Last week, the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University held its latest public symposium to discuss cannabis legalization in Canada. The event welcomed a broad range of voices from the marijuana industry, government, academia and civil society. The goal was to bring experts together to discuss the need for vigorous regulation development and the challenges, both ethical and business-related, that cannabis presents.
One of the key speakers at the symposium was the Honorable Anne McLellan, Chair of the Government of Canada’s Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation. She kicked off the discussion talking about the fact that while most people are in favor of legal pot, they also don’t understand what that means. “People are just starting to understand psychologically what this means—the transformation—moving from what has heretofore been a prohibited substance to legalization and regulation,” McLellan said, as reported by The Star.
She went on to talk about the rules surrounding the cultivation sale, and possession of pot and pot products, stating that the regulations are still yet to be determined. Some of these issues include the legal age for using cannabis, which the federal government is proposing to be 18-years old while at the same time leaving the legal age limit up to provinces to decide. Another issue is drug-impaired driving, which doesn’t currently have limits set for marijuana like there are for alcohol.
“This is the most difficult political issue,” McLellan said. “It is a problem now. It will be a problem after legalization. We need some pretty tough standards.”
McLellan’s keynote was followed by a panel discussion on “Shaping the Regulatory Framework: A Stakeholder Perspective.” The panel was moderated by Darrell Dexter, Chair of Cannabis Connect and included:
- Joan Weir, Director, Health and Dental Policy, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association
- Hugo Alves, Partner, Bennet Jones (specialist in Cannabis law)
- Dr. Joanna Henderson, Centre for Addictions and Mental Health
- Vic Neufeld, CEO, Aphria