Easy to promise but difficult to deliver

, whether it has been able to get all the provinces and other authorities on board is one question that would keep on hounding them till that time. Till summer, the Federal government would be under scrutiny!

Justin Trudeau as a Prime Ministerial candidate had made a promise and two and half years into his term, he has given an impression that it was an easy promise to make but too unrealistic to fulfill. In April 2017 the federal government introduced marijuana legalization legislation. It presented two bills which were being seen as a major policy overhaul.  Bill-C45 addresses parameters around the production, possession, safety standards, distribution, and sale of marijuana while Bill C-46 aims as changing impaired driving laws to give police new powers to conduct roadside intoxication tests. Bill C-46 would make it illegal to drive within two hours of being over the legal limit. Liberals were able to get both the Bills cleared from the House of Commons however in the Senate it has not been a smooth sailing for the Bills. Last month, the Senators voted 44 to 29 to send the marijuana legalization bill to committee. The voting was on expected lines. All Conservative senators opposed the same, while all the all independents — most appointed by Justin Trudeau including two senators who started their jobs last month voted in favor of the bill. The Senate will hold the vote by June 7 for Legislation for recreational purpose.  While things appear to be falling in place at the Federal front, the same can’t be said for the provinces.

Though Ontario was among the first few provisions to clear the legalization there are other provinces that have asked the federal government to delay passing the legislation as some of them have plenty of unfamiliar issues to treat and a whole lot of question.  Federal govement and provinces seem to have agreed and decided on how the pot would be made available, who all can have an access to it, however one of the core issue that hasn’t been addressed in the right earnest is related to driving under the influence of pot.  The preparedness for the same can be very well judged from the fact that premiers have been seeking information on the same from neighboring states in the United States. Taking a lead on issue Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister met with leading American researchers to learn about the serious effects and consequences of cannabis impaired driving. Though her action is in the right direction and deserves the applause, it reflects on the true concern of our governments. While our governments continue to introduce measures that would control legalized cannabis, it has done nothing much to protect Canadians.  The issue of road safety due to impaired driving due to use of legalized pot should have been on the top of the agenda. However, nothing much has been done for the same. While there is lot of science around impaired driving by alcohol, well supported by research, but there is not the same kind of research available around impairment and cannabis.  Even how to measure the same hasn’t been laid out well. Though the government has considered allowing driving after two hours of use of the pot, the same isn’t supported well by research and data. Also, the Federal government is claiming that the test to check impairment due to pot is cost effective. As per report, the saliva test is likely to cost $ 50 per swab, but then there’s the question of who will be covering the cost of this. Provinces want the Federal government to clear the same too.

With too many questions still to be answered, the governments may find that the promise of legalizing pot was an easy statement to make and difficult to deliver.