安省一些市长不想在自己的市里开大麻店

 

 

 

 

2017年11月，安大略省公布了第一批开张的40家大麻店。这些店分布在包括多伦多，密西沙加，布兰普顿，旺市和汉密尔顿在内的14个城市。安省计划到2019年7月再开80家，到2020年达到150家。

In November, 2017, Ontario named the first wave of 40 recreational marijuana stores. They are to be located in 14 municipalities including Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, and Hamilton. The province intends to open 40 standalone stores by July 2018, an additional 80 by July 2019 and a total of 150 by 2020.

 

 

省长韦恩于11月会见了GTA和汉密尔顿地区的市长，承诺省府将打击非法销售大麻，誓言省府会帮助各市政府应对大麻合法化所带来的问题。她承认，渥太华有许多事要做，包括帮助安省各市进行大麻销售的准备工作，如何征收大麻税。日前，渥太华与各省达成了分税协议，即每克大麻征收一元的大麻税，其中7毛钱留给省府，3毛钱给渥太华。这些税将用来执法和聘用执法人员。

Premier Kathleen Wynne met with GTA and Hamilton-area mayors in November, and promised a clampdown on illegal storefront dispensaries and vowed to help municipalities cope with the legalization of marijuana. She admitted there are still many questions Ottawa must answer including how marijuana will be taxed before Queen’s Park can finalize any plan to aid cities with the new costs. Shortly after this, agreement was reached and marijuana is to be taxed at one dollar per gram – 70 cents go to the provinces and 30 cents go to Ottawa. These new costs are necessary to set up and maintain enforcement mechanisms, and to hire bylaw enforcement officers.

 

 

在约克地区，一些市长已经站出来反对在自己的城市内开大麻店。他们包括万锦市市长薛家平，烈治文山市市长巴鲁，东贵林伯利市长哈格逊。他们不愿意首批大麻店开在自己的城市，声称自己需要资源来确保市府能够监管大麻销售。约克区警察局长估计，为了确保大麻法的实施，他们要至少要花300万。

 

In York Region, a number of mayors have come out against proposed marijuana stores in their municipalities. The group includes Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti,  Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow, and East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson. They do not want to be included in the initial list of stores, claiming that they need the resources to make sure they can facilitate the  implementation of the law. The Chief of Police for York Region has pegged the minimum cost to regulate and enforce the new laws at around $3 million.

 

烈治文山市市长巴鲁表示，省府还没有跟该市商量究竟在该市的哪些地方开店，也没有告诉他们是否会因在该市开大麻店而得到省府的额外补贴。他还在市议会提出了一个名为“烈治文山市不希望在该市开大麻店”的动议。烈治文山能否拒绝省府在该市开大麻店？我想很难。

 

Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow said the town hasn't been consulted about where potential stores would be located and that the province hasn't indicated it would direct any additional revenue to municipalities that host the stores. He brought forward a motion in Council to advise Ontario that "Richmond Hill is not a willing host of a cannabis retail location in our community." Can a municipal government really impede and reject the plans of the provincial government? I don't think so.

 

 

在拥有大量中国移民的城市中，人们对开大麻店的反应是消极的。民间促进会最近在互联网上进行的一项针对华人居民的调查显示，超过90％的人反对消遣大麻合法化。但是，调查对象中只有7.4％的人年龄在39岁以下，不能代表整个华人社区对此问题的态度。具有讽刺意味的是，民间促进会自己很可能支持大麻合法化。

 

In cities and towns with substantial populations of Chinese heritage, the reception to the legalization of recreational marijuana is negative. In a survey conducted by Civic Promoters recently on the internet targeting GTA Chinese residents, over 90% oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana. However, only 7.4% of the respondents to the survey are under 39 years old which is not a proper representation of the population demographics. Ironically, this is the one group that is mostly likely to have supported the legalization.

 

 

列治文山市市议员陈德辉指出，联邦政府一方面让大麻合法，一方面又声称要防止年轻人吸大麻。这不合逻辑。解决青少年非法吸大麻的问题是让他们不会因吸大麻而面临刑事处罚，让青少年不会因吸食大麻而有犯罪记录。

 

Richmond Hill Councillor Godwin Chan陈志辉states that the Federal Government's intention to limit youths from coming into contact with marijuana through legalization defies logic. The solution is de-criminalization so that youths will not have a criminal record from marijuana smoking.

 

 

许多其他的市政政客和华裔居住地区的教育委员也表达了他们对大麻问题的关切。为什么？很简单，2018年是市级选举年！

Many other municipal politicians and school trustees of Chinese heritage have voiced their concerns as well. Why? 2018 is a municipal elections year!

 

 

联邦“大麻法”允许每户家庭可种植4棵大麻，且不限制大麻的高度，也可以在户外种植。虽然各省、市有权在联邦的规定条文上再做补充规定，但可以预见的是，由于害怕面临法律挑战，他们可能不会再设条条框框。

 

The federal Cannabis Act allows for the growing of 4 marijuana plants for each household with no restrictions on height and outdoor growing. The provinces and municipalities are free to make further restrictions on these regulations but one can see that they will probably shy away from exercising these options for fear of legal challenges.

 

 

由于大麻需要高湿度，强烈日照和不停浇水才能丰收，因此，在家大量种植会导致住宅发霉。出租公寓，共管公寓，镇屋和半独立房的房主都将会为此事头疼。种植大麻的个人将被邻居告上法庭，这也是预料中的事。

The growing of large marijuana plants in confounded areas will lead to mildew growth in the dwellings as they need a humid environment, strong lighting, and constant watering to achieve good yields. This is one area that has yet to be addressed by apartments, condominiums, townhouses, and semi-detached home owners. The potential for litigation from neighbors arising from personal growing of marijuana plants will hit us square in the face in the near future.

 

 

总理杜鲁多12月在魁北克TVA电视台接受采访时开始改变口气，宣布大麻合法将在“夏季，而不是7月1日”，这与卫生部早些时候的说法矛盾。

In a December interview with TVA television station in Quebec, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau started back-paddling and declared that the legalization date will be in “Summer, but not July 1”, contrary to the announcement made by the Health Department earlier.

 

 

这让我们想起上一次联邦大选时人们对特鲁多的看法：“他还不成熟”。和他当初作为自由党党魁一样，2018年7月1日，休闲大麻合法化的时机尚未成熟！

 

This reminds us of the words from the last election campaign - “He's not ready”. Like the then Liberal Party leader, the legalization of recreational marijuana is not ready for July 1, 2018, not for a long time!