麻豆视频

The provincial government has decided that public consultation is needed before it proceeds with its share of legislation for the legalization of marijuana.

The government has announced it will be conducting a survey on cannabis until Oct. 8, for those who are 18 years of age and residents of Saskatchewan.

The survey asks a gamut of questions, ranging from age limitations to potential retail models, and regulatory models to the enforcement of modified impaired driving laws.

Now, if you鈥檙e going to fill out the survey with the intent of voicing your opposition to the legalization, this might not be the initiative for you. Marijuana is going to be legalized, whether we like it or not.

Hopefully people have better things to do than to use this as a chance to gripe. So don鈥檛 answer none when asked what the legal age should be, and don鈥檛 say 1,000 per cent when asked what the taxation rate should be.

There are some serious topics that are being tackled in this survey. They need to be addressed, and the government has decided to turn to the public for their feedback, rather than just coming up with its own solutions.

Perhaps the most serious issue is regarding the enforcement of impaired driving laws.聽 You don鈥檛 see many cases of people being charged for driving while impaired by marijuana.聽
But that鈥檚 going to change once marijuana is legalized in Canada. After all, more people will be willing to try marijuana once it鈥檚 legal to possess less than 30 grams, and marijuana use will be much more prevalent. Marijuana-related vehicle collisions will happen more frequently.

So it鈥檚 important to establish a legal level of marijuana consumption before driving, for the punishments to be in place, and for the police to have the adequate means to check for impairment by a soon to be legal drug.

Public consumption is another issue. Should it be similar to smoking tobacco? Should people be allowed to smoke marijuana on a restaurant patio? Or outside an arena during the intermission of a hockey game? Or should marijuana consumption be restricted to certain locations and at certain times?

There are other issues to be resolved. Once is the legal possession age. We think it should be the same as the legal drinking age, although anyone will tell you that if underage people want marijuana, they鈥檒l find a way to get it, just like with alcohol.

It鈥檚 been five months since the federal Liberals announced the intention to legalize marijuana, joining Uruguay as the only countries to take that step.

Pot will be legal in Canada in just over nine months. There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered. And some of them are no closer to having answers than five months ago.聽