It's a good first step. Unfortunately, the continued criminalization that you see in clause 8 and clause 9 of the bill will often run contrary to the purposes and principles of the bill, will reduce some of the benefits that are derived from the bill, and aren't supported by past history or research. Take, for example, the continued criminalization of youths who possess five grams or more of marijuana. I take it that's included because the government wants to discourage youths from possessing marijuana. Doing that through criminalization, as the last 100 years since the Opium Act has shown us, hasn't worked. If full criminalization of marijuana doesn't deter a youth from possessing marijuana, a half measure such as that won't either. A measure like that isn't going to deter a youth from possessing marijuana, and I gather that probably more liberal access to marijuana after this bill is certainly not going to do that.
At the same time, it imports many of the problems with wholesale criminalization, and it diverts resources. It allows the misuse of discretion. It allows the systemic discriminatory factors to be put in play. Ultimately, it's pretty expensive. The same is true when you're looking at the difference between illicit and licit marijuana, if “licit” is actually a word—