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Viersen no fan of cannabis legalization

The legalization of marijuana in Canada is no laughing matter for Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen. “Canada’s Conservatives are seriously concerned about the consequences of this,” he said.

The legalization of marijuana in Canada is no laughing matter for Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen.

“Canada’s Conservatives are seriously concerned about the consequences of this,” he said. “Law enforcement, employers, scientists and doctors are all quite concerned about the legalization and we’re echoing those concerns.”

On Oct. 17, recreational marijuana became legal across Canada. Possession of up to 30 grams is now legal and barring local bylaws people will be free to consume it in public. Up to four plants can also be grown for personal use.

Provinces were given free-reign to decide on the distribution of the recreational drug. In Alberta over-the-counter sales will be handled by private businesses while the government has the monopoly on online sales.

According to the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission, from midnight to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 over 8,300 orders for cannabis were made. News reports showed people lined up on the streets for blocks in Edmonton, Calgary, St. Albert and many other areas.

In Alberta, municipalities will have the final say on where cannabis is consumed inside their borders, which Viersen sees as downloading enforcement to municipalities.

Viersen said consumer enthusiasm on legalization day shows that usage of marijuana is on track to increase.

“If that speaks to anything, marijuana will be more available to children than ever before,” he said. “There has been a lack of public education. Canadians don’t have a clue on what’s allowed and what’s not allowed and how that will impact their crossing the border and that sort of thing.”

Statistics Canada found that in 2017 roughly 18 per cent of Canadians were willing to admit to using cannabis within the last year.

Aside from his concerns about youth accessing the drug, Viersen said he was concerned about the rise in vehicle fatalities in Colorado since the U.S. state legalized pot in 2013. Coroner tests of car accident victims showed that in some cases people’s THC content were up to five times the legal limit set in the state.

“In other jurisdictions that have brought it in we’ve seen massive increases in traffic fatalities,” he said. “That’s something we’re worried about. There is no method of determining if someone is driving while high either. Within an hour of the law coming into force, someone in Edmonton was written up for driving while consuming it.”

However, those same reports caution that elevated THC in the bloodstream does not indicate the driver was high at the time of an accident and while there appears to be a correlation, the increase in accidents cannot be directly attributed to legalization.

On the federal government’s plan to issue pardons for people convicted of simple possession prior to legalization, Viersen said he wasn’t against the idea but thought they should be resolved on a case-by-case basis.

“Each case should be reviewed on its own merit to ensure the conviction wasn’t tied to a number of other offences,” he said.

As for himself, Viersen said he has never tried marijuana himself and in spite of the fact it is now legal has no intention of doing so.

“Marijuana is a drug that seriously alters your brain,” he said. “I like to keep my brain the way it is.”

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