Province survey on pot regulations gets ‘huge’ response

Thousands of people have had their say on marijuana legislation in the province through a survey the province launched on Friday.

“We have had over 20,000 people that have either completed or have the survey underway,” Justice Minister Don Morgan told Gormley. “That’s huge so there’s no doubt people want to be heard from.”

The survey was brought in as provinces across Canada scramble to come up with regulations around marijuana ahead of the July 1 legislation date next year.

“Before we go down this road, we want to talk to and hear from people in this province,” Morgan explained.

The survey covers a variety of issues, including if marijuana sales should be public or private; where it should be sold; how to keep it away from children and out of schools; second-hand marijuana smoke; job site issues; impaired driving issues.

“The two that are most important to me are what do we do with young people in the province, what we do to take steps to keep (marijuana) out of schools and make sure young people aren’t using it,” Morgan said, adding his second highest concern is safety at the workplace and impaired driving.

While the survey asks if marijuana should be sold by private companies or the government, Ontario announced it’ll sell marijuana as an extension of its public liquor system. Morgan said he has reservations about going down that road, considering the push from many for a mixed model or private system for selling alcohol.

After the survey is complete, there is “an incredibly tight timeline” for the government to put out a response and put a regulatory scheme in place.

Morgan encourages people to take the survey, but to also go one step further and contact their MLA if they have further comments. He’s also encouraging people to reach out to their MPs, in light of the province’s request for an extension on legislation, of which he said he has not gotten a “forthcoming” response from the federal government.