Premiers call for quick action on pot legislation

VANCOUVER – Ottawa has to act now to prevent patchwork legislation on marijuana–that’s the message from premiers as they meet in Whitehorse today.

Activists say the laws are already being unevenly enforced.

Premier Christy Clark says safety is key to uniform legislation.

“First of all, we need to see the federal legislation. Once we get through that, we will build a system that complies completely, but it will be focused on safety,” says Clark.

But legalization activist Jodie Emery says the premier is wrong to think there’s any sort of public threat to safety from pot.

The only threat to public safety has been through the guns and violence associated with prohibition,” argues Emery.

“Christy Clark and the premiers and the government are continuing to use reefer madness propaganda to make people afraid of legalization.”

Emery says it’s great to hear a lot of pressure on the government to take quick action, but she wonders what that actually means.

“Quick action should mean no more marijuana possession arrests. The liberal government has promised to continue to arresting Canadians for pot possession,” she says.