Liberals must be clearer on how they plan to legalize pot: Editorial

The Liberal government needs to do a better job of explaining where Canada is headed on legalizing marijuana use and its rationale for going there.

JONATHAN HAYWARD / THE CANADIAN PRESS 

Marijuana is weighed at a medical marijuana dispensary, in Vancouver last year. The Liberals are sending mixed messages about marijuana legalization.

Don’t blame Canadians for being confused. Ottawa’s position on marijuana use is clouded by a haze of feel-good promises, puzzling law, mixed messages and jumbled options.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. But former Toronto police chief Bill Blair, the MP Trudeau put in charge of this file, has said anyone caught smoking weed for fun should still face criminal charges. “The current laws remain in force and should be obeyed,” Blair told senators this past week.

He’s right, of course, according to a strict reading of the statutes. But it seems unduly harsh to continue laying criminal charges under these circumstances, especially since thousands of Canadians are free to puff away without any sanction at all — they’re officially certified to use marijuana for medical reasons. There’s a broad public view that society’s old restrictions are no longer valid. Scores of pot dispensaries openly operate in clear violation of the rules, especially in Vancouver.

No wonder police departments report that front-line officers are confused about how aggressively to make arrests.

Further complicating matters, a federal court judge a few days ago struck down a ban that would have blocked people using medical marijuana from cultivating cannabis at home. Justice Michael Phelan ruled that this prohibition, introduced by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, was “arbitrary and overbroad” and a violation of patients’ charter rights.

Phelan gave the Liberal government six months to pass new rules on medical marijuana. In the meantime, about 28,000 people currently medicating themselves with weed, and covered under an injunction linked to the court case, can continue to cultivate the crop at home.

There’s a bewildering array of options for marketing marijuana once it has been legalized. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is pressing to have recreational pot sold through the province’s LCBO liquor stores. But other possibilities include private sector outlets specializing in weed, online operators, marijuana “cafes,” and pharmacies. There’s brisk lobbying around these options.

Shoppers Drug Mart, for one, issued a statement this past week arguing that dispensing medical marijuana through pharmacies would be the safest option. After all, drug stores know all about handling and selling drugs.

How and where marijuana is made available to the public carries significant social consequences, but it’s not clear which way Ottawa will turn.

The government has indicated it will treat recreational cannabis and medical pot as separate issues, each with its own distinct rules. As a first step it needs to do a better job of explaining why such a distinction is even necessary once pot smoking has been legalized. People sipping red wine for health reasons don’t need a prescription to do so.

Blair was careful to avoid setting a schedule for legalizing pot. He insisted that “we are going to take the time to do it right.” Fair enough. One can’t expect sweeping change of this nature to happen overnight. But more clarity is necessary as we move forward.

A better understanding of the direction in which the government is headed, along with a sound explanation of its reasoning, would go a long way towards dispelling the baffling murk that has come to surround marijuana legalization.