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This article was published 23/10/2017 (1064 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ottawa is effectively forcing the Manitoba government to share its marijuana business plan with gangs and organized crime, Premier Brian Pallister declared Monday.

And that business plan has major problems, said the premier.

Drug dealers are aware how dire the province’s situation will be when pot becomes legal, Pallister warned. They’ll know how Manitoba will be selling pot, they’ll know the price, and they’ll know how quickly dealers will again be the only game in town.

"The gangs and organized crime, your primary competitors, will know your business plan, and we’re not ready."

Based on Manitoba’s abilities to grow enough pot to supply its own internal demand, "we’d run out of product in three weeks," he told reporters Monday.

Tory press secretary Olivia Billson said later Pallister was making a point about Manitoba’s capacity, but there is no rule against the province buying legal marijuana from suppliers in other provinces.

The Pallister government has complained for months that Manitoba can’t possibly be ready for Ottawa’s July 1 deadline to legalize recreational weed use, but the feds have rejected every plea from the province for an extended deadline.

Pallister said he’ll be releasing the public’s ideas on how to deal with pot sales after cabinet meets Wednesday. Legalized pot was the most talked-about issue in extensive pre-budget consultations.

He acknowledged the ideas put forward include selling pot through beer vendors, but wouldn’t elaborate further. "We got a lot of good ideas," the premier said.

The provincial government continues to fear Ottawa isn’t giving provinces enough time to figure out how to produce and sell legal pot, and to prepare for the safety of both users and non-users.

Pallister said he’s seen reports on traffic fatalities involving legalized pot in Colorado.

"They’re shocking," he said. "Their numbers have doubled over the last three years for stoned drivers. It’s dangerous to impose those deadlines."

This summer, the Denver Post analyzed the link between marijuana and fatal crashes between 2013 and 2016.

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there was a 40 per cent increase in fatal crashes in the state, from 627 to 880.

The number of drivers in fatal crashes who tested positive for marijuana use jumped 145 per cent during that time span, from 47 in 2013 to 115 in 2016, according to the Post. By comparison, drivers who tested positive for alcohol from 2013 to 2015 (2016 figures were not available), increased by 17 per cent from 129 to 151.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca