{"id":7347,"date":"2017-04-14T14:29:55","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T14:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com?p=2615135&amp;preview_id=2615135"},"modified":"2017-04-14T14:29:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T14:29:55","slug":"digging-into-the-details-of-canadas-new-law-legalizing-marijuana-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/digging-into-the-details-of-canadas-new-law-legalizing-marijuana-nationwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Digging into the details of Canada\u2019s new law legalizing marijuana nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/digging-into-the-details-of-canadas-new-law-legalizing-marijuana-nationwide\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"row\" id=\"sticky-outer\">\n<div class=\"large-11 small-12 columns\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-date\">Published: <time class=\"entry-date\" datetime=\"2017-04-14T07:28:14+00:00\" pubdate=\"\">Apr 14, 2017, 7:28 am<\/time> \u2022 Updated: <time class=\"entry-date updated timeago\" datetime=\"2017-04-14T09:36:26+00:00\">Apr 14, 2017, 9:36 am<\/time><span class=\"single-comments-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/14\/canada-marijuana-legalization-legislation\/77314\/#disqus_thread\" class=\"commentsNameLink\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\">By <strong>Christopher Ingraham<\/strong>, <em> The Washington Post<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Canada on Thursday <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/13\/canada-marijuana-legalization-legislation-unveiled\/77282\/\">released a plan to legalize recreational marijuana us<\/a>e across the country by July 2018. With a solid Liberal majority in government the plan is widely expected to become law, but it would leave the details of implementation, including commercial regulations, to individual provinces.<\/p>\n<p>The bill\u2019s backers framed it as an effort to reduce adolescent drug use and take profits out of the black market. \u201cCriminal prohibition has failed to protect our kids and our communities,\u201d said Bill Blair, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice and a former Toronto police chief and one of the architects of the law, at a press conference. The new bill will \u201cmake Canada safer,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPolice forces spend between two and three billion dollars every year trying to deal with cannabis, yet Canadian teens are among the heaviest users in the Western world,\u201d said Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodell. \u201cCriminals pocket 7 to 8 billion dollars in proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marijuana legalization was a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2015\/10\/20\/canada-marijuana-justin-trudeau\/42535\/\">campaign promise of Prime Minster Justin Trudeau<\/a>. The bill still needs to be approved by Parliament, but Trudeau\u2019s Liberal party commands a solid majority there. The measure has also received support from the country\u2019s Conservative party.<\/p>\n<p>The legislation, \u201cAn Act respecting cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Criminal Code and other Acts\u201d, would set a minimum age limit of 18 to purchase and use marijuana. That\u2019s slightly lower than the drinking age limit of 19 in most provinces. It\u2019s also a departure from the norm in the U.S., where states that have legalized recreational marijuana use have set a minimum age of 21.<\/p>\n<p>Individuals would be allowed to possess up to 30 grams of marijuana for personal use, similar to the one-ounce standard in U.S. states where marijuana use is legal. Households would also be allowed to grow up to four marijuana plants.<\/p>\n<p>While the bill would remove penalties for individual use and possession, it wouldn\u2019t set up a nationwide system for selling marijuana commercially \u2014 those <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/01\/20\/canada-marijuana-legalization-city-bans\/71875\/\">details would be left up to individual provinces<\/a>. In provinces that decline to set up a commercial framework, customers could order marijuana online from a federally-licensed producer.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, accompanying legislation would toughen penalties for driving under the influence of marijuana, alcohol and other drugs.<\/p>\n<p>The bill would make Canada the second country in the world, after <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2014\/12\/01\/uruguay-marijuana-tabare-vazquez-election\/24352\/\">Uruguay<\/a>, to fully legalize recreational marijuana use. In the Netherlands marijuana use is generally tolerated, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/21\/netherlands-marijuana-laws-parliament\/74044\/\">it is not strictly speaking legal.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Legal marijuana in Canada, one of the U.S.\u2019s strongest allies, could be a game-changer for domestic marijuana policy discussions in the states. While eight states plus the District of Columbia have already legalized recreational marijuana here, it remains illegal at the federal level. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for state-legal marijuana businesses to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/01\/05\/marijuana-banking-california-role\/70712\/\">use the banking system<\/a>, receive tax breaks, and otherwise operate without fear of federal interference.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Meanwhile in the U.S.: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/23\/federal-marijuana-trump-administration-tough-talk-jeff-sessions\/76000\/\">A timeline of the Trump administration\u2019s tough talk and responses<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By contrast, national legalization to the North could create <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/06\/cannabis-stock-exchange-shares-canada-united-states\/76785\/\">a fertile environment for marijuana businesses to start up and operate<\/a>, potentially giving Canadian companies a competitive edge over stateside businesses in the future. Domestic cannabis businesses are already involved in intense lobbying efforts to ease federal restrictions in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>While numerous pieces of bipartisan <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/03\/lists-federal-marijuana-laws-legislation-congressional-cannabis-caucus\/73878\/\">legislation have been introduced in Congres<\/a>s to address some of those issues or even legalize marijuana completely, leaders in both parties have generally been wary of letting such provisions proceed. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/23\/federal-marijuana-trump-administration-tough-talk-jeff-sessions\/76000\/\">new Trump administration has taken a more skeptical position on marijuana<\/a> reform than its predecessor, but the news out of Canada may complicate that position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith legalization in a growing number of our own states and now an entire major neighboring country ending prohibition, it\u2019s going to be increasingly difficult for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/04\/11\/jeff-sessions-war-on-drugs-policies\/77026\/\">drug warriors in the Trump administration<\/a> to meaningfully roll back our gains,\u201d said Tom Angell of the pro-legalization group Marijuana Majority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s never been clearer than today that legal marijuana is the future,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The bill has its skeptics. \u201cThis piece of legislation puts the Canadian family at risk,\u201d said Pamela McColl of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada, and anti-legalization group. \u201cYouth already think marijuana is harmless, and now we are giving them the government\u2019s seal of approval. This risk will spill over into even younger kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the bill\u2019s backers contend that reducing underage use is one of their chief aims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a former police officer, I know firsthand how easy it is for our kids to buy cannabis,\u201d said Blair. \u201cToday\u2019s plan to legalize, strictly regulate and restrict access to cannabis will put an end to this. It will keep cannabis out of the hands of children and youth, and stop criminals from profiting from it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- .row --> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Details of implementation of Canada&#8217;s marijuana legalization legislation, including commercial regulations, will be left to individual provinces. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[146,6813,77,5577,5667,9,6833,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[2724,6818,2655,5580,5673,6835,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}