A Brock University researcher says the federal government\u2019s approach to legalizing marijuana is similar to how post-prohibition alcohol sales were treated.<\/p>\n
A task force studying recreational cannabis use has released a framework that it says the government should follow.<\/p>\n
Among its recommendations are:<\/p>\n
Brock University has two experts\u00a0commenting on the recommendations.<\/p>\n
Department of Health Sciences associate professor Dan Malleck is an expert on Canadian drug and alcohol policy and history. Department of Sport Management associate professor Curtis Fogel is an expert on drug control policy and sport law.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy initial reaction was it was fairly comprehensive,\u201d Malleck says. \u201cSome elements are surprising and some are what we expected. I think it\u2019s a completely reasonable report. It\u2019s incredibly dull in it\u2019s lack of anything shocking, but that\u2019s what you\u2019re looking for in a policy like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malleck says one thing that stands out is the age limit being set at 18 years: \u201cWith all the rhetoric they got from various stakeholders, it is a surprising limit. However, it makes sense to leave it to the provinces because liquor law ages vary across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the recommendation against selling cannabis alongside alcohol and tobacco was also unexpected: \u201cIt\u2019s going to create a whole new administration around cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malleck thinks this is a strategy to deal with bad optics: \u201cThe best people to manage access to controlled recreational substances are those whose job already is to control access to controlled recreational substances, like a liquor control board.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the idea of locating cannabis stores away from parks and schools is also a measure to calm public anxiety: \u201cIt\u2019s this idea of persistent moralism. This is right out of the LCBO playbook from the 1920s and 30s that locating it near a school or church had this imbedded fear or guilt by association into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe distribution system should be able to deal with kids coming in trying to buy pot. So if you think your system of who\u2019s selling this stuff is so bad that you have to worry about it being too close to a school, then you have to rethink your system of distribution. It’s clearly the optics of having it near a school that is the real issue here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fogel, an associate professor in Sport Management, recently published a paper with Geraint Osborne from the University of Alberta specifically examining the use of recreational cannabis use. \u201cPerspectives on Cannabis Legalization Among Canadian Recreational Users\u201d focuses on working adults and grad students who use cannabis recreationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne interviewee was a star student who reportedly smokes 10 joints a day and maintains near perfect grades while another was an award winning musician,\u201d Fogel says. \u201cWe looked at challenging some of the myths and stereotypes on the responsible, and potentially productive, use of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says the research is changing on what cannabis use looks like.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very different than the early research on marijuana that said it makes people lazy or unproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fogel has been researching the issue for nearly a decade since he was an undergrad student at the University of Alberta.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, the Jean Cr\u00e9tien government was in place and they were moving toward de-criminalization of it, but that came with other issues. Our argument was to move toward legalization. This is definitely an important step.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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