Everyone knows what weed is. Either they frown upon the smell when a stranger is smoking nearby or they look like a cartoon character following the scent of a good pie. But everyone knows what it is. It’s easy to guess that it plays a big part for us (the founders) and that is has been influential in our lives given that we built a company around it. On top of being fans of weed, we’re also fans of consistency and logic and as we got deeper into building a business related to a psychoactive substance, we learned that we had to put up with a lot of illogical and inconsistent stuff to avoid going to jail.
We’re not the type to just sit around and wait for things to change so we decided to speak our minds about it and slowly influence change by helping people understand how flawed are the rules companies like us have to put up with in Quebec.
With this blog, we’ll briefly explore the regulation surrounding cannabis in Canada, how the province of Quebec chose to adapt the federal law for its territory and how those changes could affect the youth and the market.
This blog acts as some kind of journal for us to share some of our thoughts about cannabis as a whole. We do not consider ourselves professionals or experts in the matter. We simply believe thoughts are worth sharing, if not what are they useful for? You're welcome to consult the regulations acts for cannabis in Quebec and Canada linked in our footer for more complete information.
THE BEGINNING
October 17th 2018 marks a historic day for the cannabis community, and our country. The House of Commons passes bill C-45 and Canada is officially the second country to legalize the recreational use of cannabis across its entire territory.
The new law surrounding weed had 3 main objectives :
- To keep it away from children and teens
- To provide an easy access to it, thus discouraging people to resort to the black market
- To protect the public health and safety by offering accessible and regulated weed to adults
Since then, depending on the territory, any individual 18 years old and over can buy weed in various forms (dry flower, drinks, hashish, etc), carry up to 30g of weed at all times, possess 150g of fresh cannabis in their home as well as cultivate the plant for personal consumption, but not everywhere. The rights listed above are of federal order and each province can apply their own restrictions. Prime Minister Legault and his team regulated the substance according to their vision.
In January of 2020, the province of Quebec adopted various new regulations :
- Quebec is the only province with Manitoba that is prohibited from cultivating weed for personal consumption, despite it being allowed by the federal law.
- It is illegal to smoke weed anywhere public.
- The legal age to purchase and possess cannabis is brought up to 21 years old as opposed to the previously set age of 18.
Needless to say that people were shook by such drastic measures, especially given that Quebec is the only province with 21 y/o as the legal age and 19 being the standard across the country with the exception of Alberta that chose to keep it at 18.
We questioned ourselves about those changes and now we share our thought with you along this small series in the hopes of striking a conversation among our fellow stoners.
To read part two, click Here