Ontarians think LCBO best bet to sell pot: Poll

TorontoSun.com
Aug. 30, 2016
By Shawn Jeffords

The LCBO is high on the list of places Ontarians think should sell legal weed, according to a new poll.

And the union representing liquor store workers says their members are ideally suited to keep the kush out of the hands of kids.

The Nanos Research survey, commissioned by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), found that 41% of respondents ranked the liquor store as their top choice to sell marijuana when it is legalized by the federal government.

OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas pointed to the opinion poll at Queen’s Park on Tuesday as evidence that people are ready for the change, but it has to be done right.

“I don’t see selling it anywhere else other than a place that’s controlled,” Thomas said. “Particularly when it’s all new to us and we don’t know how it’s going to go.”

That control appears to be important, as the survey also found that 32% of respondents would choose pharmacies as their first choice to sell recreational marijuana. On the other end, less than 1% of respondents ranked convenience stores as their first choice.

ID checks for the purchase of marijuana was favoured by 93% of respondents, while 29% said keeping it out of the hands of children should be the top priority of the government. That’s already a key part of the job for LCBO workers when it comes to alcohol, said Denise Davis, OPSEU Liquor Board Employees Division executive chairman.

“Last year, these trained workers challenged 13.5 million people and refused service to nearly 346,000 of them,” she said. “That’s nearly 1,000 people a day who walked out of the store without alcohol thanks to the careful attention of the LCBO workers. Simply put, the system works.”

Thomas stressed that the union believes there will still be downsides to legalizing marijuana. And like alcohol and gambling, it will be important to weigh the social costs. He also said that the LCBO should not wade into the medical marijuana market place.

The survey also found 28% of people polled have a negative and 26% have a somewhat negative impression of marijuana dispensaries. On the other side, 23% had a somewhat positive and 10% of respondents had a positive impression of dispensaries.

“It’s not as benign as people think,” Thomas said of marijuana. “It should be controlled. Maybe they’ll loosen it up in the future, but why would you make it like the Wild West right now? Why wouldn’t you introduce it slowly in a more controlled way?”

The Nanos survey was conducted between Aug. 3 and 7 with 1,000 Ontarians. It has a margin of error of 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

DID YOUR TOKIN' WAYS GET YOU YOUR NICKNAME?

They don’t call him Smokey because of his love of the herb.

OPSEU president Warren “Smokey” Thomas told reporters Tuesday that even though he supports legalizing marijuana and selling it at LCBO locations, his nickname didn’t come about because of his affinity for the ganja.

“I started smoking pot when I was two,” he said, joking, when he was asked about the origins of the moniker.

“No, I don’t smoke pot,” he added.

Thomas said the nickname did arise from a few family members being in a somewhat altered state.

“When I was a little kid, I had a fascination with Smokey the Bear,” he said. “Smokey the Bear came around about 1949. I was born in ’52. My father and maternal grandfather, who lived with us, didn’t like the name Warren. So apparently, they were drinking some homemade rice wine one night and I was carrying on about Smokey the Bear ... somewhere in their haze they decided I should be called Smokey and it just stuck. I’ve been called that my whole life.”

Thomas said that when he was in kindergarten, teachers sent him for a hearing test because he wouldn’t respond to his given name.

“I wouldn’t answer to Warren,” he said. “I didn’t really know my name was Warren.”