We Got Damian Abraham to Take Us Through the Week in Weed

Welcome to the first edition of "Your Week on Weed," a brief wrap-up of some of the week's most interesting headlines in weed as we in Canada hurtle towards legalization at what, to some, is a breakneck speed, and to others a snail's pace.

First off, what would a week in Canadian weed news be without another call to end the arrests for cannabis possession in Canada? In the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's comments last week about the government's intention to keep weed illegal until the very last possible second and thus still bust people, Sensible, BC's Dana Larsen took to Huffington Post to write an editorial demanding an end to racially biased arrests of people caught with pot. Citing the figure of 22,400 weed arrests since the election and parliamentary secretary to the justice minister Bill Blair's own admission that these disproportionately come from "minority communities, Aboriginal communities, and those in our most vulnerable neighbourhoods," Larsen calls on all Canadians to demand for the "end arrests for personal possession and personal cultivation now."

Larsen certainly isn't the only one questioning weed possession arrests and some judges are even now asking the obvious question: what's the fucking point? The National Post reported that Brian Saunders, director of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, told the House of Commons Drug Committee that "sometimes the courts are questioning why we're proceeding with these cases given the government has announced its intention in the future to legalize the possession of marijuana." They also added that they had every intention of proceeding with the prosecution of Canadians caught with small possession amounts to the tune of $4 million a year… makes sense.

It's not just the dimebag possession charges that the Canadian judges are calling foul on. BC Supreme Court Justice Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon's decision called the whole idea of controversial mandatory minimums for growing weed being applied to otherwise law-abiding people as "abhorrent to most Canadians." This is the second time in the last few months that the former Conservative government's law, which sees people caught growing more than six weed plants thrown in jail for at least six months, has been deemed cruel and unusual punishment by the court. These two decisions, plus the recent Federal Court decision which declared the whole current federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional, make it clear that the higher courts are also calling bullshit on arrests made for something that will eventually be legal.

And, while not indicating when an end of arrests might come, Canadian Press was able to secure the release of a Health Canada document this week that gives indication of what the government thoughts are on the plant. The Toronto Star reports that the ministerial briefing entitled, "Legalizing & Regulating Marijuana," outlines various areas of concern on the path to legalization. Most of the points mentioned are issues that have been brought up by the government before (such as looking at other jurisdictions that have legalized, concerns of organized crime, ensuring that the provinces have a say, etc, etc.). It is, however, still interesting to see it all laid out in one place. Top of mind to this pothead is the number 25, which is the age the government states is the point weed stops causing long-term cognitive damage. As the age 25 has also seemed to become the de facto age to access medical marijuana for non-catastrophic illness suffering patients in the government system, would it be reasonable to assume that it will be the age of legal access to recreational weed? It seems likely.

Early 20-year-olds looking to burn one weren't the only folks coming up on the wrong side of the law this week as Ontario medical marijuana users had their right to medicate in public taken away. Following a heady three months of believing that the government was going to be cool with us consuming cannabis wherever we needed to, and people freaking out about it, the Ontario government effectively announced that they had no idea what they were doing the first time around and that medical marijuana would now be included in the incoming ban on vaping in public. Puff, puff, fail, Premier Wynne.

And Wynne's other fail in the eye of many Canadian cannabis users isn't going away either: her silly idea of selling weed in the province's liquor stores (ever tried doing a dab after a couple shots?) seems to be spreading. The head of New Brunswick's liquor stores is heading up a committee of the 13 other liquor boards in Canada looking into retailing the cash crop in liquor stores. However, Canada's drug dealers of record—pharmacists—are also eyeing some of that action. In the article the head of the New Brunswick Pharmacists' Association argues that they would be the best ones to dispense weed, joining a chorus of other drugstore companies like Rexall and Shopper's Drug Mart) hoping to retail the kush to Canadians. While I may not go as far as calling that a "monopolistic distribution system modelled after the Soviet Union," both of these distribution models are less than ideal for cannabis consumers and libertarians alike.

While the government ponders how to proceed with legal weed, the grey-market retail sector just keeps growing. Seemingly emboldened by that previously mentioned Supreme Court of Canada decision, the still technically illegal dispensaries are opening throughout the Greater Toronto Area at an explosive rate. Some people are even claiming that there are nearly 100 at this point in Ontario, bringing it into Vancouver territory when it comes to the non-government-approved pot selling storefronts. Now that these types of stores popping up in Montreal and Ottawa, it appears that a bit of a retail revolution is on in this country and puts increased pressure for the government to figure this mess out.

And in the meantime, the arrest for weed just keep coming in Saskatchewan, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Until next week, Keep Calm and Bong On.

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