Cannabis users argue Trudeau plan amounts to 'Prohibition 2.0'

Liberal bill fails to destigmatize marijuana use, activists say.

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Marijuana plants seen growing in a commercial facility.

By: Ryan Tumilty
  

Medical marijuana users say the Trudeau government’s plans to legalize marijuana involve too many roadblocks.

Activists and users said during a press conference Monday that the Liberal’s bill, which has yet to pass the House, still marks marijuana as something people need to be ashamed of.

“My Canada includes being marginalized, stigmatized and criminalized for picking a plant over pills,” said Loretta Clark, 58, who said she has been using cannabis since she was 12.

Clark said the contrast between fines for selling alcohol to minors, and lengthy prison terms for selling cannabis to them, shows the government is still treating pot like a dangerous drug.

“If I sell cannabis to a 17-year-old I can go to prison for 14 years,” she said. “Cannabis has never hurt one child.”

Other medical marijuana users at Monday’s press conference argued the recreational market would put pressure on medical users’ supply and that the Liberals rules from home growth were insufficient.

Wayne Robillard, who previously operated an Ottawa marijuana lounge, said the government’s laws could now get bogged down with regulations as both the provinces and municipalities add their own rules about when, where and how cannabis can be consumed.

He said people who use marijuana may not want to do so in their own homes and will need places to go.

“There is going to be a need for open access for people to actually have a safe place to consume.”

He argued that overall the government’s approach is a “Prohibition 2.0” that just barely moves the needle.

“We’re trying to regulate something that shouldn’t even be illegal.”