Legal weed will require careful regulation
The Canadian government’ s push to legalize marijuana must be handled very carefully and should be heavily regulated to avoid potential pitfalls, Alberta’s justice minister cautioned following a recent fact-finding mission to pot-friendly Colorado.
“(Colorado’s) experience didn’t solve all of the problems that maybe some proponents suggested that it might do,” Kathleen Ganley said in an interview Monday. “But it also didn’t result in a whole bunch of new criminal activity that some detractors might suggest. “The important thing is around regulating it to ensure that everyone remains safe.”
Ganley’s three-day trip involved several meetings with Denver policy-makers, the state’s attorney general, environment health officials, as well as police and fire officials to identify the challenges the Rocky Mountain state faced after legalizing cannabis in 2014.
In April, the Liberal government announced it would table new legislation next spring to legalize pot. It established a nine-member task force to gather input from provincial and municipal governments, indigenous people, health and addiction experts.
The panel is expected to present its report in November.
Meanwhile, provincial and municipal governments are anxiously bracing for the impact legalization will have on a broad range of issues, from land-use planning and business licensing to building code compliance and setting legal age limits.
The Canadian Medical Association, which represents 83,000 physicians, has recommended a nationwide ban on pot use for those under the age of 21 and restrictions on the quantity and potency for people under 25.
“Children and youth are especially at risk for marijuana-related harms, given their brain is undergoing rapid, extensive development,” the CMA wrote in its Aug. 29 submission to the Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation.
“The use of high potency products, higher frequency of use and early initiation are predictors of worse health outcomes.”
The association also recommended restrictions on marketing and packaging, products and potency, and expanding mental health and substance abuse supports.
Existing minimum age limits on tobacco and alcohol vary province to province, from 18 to 19. Colorado tied its minimum age limit to its minimum drinking age limit of 21.
The minimum legal drinking age is 18 in Alberta. Imposing a higher age limit on cannabis could be perceived by some as setting a double standard, said Ganley.
“It would be challenging to a certain degree to set it at a different age because we’re saying, ‘You’re permitted to consume one substance but not the other,’ ” she said. “On the other hand, there is some evidence that brain development continues past that age and that brain development may be affected by the ingestion of (marijuana).”
Alberta also expects Ottawa to share a portion of revenue generated from marijuana sales to offset additional regulatory or enforcement costs in areas that fall under provincial or municipal jurisdiction, she added.
Washington and Colorado both exceeded early tax revenue forecasts, taking in, respectively, $298 million and $206 million in the first two fiscal years following legalization in those states.
“They do appear to be generating sufficient revenue to offset their costs, which is good,” said Ganley.
“But it isn’t the cash cow that people think it might be because there are some significant regulatory and enforcement costs that come along with that.”