Former Chief of Toronto Police is currently campaigning for the Liberal nomination in Scarborough South West riding and has expressed support for legalization of cannabis with regulation, including a possible government monopoly for canna-business. See these interview clips:

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TORONTO – Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair says he supports the legalization of marijuana in Canada as long as there is a strong regulatory component to it.

“In the regulation of marijuana, then you can control who it is sold to, where it is sold and when it is sold. You can control the price. You can tax the thing,” Blair said during an interview on Global’s The Morning Show Thursday morning.

“You can make sure the decision to not sell it to a 14-year-old is left to a responsible adult, not some gangster in a stairwell.”

Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair wants to run for federal Liberals

Blair, who is currently seeking the federal Liberal nomination in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, said using the criminal model to prohibit the use and trafficking of marijuana isn’t working.

“If you only use the criminal model, quite frankly you can fail,” Blair explained. “If the only tool you got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Frankly, we can do better than that.”

As Toronto’s top cop, Blair said he advocated for changes in the way laws were enforced such as making marijuana possession and use a ticketing offence.

READ MORE: Looking back at 10 years of Chief Bill Blair

“The courts and the law enforcement across the country have been reluctant to use that criminal sanction for the possession of marijuana and as a result we haven’t been doing a very good job at our goals,” said Blair.

“We regulate alcohol in this country. It’s another intoxicant. We control who it is sold to, when it’s sold, and how it is used. And organized crime doesn’t have the opportunity to profit from it.”

Video and article source Global News