Canadian cities are expected to introduce legislation in the coming months aimed at legalizing marijuana nationwide.
According to a report from CBC News, Edmonton’s business community is already in the midst of getting of its ducks in row with respect to legal weed. Some companies are said to be developing rules in an attempt to define what it will mean for their employees to consume marijuana legally and still draw a paycheck.
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“This is coming at us now, this is going to happen, there is going to be legalization of marijuana,” said Janet Riopel, CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. “So this is something that has very much hit our radar, and especially in safety-sensitive workplaces, employers have said marijuana use is inconsistent with safe work places.”
In other Canadian cities, such as Richmond, British Columbia, officials are doing whatever it takes to completely outlaw the presence of marijuana dispensaries in their neck of the woods. In the case of Richmond, its philosophy on the issue is: Just because the Canadian government wants to make weed fully legal “doesn’t mean we have to follow suit.”
While the less stable breed of Canadian commerce and leadership prepares for the supposed apocalypse they believe is destined to come from living in a fully legal cannabis market, the governing brass of the northern nation remains hell bent on ending prohibition in the very near future.
Canada’s marijuana task force recently issued a list of recommendations outlining the moves needed to implement a taxed and regulated system. So far, it appears that adults 18 and older would be permitted to purchase cannabis products in a manner similar to beer. It would also allow people to grow their own weed at home for personal use, while making way for cannabis lounges and most importantly, force police to stop busting the average citizen for marijuana possession.
In the meantime, only medical marijuana is legal in Canada, which seems to have confused some members of the cannabis community, who believe that pending legalization is a green light to sell weed for recreational use. This opinion has cause a veritable shitstorm in places like Toronto where police have been aggressively raiding dispensaries suspected of selling pot products outside the realm of Health Canada’s medical marijuana program.
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“People are right now breaking the law,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Star. “We haven’t changed the laws. We haven’t legalized it yet. Yes, we got a clear mandate to do that. We’ve said we will. We’ve said we’re going to do it to protect our kids and to keep the money out of the pockets of criminals.”
