Hatters seem mostly at ease with weed legalization

By Jeremy Appel on October 16, 2018.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

The News spoke to several Hatters of different ages about Wednesday’s Canada-wide legalization of cannabis.

Though none outright opposed legalization, some had more concerns than others.

Tish Pahtayken, 32, says she’s “up for it.”

She said regulating its sale is a lot safer than leaving people — who are going to consume cannabis anyways — to purchase it on the black market.

Although she’s interested in purchasing legal marijuana, Pahtayken’s not rushing to wait in line at one of the Hat’s three stores tomorrow.

“I’m not a stoner or anything,” she said, adding that it helps her cope with anxiety occasionally.

Tyler Phillips, 20, has been a medicinal marijuana patient for more than a year.

She was prescribed it for carpal tunnel syndrome, pain management and some mental health issues.

As for recreational pot, she’s conflicted, saying that legalization will be “interesting.”

“It will hopefully decrease the stigma around marijuana,” she said.

At the same time, Phillips fears the “normalization of drug use.”

Still, she maintains people should have the choice whether to smoke pot or not.

If anything, alcohol should be prohibited, given its ability to make people lose control, said 23-year-old Rob Rice.

“I think generally as a whole, drug use is somewhat of a negative on society,” he said. “I do generally believe in treating drug addiction as a wide-reaching systemic societal issue that is indicative of broader problems within the culture, as opposed to a 100 per cent individual failing.”

Dana McLellan, 57, says she’s not at all bothered by legalization.

“Enough people probably smoke it anyways,” she said. “Might as well get the tax dollars.”

McLellan said the cannabis smokers she knows are only upset that the price will increase with taxation.

One drawback is it could make police officers’ lives more difficult, she added.

“How do you gage who’s impaired, who’s not?” asked McLellan.

Erin Deluca, 59, says pot tokers will be able to ensure they’re getting exactly what they paid for.

“Let’s face it, these kids don’t know what they’re getting off the streets,” she said.

Like McLellan, she expressed concern about legalization’s impact on law enforcement.

“You don’t want people doing this and driving. Hopefully they come up with something to safeguard against that,” said Deluca.

Anne Morris, 70, says she doesn’t think weed legalization will solve the problem of organized crime’s involvement in its sale, since legal marijuana will be more expensive.

“They’re just going to beat the prices,” said Morris.

She’s never used cannabis herself, but has been around many people who have.

“This is many years ago, (but) I didn’t see any violence and I didn’t see anyone who wanted to drive either,” Morris said.

Her main concern with legalization is the ability of younger people to access it.

“I think the age limit is too young, due to the development of the brain, which is not completely developed until you’re at least 25, 26,” she said.

Sixty-year-old Michelle Bien explicitly compared the criminalization of marijuana to the prohibition of alcohol in the sense that people were using both anyways.

“Pot’s been around forever — since I was in high school — it’s natural.”

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