A friend of the Liberal cannabis legalization lead Bill Blair plans to lobby the MP to allow for only licensed producers of cannabis in the new, regulated framework being developed by the government.
A deputy chief in the Toronto Police Service when Blair served as the chief, Kim Derry is now security adviser to THC Meds Ontario Inc., a cannabis facility seeking government approval to grow, and said he wants the future industry tightly controlled for those producing and selling.
Derry said he wants the government to “get rid of the goons” currently in the industry and create stricter guidelines for who can enter the market.
“If there isn’t, it will be the wild west,” Mr. Derry said. “If you just open it up and allow everybody to grow this stuff and distribute it however they want, it will be an absolute mess.”
Derry said he’s been friends with Blair for around 40 years and will “certainly give him my opinion, whether he asks for it or not.”
Lawyer Kirk Tousaw said the government needs to look at other models for cannabis production and sale, such as American states.
“If we treat this like nuclear waste, it won’t work. Even if we treat it like alcohol, it may not work that well,” he said. “You have got to allow people to grow it for themselves.… It’s not really legalization if you are kicking people’s doors down and hauling them off to jail for growing the plant.”