Pot still a hazy situation

Photo: Dustin Godfrey

NDP MP Richard Cannings.

With a plan now starting to materialize for marijuana legalization and a Canada Day 2018 deadline set, a local member of Parliament says it’s time to stop prosecuting recreational pot users.

Last weekend, the CBC gave exclusive details on the federal government’s plan for legalization, including intentions to have legislation passed and enacted by July 1, 2018. But South Okanagan – West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings with the NDP says in the meantime the federal government should decriminalize the drug.

“We’ve been backing the legalization of marijuana for years, but always our first step was going to be decriminalization,” Cannings said during a constituents outreach event in Penticton on Thursday. “We have a lot of people who have criminal records on the basis of small amounts of marijuana.”

When the Liberal Party won the 2015 election on a platform that included legalizing pot, Cannings says the NDP pushed for decriminalization from the get go.

“Legalization takes a while to set up, but the first thing they could do is decriminalize it,” Cannings said, making note of the parliamentary and bureaucratic processes involved, including debating the bill, potential amendments and putting the bill through the parliamentary committee.

“Small amounts of marijuana should be legal, and we should pardon those people that, for years, have been suffering from criminal records based on possession. It affects their lives in so many ways.”

With legalization looking more and more within grasp, Cannings says the call for decriminalization is just as necessary now as it was when Trudeau formed government.

Mayor Andrew Jakubeit says he hasn’t had any discussions with councillors on the new date for legalization, but adds that with actualization of the law likely still be over a year away, council’s attitude toward Penticton’s dispensaries could change.

“Also if the mandate for the RCMP is to enforce more, that changes things as well,” Jakubeit said. “Part of the reason we created the temporary use (permits) – obviously, the need for medical use, but also the fact that there was no enforcement and they were cropping up all over the place.”

Those temporary use permits, valid for six months, will run up in June, and Jakubeit says council will decide how to move forward at that point – if the dispensaries last that long.

Earlier this month, the RCMP delivered letters to each of the operating dispensaries threatening criminal charges, with one casualty claimed already. Jukka Laurio announced shortly afterward he would be closing the doors at the Herbal Green Apothecary, with his last day of operation last week.

It’s still not clear where the sudden change in the RCMP came from, but Jakubeit said he and the rest of council will be speaking  to incoming detachment commander Insp. Ted De Jager next week, and the topic is likely to come up.

The federal government is expected to introduce legislation on legalization on Apr. 10.