BY: Cam Fortems, KTW

 

B.C.’s health minister says he came away from a marijuana summit in New York City this week even more convinced pending legalization must protect young people and address public safety.

Terry Lake attended the April 18 and April 19 Cannabis Science and Policy Summit, where his daughter Stephanie, a PhD student, was a presenter.

(He paid his own airfare and hotel, while billing government for conference fees.)

In addition to the personal reason, Lake said with the legalization plan by the federal Liberal government, he wanted to know more about experiences in U.S. states, including Washington and Colorado.

Canada’s health minister, Jane Philpott, said Wednesday the federal government will introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in spring next year. Depending on how that legislation is crafted, the provinces may have to come up with their own regulations, including on point of sale.

Lake said the message was reinforced by neurologists and psychiatrists at the conference that “marijuana can have really aggressive impacts on the developing brain.”

He wants to see any legislation make it much tougher for teens to obtain marijuana. Informally, he said he’s been told by young people that under today’s laws, it’s much easier for students to obtain pot than alcohol.

The Trudeau government maintains one of the reasons it is legalizing the drug is to better regulate it, including keeping it out of the hands of children.

Lake said another takeaway for him is a statistic that 80 per cent of marijuana is consumed by 20 per cent of people, something he said has productivity and workplace-safety implications.

The B.C. Liberal government has appointed B.C.’s medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, as a representative on a federal panel to study legalization.

A coalition of the BC Government Employees’ Union and private liquor store owners is lobbying to be the legal retailer of marijuana in this province, but Lake noted Kendall opposes co-selling alcohol and marijuana.

Lake said there may be a role for medical marijuana to take the place of opioids in pain management. He said he’s eager to see rules that will replace today’s “Wild West” of unregulated marijuana dispensaries that cannot accurately tell consumers what is in their product.