The B.C. NDP's Carole James and Mike Farnworth are in Washington, and then Oregon to find out what lessons can be learned when it comes to legalizing and taxing marijuana.

"There is a lot for us to learn and to look at being implemented, if and when it becomes legal in Canada," said Mike Farnworth, NDP opposition house leader, about the tax-payer funded trip.

Farnworth told host Rick Cluff on the CBC's The Early Edition Thursday morning so far the trip has been fascinating and informative. He shared some of the potential problems with legalization.

Good strong regulations

Farnworth says currently British Columbia doesn't have strong regulations in place and if the country goes down the path of legalization, those regulations need to be developed ahead of time.

"That they are not ambiguous. Black and white are much more preferable than interpretative grey areas."

He says this will ensure people have confidence in the system and will help weed out the "bad apples."

Farnworth says they've been told lab testing is very important in ensuring public confidence. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Need for lab testing

Farnworth said another lesson they've picked up is the importance for public confidence in the quality of the marijuana itself.

"Significant resources are required in terms of labs and testing," he said, "for example, around pesticides and chemicals that have been used in growing."

Be wary of economic benefit

After a year of sales, Washington state raised $70 million in tax revenue. But Farnworth said they were warned not be tempted by economic benefits.

"We were advised if you go into this with that frame of mind, that this is just about money, you are looking at creating problems."

He also points out that everyone from the federal, provincial to local governments will be looking for a cut of the revenue.

Controlling black markets

Farnworth said they were advised not to tax cannabis at too a high rate because it would simply keep the black market in operation.

"We see some price revisions here in the States," he said, "if priced properly it will start taking away from the black market."

With files from the CBC's The Early Edition

To hear the full story listen to the audio labelled: BC NDP visits Washington to learn about pot legalization