Manitoba among leaders in plans for legal pot, Pallister says; ‘that doesn’t mean I like it’

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This article was published 24/10/2017 (3254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister said Manitoba is "ahead of most other provinces" when it comes to preparing for federal legalization of cannabis by July 1.

"That doesn’t mean I like it," the premier added at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

"I’m going to continue to express my concerns about the rapidity of this change; this is a significant change."

The provincial government will unveil its approach to cannabis legalization "over the course of the next few weeks," Manitoba Justice Minister Heather Stefanson said.

The provincial government shared some preliminary results from its online pre-budget consultation survey, which asks respondents about how the province should approach cannabis legalization, among other topics.

As of Monday, the government had received more than 18,000 responses to the survey. So far, the questions about cannabis legalization have received the greatest proportion of responses, with 71 per cent of respondents answering.

The early survey results suggest the majority of Manitobans believe the legal age for cannabis consumption should be the same as that for alcohol consumption, with 75 per cent expressing that opinion. Asked to choose between five age options for legally consuming marijuana (18, 19, 21, 25, or older) 60.1 per cent said the age for legal marijuana use should be 18. The next most popular response was 21, chosen by 22.4 per cent of respondents.

"What that tells me is that a significant number of Manitobans are concerned about young people getting involved and engaging with cannabis and the harmful effects, potentially, from a health perspective," said Stefanson.

The survey also asks respondents whether they think the price of legal cannabis "should be kept high or low?" So far, 83.2 per cent of respondents have said prices should be kept low.

"We’re going to have to have a low price," said Pallister.

"I’m glad to see Manitobans recognize the need to get the gangs out, get organized crime out. And I would say anyone who talks about raising millions of dollars by legalization of pot has a premature opinion that hasn’t been formed based on research."

The potential social costs of cannabis legalization, said Pallister, are still unknown.

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"The federal government’s rushing ahead with a negotiation on a commission-split on a deal that hasn’t even been closed," he said.

"They have no idea what the real consequences are. All we know for sure is that the lion’s share of the heavy lifting will be done at the provincial level… so this argument that there’s somehow some pot of gold at the end of the pot train is a mistake to make, and it’s premature at best and ill-advised, certainly, as well."

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca

@sol_israel