Non-medical marijuana will likely be legalized across Canada in 2016. Legalization was among Justin Trudeau’s campaign promises. The new prime minister has directed his minister of justice to create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of non-medical, recreational marijuana across the country.

Anticipating these changes, the B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union and the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association have formed the Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance of B.C. We are working together on a straightforward goal: to see legal, non-medical marijuana warehoused and distributed through the existing Liquor Distribution Branch system and sold in B.C. alongside alcohol in liquor stores.

Our two organizations have not taken a stand on the legalization or consumption of non-medical marijuana. Legalization is inevitable. Being pragmatic, we believe marijuana should be sold in the most socially responsible way possible, in age-controlled stores with the strongest track record of checking identification. This includes preventing sales to young people or people who are already under the influence.

In B.C., we already have an excellent system for distributing and retailing alcohol. Creating a new, parallel system for marijuana would be costly, time consuming, and would divert money from social programs, education and addictions treatment into an additional and unnecessary bureaucracy.

Once the federal government legalizes marijuana, it will be up to individual provinces to establish regulations. B.C. already has a regulatory system in place for alcohol that could be easily modified to include the important regulatory requirements for distributing and selling marijuana.

So, what would this look like? We envision a system very similar to our successful wine and beer industries. This would include producers of all sizes, many of them local, creating jobs in their communities, selling to a central wholesaler at the public Liquor Distribution Branch, and then distributing to public and private liquor stores.

Just as with beer or wine, and in keeping with lessons learned in Colorado and Washington, we also believe it’s important to allow individuals to produce marijuana non-commercially for their own personal use.

The tax revenue from legalized marijuana could fund a host of programs from addictions recovery, prevention programs aimed at youth, and education about the dangers of impaired driving to more general programs like health and education. Of course, the particulars of tax rates and program spending are for the provincial and federal government to decide.

It is important to note that our recommendations concern non-medical marijuana. Many Canadians know someone who has benefited from the medical use of marijuana. We do not believe the upcoming legalization of non-medical marijuana should affect how patients obtain or use medical marijuana. We need to be cognizant that this is a separate substance with established and effective medical uses.

Since the BCGEU joined the BCPLSA and put forward our proposal for the sale of non-medical marijuana through the Liquor Distribution Branch and liquor stores in the province, our proposal has been discussed extensively in the media. Premier Greg Selinger in Manitoba and Premier Kathleen Wynne in Ontario have voiced their support for similar public sales in their provinces. Editorial boards and other stakeholders have also endorsed the idea of distributing and retailing marijuana through existing liquor distribution and retail networks.

We have a real opportunity ahead of us in B.C. The BCGEU and BCPLSA, through our alliance, are ready to work with our partners at all levels of government to ensure that marijuana legalization takes place in the most socially responsible way possible.