Saskatoon police chief says cops getting on-board with legalized pot

Legalized pot is coming to Saskatoon and the city's police are getting onboard.

Instead of fighting legalization, their focus is now shifting to how best to enforce the upcoming laws.

A federal government task force announced Tuesday that legalized marijuana sales should be restricted to those 18 and older, and people should only be able to possess 30 grams at a time for themselves.

• Pot task force recommends legal cannabis sales be limited to users 18 and over

"We know it's coming.We want to work with it,"said police ChiefCliveWeighill. "There's no use fighting it all the way:We'll just look like people who can't get with the program."

Weighill said there seems tobe broad agreement on key areas:

• Keep pot away from youth.
• There has to be some regulation around who can grow it, who can buy it andwho can sell it.
• There has to be some help for the police on dealing with impaired drivers.

The issue of driving while high is very real in Colorado and Washington, where marijuana is legal. American researchers are working to come up with roadside saliva tests that measure THC, the compound that gets a user high.

Weighill said one challenge is coming up with a legal limit for marijuana that shows when a person is impaired.

• Police pilot project will test drug-detection systems by asking drivers for their saliva
• Sask. impaired driving rate highest in country last year

He also cautioned against believing that legalizing pot will get rid of the black market around the drug.

"The cartels are in the business for making money and they'll find any way they can," he said.

"We're already seeing in Washington and Colorado wherever the price point is for legalized marijuana, they're undercutting itand there's still lots of illegal activity happening with marijuana. So, there's still going to be work for the police on this; there may even be more work."

Weighill said this particular piece of legislation"could really change the fabric of Canada":More people will be experimenting with the drug than ever before, simply because it's legal.