Proposed marijuana rules don't address concerns of Kahnawake Mohawks

Quebec's bill to set out rules for legal marijuana distribution and consumption does little to soothe concerns in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake about what's coming on July 1.

The provincial government tabled Bill 172 Thursday, detailinghow the sale and distribution ofpot is tounfold in the province when cannabis becomes legal across Canada next summer.

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GinaDeer, a chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, was unimpressed by the bill, saying it appeared that Quebec like other provinces is scrambling to meet the deadline set by Ottawa.

"It just shows that they're as unprepared as everyone else,"Deer said. "Nobody's prepared, and it's showing in the way they're putting out their models."

If passed, the billwill restrict marijuana consumption to people 18 years and olderbut permit its use in most public spaces.

That runs up against the KahnawakeMohawk Council's long-standing efforts to curb recreational marijuana use on its territory.

Deer described marijuana as a "taboo" substance in the community, noting it's had a zero-tolerance drug policy for 25 years.

"Right now there is a big concern about what [legalization] will look like," she said. "Where are people going to be smoking the product?"

Manufacture but no distribution

Earlier this fall, the Mohawk Council imposed a moratorium on the production, distribution and sale of cannabis. The community wants topass its own legislation before the moratorium is lifted.

Deer and other members of the council's cannabis working group have been seeking input from the community about what the legislation should contain.

"We think it's important to put our own legislation in place and have our community's wishes respected and keep it in line with our values," said Deer.

So far, she said, the consultations have revealed anopenness to the manufacture of recreationalmarijuana but a reticence at the possibility of distribution centres within the community.

"They like the idea of the economic development side of it the revenue generation, the job creation," said Deer. "They like they idea of having the product shipped outand distributed somewhere else."

The proposed provincial law prohibits any unlicensedproduction of marijuana for personal or commercial use, and limits the sale and distribution of marijuana to a subsidiary of the SAQ, the Socitqubcoisedu cannabis (SQC).

The agency isalso to offer online sales, and products will be delivered byCanada Post.

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Other Indigenous leaders in Quebec have also expressed concerns about what legalization mightmean for their communities, many of which ban alcohol as a way of dealingwith substance abuse issues.

"We already have a lot of problems linked to alcohol,"Abel Bosum,Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Crees of Northern Quebec, said last month.

"Cannabis stores will only add to the stress and problems that weigh on our communities."