Ontario police sound alarm over perceived lack of funds for pot legalization
TORONTO — Ontario’s chiefs of police are again sounding alarm bells about the impending legalization of recreational cannabis, saying federal funding for police operations may not go far enough to cover increased costs.
At a news conference held by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police in Toronto on Tuesday, Ontario Provincial Police Chief Supt. Chuck Cox said it’s fair to assume based on other jurisdictions’ experiences that drug-impaired driving will go up once recreational pot is legal, and police will need to train more officers to detect drug impairment.
That, Cox said, can be costly.
Police have been one of the key holdups in legalizing recreational cannabis: the Liberals initially promised to legalize it by July, but now say the deadline will be pushed back by several weeks, in part to give police authorities time to prepare for the new law.