Legalizing marijuana will tie up police resources and risks clogging the court system, Edmonton police Chief Rod Knecht says in a blunt assessment of Canada’s plan to legalize the drug by next summer.

“I don’t think we’re going to be ready,” Knecht said during a year-end interview at Edmonton Police Service headquarters. “There’s a lot of work that’s got to be done in the next few months.”

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Legalization is one of the biggest issues facing police services across the country next year. Police chiefs including Knecht have warned that the timelines are too tight and there are too many outstanding issues, including ambiguity around roadside tests for marijuana intoxication.

The federal government has left details such as where marijuana will be sold to the provinces . It also proposes stiff penalties for people who operate outside of the regulated system, including a proposed 14-year maximum sentence for selling cannabis to youth.

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Knecht disputes claims legalization means police will no longer lay possession charges.

“I’ve heard some people argue, ‘Well, you’re not going to be laying possession charges anymore,’ ” he said. “I think we’re going to still be doing (that), only it’s become a little more complex.”

The law will allow possession of certain amounts of marijuana for personal use.

“If you’re over that amount, then it’s an offence,” Knecht said. “So nothing’s really changed for the police other than you’ve sort of layered on more work, and the complexity of it. And there’s going to be a lot of ambiguity at first.”

Among his biggest concerns is the lack of an effective test for drug-impaired driving, which lacks a “clear measurable” such as blood alcohol content.

“What are we, five months away?” he said. “And we sit here and say ‘We don’t have a test.’ We, the Edmonton Police Service, we don’t have a box of tests we can give to our people that are going to go out on the road … That’s going to be a challenge for us.

“I’m going to suggest we’re going to plug up the courts, significantly. I think a lot of people are going to plead not guilty. I think it’s going to create a lot of work for lawyers, I think it’s going to create a lot of business for the courts.”

He added it’s unlikely the black market will go away, and suggested illegal sellers will lower their prices or up their product’s THC content to compete with the legal market.

The federal government plans to legalize cannabis next summer. July 1 has been floated as the date to change the drug’s status, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to soften that deadline earlier this month.