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Post by Medecine Man on Jun 30, 2016 12:58:11 GMT -5
OTTAWA, June 30, 2016 /CNW/ - Today, Canada is taking an important step towards legalizing, strictly regulating and restricting access to marijuana, working to ensure marijuana is kept out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals.
The Government of Canada launched a task force and public consultation that will inform the creation of a new system. The government also released a discussion paper that outlines key areas where expertise and public input are required.
In addition, all Canadians will have an opportunity to share their views on the design of this new system at www.canada.ca/health until August 29, 2016. The public consultation will seek input on all the key areas of inquiry for the Task Force, including effective prevention and harm reduction, ensuring safe and responsible production, and enforcing public safety.
SOURCE: Health Canada
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Post by Medecine Man on Jun 30, 2016 13:06:48 GMT -5
Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and RegulationThe Honourable A. Anne McLellan (Chair)
Dr. Mark A Ware (Vice Chair)
Dr. Susan Boyd (Member)
George Chow (Member)
Marlene Jesso (Member)
Dr. Perry Kendall (Member)
Mr. Rafik Souccar (Member)
Dr. Barbara von Tigerstrom (Member)
Dr. Catherine Zahn, C.M. (Member)
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Post by Medecine Man on Jun 30, 2016 13:42:44 GMT -5
Toward the Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to Marijuana - Discussion PaperObjectives
The Government of Canada believes that the new regime for legal access to marijuana must achieve the following objectives:
- Protect young Canadians by keeping marijuana out of the hands of children and youth.
- Keep profits out of the hands of criminals, particularly organized crime.
- Reduce the burdens on police and the justice system associated with simple possession of marijuana offences.
- Prevent Canadians from entering the criminal justice system and receiving criminal records for simple marijuana possession offences.
- Protect public health and safety by strengthening, where appropriate, laws and enforcement measures that deter and punish more serious marijuana offences, particularly selling and distributing to children and youth, selling outside of the regulatory framework, and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana.
- Ensure Canadians are well-informed through sustained and appropriate public health campaigns, and for youth in particular, ensure that risks are understood.
- Establish and enforce a system of strict production, distribution and sales, taking a public health approach, with regulation of quality and safety (e.g., child-proof packaging, warning labels), restriction of access, and application of taxes, with programmatic support for addiction treatment, mental health support and education programs.
- Continue to provide access to quality-controlled marijuana for medical purposes consistent with federal policy and Court decisions.
- Conduct ongoing data collection, including gathering baseline data, to monitor the impact of the new framework.
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Post by Medecine Man on Jul 1, 2016 10:54:59 GMT -5
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Post by Medecine Man on Jul 1, 2016 20:02:23 GMT -5
Accessing Marijuana for Medical Purposes
Make your voice heard: Health Canada  The information in this questionnaire is being collected to allow individuals to provide input on marijuana legalization and regulation. We require your demographic information in order to ensure we are representing the views of Canadians for the meaningful analysis of this consultation. The responses from this consultation will be shared with the Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation in order to report on the findings.
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Post by Medecine Man on Jul 4, 2016 7:06:35 GMT -5
Canada’s stances on pot and Mexicans are not ‘red flag’ issues for U.S.
A fear that America’s obsession with security might gum up critical border travel has loomed over some of Canada’s domestic-policy debates. But on two matters currently in the news – the legalization of marijuana and visa-free travel for Mexicans – the United States is proving not to be the border bogeyman that Canadian politicians and bureaucrats sometimes make it out to be.
"Each country is going to have to decide their own drug policy." Mr. Heyman said.
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Post by Medecine Man on Jul 4, 2016 7:30:55 GMT -5
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Post by Medecine Man on Jul 7, 2016 12:30:54 GMT -5
Portal to the Future: Canadians Asked to Shape Marijuana RegulationWhatever happens on this, only time and the opinions of Canadians will tell. After the press announcement ended and the Avengers exited the stage, Canada is now left with some of the best homework it will ever be asked to complete. Over the coming months, citizens will pour their views into this questionnaire like molten metal and out will come solidified gold, in the form of a comprehensive and legal recreational marijuana system.
In addition to researching and reporting back to the feds, the task force is asking Canadians to take part in the process through the Government of Canada’s website portal.
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Post by Medecine Man on Jul 7, 2016 12:37:52 GMT -5
Cannabis Policy: Canadians put emphasis on safety, testing and education  THE UPSHOT
Bruce Anderson: “While some may be urging Ottawa to act on its legalization pledge with more speed, these numbers suggest that few Canadians feel that the pace of action is too slow. Instead, they paint a picture of a public that is more inclined to support than oppose this direction, but looking for care to be taken in the execution of this policy.
That people believe there needs to be testing, training and education about the safe use of the product indicates that they feel there are risks that need to be carefully mitigated. Clearly, people believe government should take a measure of ownership when it comes to ensuring safe and responsible marijuana use. However, they also believe that any financial burden associated with this type of programming could reasonably be assigned to the companies that will earn profits in this market.
Above all, the results indicate that for most people, a careful, well thought out plan to ensure public safety is considered more important than liberalizing the market as soon as possible. Conservative voters show little signs of being galvanized against the government on this issue: in fact there is as much evidence that with the right safety measures they may acquiesce to this change.”
David Coletto: “The proportion of Canadians opposed to legalizing marijuana is not as large as many might assume and it appears that opposition may be softening given the government’s measured approach to legalization. Moreover, our data finds that there’s a significant portion of the public who are open to persuasion especially those who have not used marijuana in the past and those aged 55 and older.
These persuadable Canadians believe that the government along with health professionals should play an active role in designing a public education campaign and that comprehensive training and quality standards need to be in place before Canadians can access the product.”
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