also cites a need for beefed up patrols in the downtown area where legal pot shops set up.

No sources are cited. No statistics on following years are offered.

In contrast, a 2019 joint study by three American universities found no change, up or down, in marijuana related thefts and break-ins or violent crime since 2012 in either Colorado or Washington state.

An October 2018 report from Colorado’s Division of Criminal Justice Office found that both total DUI charges and fatal crashes decreased after legalization. Marijuana DUI charges remained steady.

The same report says the number of people admitted to hospital with suspected marijuana issues had been declining steadily since 2000, a decline that continued after legalization.

The city police report notes Barrie gave its police department $243,000 from the provincial grant.

It does not mention that represented 65 per cent of Barrie’s total grant. The rest went to public health and other city departments to fund education, signage and bylaw enforcement.

In Peterborough those departments are also strapped for cash, public health in particular.

A more responsible decision would be to spread grant money to each area of need, as the province intended.