B.C. POLITICAL LEADERS OFFER THE STRAIGHT DOPE ON POT REFORM
The federal government Thursday tabled bills to make possession of marijuana for recreational purposes legal by July 1, 2018. Leaders of B.C.’s main political parties were asked what system they favoured and whether the province or local governments shoul
LIBERAL LEADER CHRISTY CLARK
Clark said she would consult an expert panel of health officials and law enforcement on how to distribute marijuana safely. She noted that the federal panel that advised government recommended against selling pot through the liquor distribution branch and that no U.S. state that has legalized pot allows it to be sold where you can buy alcohol.
“My No. 1 concern is making sure we keep marijuana out of the hands of kids and its distribution isn’t in neighbourhoods that don’t want it and isn’t near schools,” Clark said. “My early thinking on it is we want to make sure all of the revenue that comes from marijuana goes back into our health system to support the health impacts of it, that it goes back into our law enforcement system to keep crime and gangs out of it.”
NDP LEADER JOHN HORGAN
Horgan said the B.C. NDP dispatched Carole James and Mike Farnworth to Washington and Oregon, which have regulated and decriminalized cannabis, to prepare a report.
“First thing, we want to make sure that we keep marijuana away from children, but we’ve got to make sure that the regulations are rigid,” Horgan said. He supports using public liquor stores to dispense cannabis and sees a role for pharmacies as a “comfortable” option for older people using medicinal cannabis.
Horgan said that if prices are too high, the black market will remain, so his party won’t make decisions on what to do with tax revenue until the federal government’s legalization process and any amendments to its legislation have concluded.
GREEN PARTY LEADER ANDREW WEAVER
Weaver said the Green party doesn’t want the industry “to be taken over by big multinationals.” It favours a distribution model similar to craft brewing, which allows consumers to sample and purchase product, but also directs sales through the liquor distribution branch, though he would leave involvement up to the LDB. And he sees a role for pharmacies in distributing medicinal marijuana.
“We would support that kind of model that’s not one (distribution channel) or another, it’s a combination of both,” Weaver said.
He said the province should recognize pot taxes as income that can deal with “much of the provincial downloading (municipalities have absorbed) over the years.”