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This article was published 14/7/2017 (1164 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ottawa is forcing the provincial government to compete with street gangs in the marijuana business next summer, Premier Brian Pallister said Friday.

The federal mandate for provinces to be ready for legal retail cannabis sales is next July 1. That doesn't give Manitoba anywhere near the amount of time it will take to control sales and prepare for legal pot, he told reporters.

"There's no way we're going to supply the demand, except in part. It's pretty clearly understood, we don't have enough pot to sell," he said, outlining some of the issues he'll raise at next week's premiers meeting in Edmonton.

As a result, street gangs will still be part of the supply market this time next year, he said.

The Winnipeg Police Service declined to comment on the premier's statements Friday.

"We're running blind, we're running fast, directly at something that will put us in competition," Pallister said. "The safety of Canadians is at risk. There's no guarantee of 100 per cent success if we had five years to get ready.

"We're not given a choice."

Pallister remained vague on the plan for legal sales in Manitoba. The former NDP government had talked about selling pot in liquor stores.

"We'll have an announcement we'll probably make in the next couple of weeks about commercialization," he said without elaborating.

University of Winnipeg criminal justice professor Michael Weinrath said he doesn't think legal retailers should have any concerns about competing with gangs.

"Generally, the research conducted around legalization in Colorado and Washington has been favourable. Crime rates have not soared, nor has society as we know it collapsed there. Tourism has increased to those states, not to mention increased tax revenues," said Weinrath, director of the U of W's Justice Research Institute.

"Generally, public sellers of marijuana do not have to provide drugs at a lower price than organized crime, because most people will prefer to purchase product from a private vendor."

"Compare it to the idea that you could buy cheap booze from a bootlegger or the (liquor store). I would take the (liquor store) no matter how cheap the booze was, because I know that I won’t go blind or keel over from food poisoning," he said.

"However, there is a point where if booze is extremely expensive I might buy illegally or make my own. But let's face it, most people cannot make booze as good as the government’s suppliers, and I doubt it will be different with marijuana. In the U.S., they have become successful at marketing a variety of brands in the legalized states.

He said the provincial government has not made any secret of its opposition to legalizing recreational weed.

"Their foot-dragging is not surprising," he said. "Considering how dire our revenue situation is, I would think that the government would be thinking of ways to make this work, as opposed to inventing reasons why it will not... I am unclear on why marijuana legalization is such a monumental task or why there are so many potential problems."

Pallister said Manitoba has focused on finding ways to protect the health and safety of users, and to address the issue of users driving under the influence.

Overall, he said, there isn't time to resolve law-enforcement matters and make decisions about marijuana production, sales and pricing, among other concerns.

Nevertheless, he said, "(Federal Finance Minister) Bill Morneau has been clear — they're going to make it available by mail order in every province that doesn't do what it wants."

The Opposition NDP said Friday that the Tories have had lots of time to prepare for legalized marijuana, which was a plank in the federal Liberals' 2015 election campaign platform.

"It’s difficult to respond to the premier’s assertions, for which he provides no evidence," NDP press secretary Rachel Morgan said.

"He has had a year to start preparing for the legalization of marijuana. Manitoba will fall behind other provinces if the Pallister government doesn’t accelerate the work it needs to do.'

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca