

Amara McLaughlin, CP24.com





The Liberal government announced it is preparing draft legislation next month that will take the long-awaited step to legalize recreational marijuana in Canada by July 1, 2018.

CTV News has learned the government hopes to table the bill by April 20, a symbolic date for cannabis users.

This impending step has city councillors, local authorities and marijuana activists weighing in on what legalization will mean for Toronto.

‘Done in a careful way’

Many are ensuring that this decision comes with oversight that addresses health, justice and public safety concerns, while others raise concerns about regulation.

Former Toronto police chief and Liberal MP Bill Blair has paved the way for marijuana legalization, serving as the point person for the Liberals Task Force on cannabis legalization and regulation.

He says the production and sale of marijuana will be tightly regulated and is more effective than decriminalization.

“We have canvassed very extensively, right across the country, and examined the experience in other jurisdictions so that the government could receive from the Task Force recommendations to enable us to do a good job, a comprehensive job of protecting our kids, taking the money away from criminals and protecting the health of our citizens,” Blair said to CP24 Monday.

This will allow for greater safety measures to be put in place, he added.

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould highlighted this point in a statement too.

“This will be done in a careful way to keep it out of the hands of children and youth, and stop criminals from profiting,” she said.

‘Fighting for decades’

The announcement was also a relief for activists in a long-list of political and public struggles.

The so-called “Princess of Pot” Jodie Emery told CP24 this milestone step in marijuana legalization is really owed to the activists, not the Liberals.

“They’re doing it because the public demanded it,” she said. “That’s why they made it an election promise.

“Marijuana activists have been fighting for decades to be taken seriously… using political campaigns, education and protest to make legalization a reality,” Emery explained. “We’ve been arrested, demonized, we’ve been called druggies, we’ve had our homes and children and jobs taken away.”

A local marijuana enthusiast, Mike Julliard said he can’t wait for the day where he can purchase the substance without feeling like a criminal.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “I’m excited to be able to buy it legally at the end of the day, at this point in Toronto you can go to so many places to pick it up, and it feels like it’s legal, but I like that there’s now a day we can look forward to and have something on paper.”

‘More cost’ to police

But there’s still uncertainty about how marijuana legalization will be regulated by police.

According to former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner Chris Lewis, “police departments are not fully aware” of what regulation requires.

“There’s going to be issues of more people driving stoned … and then who’s selling this stuff,” he told CP24. “There’s a million unknowns, particularly around the impaired driving piece for police departments. There’s going to be more cost to them and it’s going to be a lot of training.”

Needs ‘strong public health focus’

The federal government has already said the sale will be limited to people 18 years or older.

But Health Minister Jane Philpott says the government has a greater responsibility to Canadians than just restricting the distribution age.

“Our responsibility as government is to ensure we have appropriate regulatory mechanisms in place and we inform adults that yes this is a legal product, no one is proposing that tobacco should be made illegal, but we have a strong public health focus,” Philpott explained.

Where will marijuana be sold?

It’s not clear how or where marijuana will be sold, but that’s expected to be left up to each individual province and territory.

Mayor John Tory said he supports the Liberals move to legalize the substance, but wants to proceed with caution when it comes to cannabis distribution, since marijuana dispensaries have been a source of tension in Toronto.

“I think most people would be tolerant of a certain amount of marijuana being grown at home, but they certainly don’t want to have grow ops in any shape or form starting to pop up in every neighbourhood throughout the city,” Tory said. “They don’t want to see and shouldn’t have to see marijuana stores, dispensaries, popping up on every retail strip across the city.”

Toronto’s Board of Health chair, Joe Mihevc has asked where marijuana should be sold.

Premier Kathleen Wynne said back in 2015 that it “makes a lot of sense” to use the LCBO to sell marijuana when it’s legalized.

Mihevc has proposed the LCBO as a mechanism to control distribution, alongside pharmacies, corner variety stores and marijuana shops.

Lisa Campbell, a spokesperson for Cannabis Friendly Business Association isn’t just waiting until 2018 for this to be decided.

She says there’s “a lot to be seen in terms of how legalization will play out provincially,” and that lobbying for marijuana dispensaries isn’t over.

“We’re really hoping that the government will listen to the people in terms of the desire for private storefronts,” she said. “Before the raids, 75 per cent of Torontonians supported dispensaries. So we know there is a desire of consumers to purchase cannabis in storefronts, and we’re hoping the government will listen.”