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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 28 ,2 01 8 | 8 The Oakville Beaver, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca editor@oakvillebeaver.com facebook.com/OakvilleBeav @OakvilleBeaver ABOUT US Oakville Beaver 901 Guelph Line Burlington, ON L7R 3N8 Phone: 289-293-0617 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Digital/Flyer/Retail: 289-293-0624 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail kmossman@metroland.com or call 905-631-6095. CONTACT US VP, Regional Publisher Kelly Montague kmontague@metroland.com | 289-293-0614 Director Advertising Daniel Baird dbaird@metroland.com | 289-293-0624 Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara cohara@metroland.com | 289-293-0615 Regional Manager Digital Content Karen Miceli Director of Distribution Charlene Hall Circulation Manager Kim Mossman kmossman@metroland.com | 905-631-6095 Director of Production Mark Dills Regional Production Manager Manny Garcia WHO WE ARE OPINION • EDITORIAL • Mission half-accomplished. Justin Trudeau's announcement June 20 that recre- ational cannabis will be legal as of Oct. 17 represents a historic milestone for Canada and his government. The prime minister's decision, which followed Sen- ate approval of Bill C-45 - the Cannabis Act - a day earli- er, heralds a major social change in this country which will soon join Uruguay as the only other nation on Earth to fully permit the legal use of pot for pleasure. When Statistics Canada says nearly half of Canadi- ans admit that they've used the drug recreationally and when police almost never bother individuals who pos- sess or use small quantities of it, the 95-year-old prohi- bition doesn't make sense to a lot of people. There's an overwhelming argument that adults should be free to use it, provided they abide by certain necessary rules. Many Canadians have believed this for a long time. Indeed, a commission created 49 years ago by the feder- al Liberal government led by Pierre Trudeau - father of the current prime minister - recommended ending the prohibition of "simple possession" while working to keep the drug out of young hands. Nearly half a century later, Canada's new law on cannabis echoes these sentiments. The decades of re- search and reasoned discussion that preceded legaliza- tion show passing this legislation was far from a rash action. Canadians have been allowed to use cannabis for medical reasons for years. The experiences of nine American states that have legalized recreational pot show it does not threaten a civil, ordered society and that the very real problems associated with it can be managed. But manage them, Canada must now do. And that will take even more time and effort than the consider- able thought and energy that went into the new law and its tough regulations. Pot legalization is one promise the Trudeau Liberals have kept, but the job is still only half-done and the new regime will bring with it a whole new set of challenges. The two main priorities for officials should be pre- venting young Canadians from using cannabis - a sub- stance that can impede the development of youthful brains - and keeping drugged drivers off our roads. Those are formidable tasks, but there's a lot more on government to-do lists. It's time to end the black market in cannabis, that's a given. But getting even close to that goal will be possible only if the federal government sets the right regulations for the cannabis trade. That will be tricky. Prices and taxes can't be so high that they send peo- ple rushing to black market pushers. As well, the de- tails for approving edible products will need to be final- ized within a year. The provinces will also play a major role in deter- mining how well Canada adapts to legal recreational cannabis. They'll control how cannabis is sold and what the legal age for buying it will be. To be sure, there's a lot of unfinished business to consider and even be concerned about. Welcome to the era of legal, recreational pot Have you seen Mars lately? For the last few months, the red planet has been growing bigger and bright- er in the south evening sky. By the end of July, Mars will be at its best, outshin- ing bright Jupiter, and will dominate the rest of sum- mertime observing. That's because the or- bits of Earth and Mars are actually moving the two worlds closer to each other. About every other year, Mars lines up opposite the Sun, called opposition, which significantly de- creases its distance to the Earth. This will happen on the nights of July 26 and 27. However, this year Mars moves even closer than average when it will be on- ly 57 million kilometres from us a few days later on July 31. This is due to Mars's eccentric orbit when its distance to us can vary from 55 million kilo- metres to 102 million kilo- metres at opposition. We haven't seen a close encounter to Mars like this since 2003. On average, it only happens once every 15 years. If you're lucky, you'll see five in your lifetime. Here are July stargaz- ing events, which are listed in the 2018 Hamilton Ama- teur Astronomers calen- dar. July 15 - The crescent Moon is really close and above Venus low in the western evening sky. This should look great through your binoculars. July 20 - The Moon is above Jupiter in the eve- ning sky. July 24 - The Moon is above Saturn in the south- ern sky. July 27 - This year's full Moon is the smallest Moon of the year. The Moon is al- so above Mars. For more information, see the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers website at www.amateurastrono- my.org or call (905) 627- 4323. The club offers a basic astronomy course for members. - Mario Carr is the club's director of publicity and can be reached at mariocarr@cogeco.ca. Twitter: @MarioCCarr Columnist Mario Carr says a view like this doesn't come around often Mars at its best since 2003 MARIO CARR Column Letters See what our readers are saying about the issues that matter to them insidehalton.com/letters