High time to answer burning questions

The truth about the pending legalization of marijuana starts to roll out

By: Bartley Kives

Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press
Even when it is legalized, Ottawa intends to control the way cannabis is produced and sold.

By this time next year, weed will be well on its way to becoming a legal in Canada.

Next spring, the Trudeau government intends to introduce legislation that will effectively legalize the production, distribution and sale of marijuana and other cannabis products and eliminate penalties for possession. Precisely what that involves will depend on regulations that may take longer to put in place — whatever Ottawa decides will require Canadian provinces and municipalities to make changes of their own.

Right now, the status of weed sits in a sort of limbo as law enforcement agencies, governments and potential entrepreneurs watch and wait to see what precisely winds up being proposed by federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and parliamentary justice secretary Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief.

In the meantime, many Canadians have burning questions about legalization. Here’s what we know and don’t know a year away from Canada’s cannabis-friendly makeover:

When will weed really be legal?

That’s anybody’s guess. While the legislation is supposed to arrive next spring, it has to be debated by the Liberal-majority Parliament and pass through a Conservative senate.

Making the changes envisioned by that legislation will be far more complex, as those changes affect everything from municipal law enforcement agencies such as the Winnipeg Police Service, provincial regulators such as the Manitoba Liquor & Gaming Authority and federal organizations such as the Canada Border Services Agency.

Canada may also have to consult with the United States and other countries, as Ottawa has a signed a trio of international treaties governing the non-medical use of drugs. That won’t be easy, regardless of whether there’s a Republican or a Democrat in the White House next year.

Can I just go out and start smoking right now?

No, not with impunity. Unless you have medical dispensation, cannabis possession remains illegal. Police still have the discretion of laying possession charges, though law enforcement agencies don’t devote a tremendous amount of resources toward possession crackdowns.

Marijuana smokers in Canada actually face more of an ethical issue than they do a legal problem. Much of the weed sold in Canada is grown and distributed by organized criminal groups who use cannabis production to support other activities and barter marijuana for cocaine, guns and sex-trade workers, said Sgt. Carrol MacDonald, the head of the Winnipeg Police Service’s marijuana grow-op unit.

In other words, if you don’t know the source of your weed, your purchasing habits may benefit very bad people. As well, biker weed isn’t known for its quality control.

MacDonald said every time a sample of marijuana seized from a large Winnipeg grow-op is sent to a lab for testing, it comes back "unfit for human consumption" due to the presence of contaminants ranging from fertilizers and insecticides to E. coli and salmonella. Consumers don’t consider this, she said.

"If they don’t have a medical licence, they’re ingesting garbage," she said. "What do you expect? This stuff is grown in pungent, mouldy basements."

So may I just grow my own?

No, not unless you have one of those special medical licences. And if you do start growing, your little home grow-op likely will remain illegal next year.

Ottawa intends to control the way cannabis is produced and sold. Even when pot is legal, growing a few plants at home probably will become the modern-day equivalent of operating a backyard moonshine still.

What about all those marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver and Toronto?

In those cities, the cannabis cat is out of the bag, and police are tolerating the situation. In Winnipeg, the police shut down the only entrepreneur who attempted to start a retail marijuana counter. Any other efforts will meet a similar fate, MacDonald said.

"We will enforce the law until the legislation is changed," she said.

City hall is also refusing to entertain the idea of allowing grey-market dispensaries to set up shop in Winnipeg before Ottawa rolls out its legalization legislation. An effort by Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie to ask city planners to consider the land-use implications of marijuana dispensaries was shelved this month by other city councillors.

So where will I be able to buy weed when it’s legal?

That depends on what Ottawa decides. It could be government outlets such as provincial liquor stores, an idea favoured by former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger, but not all Canadian provinces sell their own booze at the retail level.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries CEO John Stinson at the Buffalo Place Distribution Centre.151203 - Thursday, December 3, 2015 -

It could be private dispensaries, such as the ones in Colorado and Washington, where "budtenders" advise customers about the relative merits of indicus vs. sativa strains of cannabis and the ratios of psychoactive compounds such as the stone-inducing THC and the calming agent cannabidiol.

Or it may very well be that the public and private sector will both play a role in cannabis retailing. Agencies such as Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries are already studying the situation in Colorado in an effort to prepare for whatever the Trudeau government proposes.

Liquor & Lotteries CEO John Stinson, who flew to Denver earlier this year on a research trip, believes weed should be sold at stand-alone stores of some sort, as opposed to Liquor Marts. But he advocates a slow rollout, potentially lasting four or five years, in order to create a retail environment that is not just responsible but effective in the way it meets the needs of the cannabis-consuming market.

For example, inexperienced users will need to be steered away from potent cannabis products — and THC-laced edibles must be governed carefully.

"I worry that the stakeholders, both government and private sector, go ‘Wow,’ rubbing their hands in glee around, ‘We can make a lot of money with marijuana,’ and, ‘We can make tons of money to help roads and heath care and all kinds of things,’" Stinson told the Free Press in March.

Manitoba’s new government, meanwhile, isn’t ready to even contemplate legalization.

"Everybody hold tight. Let’s first see what kind of legal framework the federal government is going to put into place. I don’t want to pre-empt that process," said Ron Schuler, Crown Services Minister in Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government. "We will have to live by that federal legislation."

How old will you have to be to buy cannabis?

No less than 18, for starters. Health Minister Philpott has said the Trudeau government wants to keep weed out of the hands of minors.

The minimum age could wind up being higher, or differ from province to province, much the same way the minimum age for buying alcohol is now.

Stinson said he favours a minimum age of 25, given the potential mental-health consequences of cannabis consumption by younger adults, but added he would also support a cutoff age of 21.

Preventing 18- to 21-year-olds from buying legal weed, however, could defeat one of the stated intentions of legalization: getting rid of the underground market for cannabis and depriving organized crime of a revenue source.

OK, so who will produce legal cannabis?

That’s a potentially billion-dollar question. Prospective growers are already jockeying for position to ensure they’ll be on the ground floor when marijuana becomes legal to ship by the bale. How Ottawa licenses growers will determine who makes a fortune and who winds up with nothing for their efforts.

Potential distributors also want in. The Shoppers Drug Mart retail chain, for example, wants to distribute medical marijuana.

Law enforcement agencies, however, warn the underground market will remain no matter what Ottawa does.

"There’s just too much money to be made, so it won’t take money away from the criminal element," MacDonald said. "The government won’t be selling it in large quantities."

How much will legal cannabis cost?

Nobody knows. But one thing is obvious: if regulated weed costs too much, the underground market will continue to flourish.

Will cannabis sales eliminate the federal and provincial deficits?

Probably not. New tax revenue flowing from marijuana sales will be mitigated by the cost of regulation and enforcement.

Canadian cities, provinces and Ottawa should, however, be able to reap some financial rewards from the new cannabis industry. The Colorado experience suggests there is some form of windfall to be had, as consumers of illegal weed begin buying from legitimate sources that do pay taxes.

Colorado, for example, collects US$12 million to US$14 million worth of marijuana taxes, licensing revenues and fees every month, according the state’s revenue department.

It’s less reasonable to expect people who don’t smoke marijuana now to suddenly take up the habit.

Why? Won’t there be curiosity factor?

Sure, at first. But jurisdictions where cannabis is legal have not reported a huge uptick in cannabis use. Some academics expect the end of cannabis prohibition to result in less cannabis use.

What about our roads? How will police deal with stoned drivers?

The same way they deal with them now. If police suspect a driver is under the influence of THC, they may issue a physical co-ordination test. If the driver fails, he or she may be subject to a more extensive drug-recognition evaluation, which involves checking blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature.

Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press
Cst. Stephane Fontaine the WPSâs Impaired Driving Counter Measures Coordinator 

The Winnipeg Police Service already implements both measures and will continue to do so when cannabis becomes legal.

"Nothing changes in my world," said Const. Stephane Fontaine, the impaired-driving countermeasures co-ordinator for the Winnipeg Police Service. "We’re still looking for the impaired driver. It does not matter what the impaired substance is."

While there is no simple test for the presence of THC, some U.S. law enforcement agencies conduct blood tests to determine the presence of the psychoactive agent. Fontaine does not favour such a test in Canada, noting police are probably not the best people to administer needles to intoxicated motorists.

"I don’t want to open that can of worms," he said.