Terry Lake in the center of a panel discussing the marijuana industry. Other panelists from left: moderator Anita Huberman, Chris Wagner, Linda Stromberg and Tom Brocklehurst. (via Eric Thompson)

While he's not anticipating legalization will take place until mid-September, former Kamloops Mayor Terry Lake can see nothing but good things to come from Canada's new "green economy."

Lake highlighted some of the positives of the soon-to-be-legal cannabis market in Canada during a panel discussion at the B.C. Chamber of Commerce's AGM on Saturday (May 26). There, at the Coast Hotel, the former minister of health discussed how he testified before the Senate's social affairs committee the week prior, saying that legalization is good public health policy.

"In the U.S., where they have legal cannabis, opioid use is down, overdose deaths are down. At the end of the day, we're going to be providing a regulated product to replace, currently, an unregulated product that could pose potential harms."

Of course, for Lake, he now has a vested interest in the cannabis industry, having joined Hydropothecary Medical Marijuana LP.

"Interestingly, one of the co-founders Adam Miron, went to TRU back in the day and worked on my first mayor's campaign," says Lake. "We stayed in touch over the years, and when I didn't run again he approached me. It was something I had kind of been thinking about anyway because of the huge public policy shift and the tremendously interesting science behind this plant, so it was just a really good fit. ... To be at the forefront of a brand new industry in Canada is pretty cool."

He really understood the science behind the plant when his daughter Stephanie presented a paper at the Cannabis Science and Policy Summit. Now as vice-president of corporate and social responsibility at Hydropothecary, he has to understand the impact cannabis production could leave behind, as he considers himself the "conscience of the company." That means he has to worry about Hydropothacary's environmental footprint, as well as their standing in the community. During the discussion, he noted their farm was very well-liked in Quebec.

"This is all in a small town in Gatineau, which now we've become one of the largest employers, so in terms of economic diversity, they love us there. We're right between a pulp mill and a sewage treatment plant, so everyone loves us. We're the best neighbour they have," he jokes.

Making sure there's proper education about their cannabis products is another huge part of his role in the company and one he sees as vital in terms of the overall rollout of legalization.

"People are using it already and so, now, we're making the system much better, with more education, so I think largely it's positive. That's not to say cannabis is for everyone and it has no harms. It does. But now we can actually tell people the truth about cannabis in an evidence-based fashion instead of this reefer madness kind of approach that hasn't worked," Lake tells KamloopsMatters.

Some of the evidence he expects to be used to help shape Bill C-46 are studies that debunk that the current threshold of five nanograms of THC means you can be considered an impaired driver.

"It'll be thrown out of court. There's no science behind it. THC is fat soluble; it stays in your body a very long time. Almost any medical cannabis patient today would be impaired under those rules. We need the research to come up with a proper test."

As for the suggestion that bylaws will limit where cannabis can be used because of the smoke concerns, Lake highlighted the innovation in other forms of marijuana consumption. Although edibles won't be a part of the initial legalization, he notes that vaping and oils are some of the more popular ways to ingest.

"People, particularly my age let's say, that want to try cannabis because they can't remember high school and they ... well, I don't want to smoke. I'm an ardent anti-smoker. So I might consider vaping, but I'm more likely to use an oil or an ingestible of some kind. And no one's going to stop me from doing that in my own home, that's for sure."

Along with continuing to shape legislation, he anticipates provinces will need more time to get their machinery running, so he's not expecting legal cannabis stores to be open until Sept. 18.