ALTERNATIVES FOR CANNABIS POLICY

How not to protect community health and safety" is the title of a
report from the Stop The Violence BC (STVBC) coalition. It tells of
how cannabis policy with its focus on prohibition and extensive
efforts on enforcement have both failed. Quite spectacularly, too.
Cannabis is more available, cheaper and more potent than ever even
after billions of tax dollars have been spent on prohibition. Worse,
organized crime is rolling in cash because of the same policies.

It is time to think more clearly about cannabis policy. This is why
the Health Officers' Council of BC (HOC) has stepped up with its
support for STVBC. The HOC is not saying that cannabis should be
legalized and taxed because is it safe. Rather, they are saying that
proven public health approaches should be used to constrain its use.

The STVBC report makes several clear policy recommendations.

There need to be restrictions on the purchase and use of cannabis.
These could include age restrictions on sales and could impose
restrictions on driving and operating machinery while intoxicated,
limits on the hours of sale and outlet density, restricted bulk sales
and limits on the potency of legal cannabis. All of these ideas
support the public health model to reduce the unintended health and
social harms such as drug-related violence and homicide that
accompany prohibition.

Government should control the production and distribution of
cannabis. Existing conditional licensing of medical cannabis could be
expanded and applied on a larger scale to the regulation and taxation
of cannabis. The system would include strict prohibitions on
marketing and branding, standard labelling on content and health
realistic health warnings like those for tobacco currently.

Taxation is another tool in the arsenal of a new cannabis policy.
Taxing a product increases its price to the consumer and has been
shown to affect consumption levels of alcohol and tobacco. The price
of cannabis could also be kept as high as possible to limit use, but
low enough to avoid creating an incentive to produce cannabis for an
illegal market.

Other regulatory tools to consider include policies that restrict the
location and circumstances of consumption, not unlike current
policies on alcohol and tobacco. The "Dutch coffee shop" model for
cannabis should be considered as well.

Prohibition has never worked. We need only look at current cannabis
policy to see that. Not enough, look back at the efforts of the 1920s
and 30s, and look at the results. There is a better way. We must consider it.

Learn more about the STVBC report (and download it) from their
website at www.stoptheviolencebc.org. Or join the discussion on
Facebook or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/stvbc.

Editor's note: Dr. Paul Martiquet is the Medical Health Officer for
Rural Vancouver Coastal Health including Powell River, the Sunshine
Coast, Sea-to-Sky, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.