One day after recreational marijuana officially became legal in Canada, South Simcoe Police Chief Andrew Fletcher said it is so far, so good.
“I haven’t heard of any (issues),” he said.
“We’ve been preparing for a number of months… half a year. It’s been challenging to know what to prepare for because the information has been coming in dribs and drabs from the provincial and federal governments.”
Fletcher said all frontline South Simcoe police officers have done their standard field sobriety testing, which means they can administer roadside examinations for people they suspect are driving high.
If police arrest someone for that reason, they take them back to the police station, where a drug recognition expert can perform a further examination, he said.
The drug recognition experts completed training on inmates in the U.S. to get qualified, he added.
South Simcoe police have also started two working groups — one each in Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury — with the towns’ chief administrative officers and bylaw departments to determine what matters related to marijuana each organization will handle.
This will become more of an issue once the towns decide whether to allow bricks-and-mortar cannabis stores. They have until Jan. 22 to opt out of the province’s retail plan for the product.
“We will continue to enforce the legislation and illegal dispensaries,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher said he expects it to take a little while for police to start noticing recreational cannabis use becoming more open, but he warned residents that anyone caught smoking pot now could be charged because cannabis legally purchased online would not yet have arrived through Canada Post.
He said he hopes people who choose to smoke marijuana will be mindful of second-hand smoke and respectful of their neighbours, especially if children are around.
“People have been smoking marijuana for years. We know that. If we make a big deal of it, it’ll become a big deal,” he said. “This is a learning experience for everybody. We need to be a little more respectful of our neighbours.”
