Cannabis: the flaws in the legalization in the crosshairs of the Senate

Photo courtesy

Maxime Huard

Friday, 16 February 2018 17:31

UPDATE
Friday, 16 February 2018 17:35

Look at this article

OTTAWA | tax Havens, impaired driving, THC-content in the products…, now that the senators have more time to study the legalization of cannabis, they promise to address the vulnerabilities that they may always perceive in the bill.

“The law as it is designed currently, it is not applicable on the 1st of July”, was hammered on Friday in an interview with LCN, the senator independent liberal Serge Joyal.

The legislator has been especially against the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars from tax havens in the industry of cannabis. There is no guarantee that these sums do not come from the organized crime, which goes against one of the primary purposes of the bill.

“One leaves the organized crime by the front door, it is already returned by the back door”, has analyzed Mr. Joyal, specifying that the profits from these investments are likely to be sheltered from tax. He wants to revise the criteria for issuance of permits to companies that will produce and sell cannabis.

Road safety

The lack of preparedness of the police to manage the impaired driving is also a concern for the upper House.

“In Colorado, the death rate of young people aged 18 to 34 years on the roads has increased by 20 % in the first year, because the police were not ready to do checks,” noted the conservative senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu.

He is concerned about the fact that the equipment to detect drugs in the saliva will not be ready in April and we will then have the time to train police officers. Mr. Boisvenu, believes that in the current state of things, the bill will not be implemented before September or October.

The senators have agreed on a roadmap on Thursday that provides for a final vote on June 7. If amendments are proposed, the bill will be referred back to the House of commons. The administration must then ensure that the entire system of justice is willing to enforce the law, an approach that can hardly be done in the summer while the device is idling.

THC content

“The legalization raises all kinds of important questions and, obviously, it takes time to study,” conceded senator independent André Pratte, in an interview with LCN.

The former journalist wishes that the draft law provides for a maximum limit of the rate of THC that may be present in cannabis products. He recalled that in the pot to 70 % THC circulates on the black market, a rate that poses risks for the health.

“It has no meaning. It takes a rate from which public health authorities may say it is illegal,” said Mr. Pratte. The latter also calls for a limit to the amount of pot dried that citizens will be able to keep them at home, in order to discourage the traffic.

To prevent “anarchy”

In Quebec, premier Philippe Couillard welcomed Friday the extra time at the disposal of the senators.

Since the deputies will not sit in the back of the summer vacation before the elections, the national Assembly will still have to adopt its own draft law by the summer. “Otherwise, it opens the door to anarchy” between the federal and provincial governments, he argued.