Cannabis In Quebec
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Cannabis in Quebec became legal when the national
Cannabis Act Cannabis Act may refer to: * Cannabis Act (Canada), 2018 legislation * Cannabis Act (Germany), 2024 legislation {{disambig ...
went into force on 17 October 2018.
Cannabis in Canada Cannabis in Canada is legal for both cannabis (drug), recreational and Medical cannabis, medicinal purposes. Cannabis was originally prohibited in 1923 until medicinal use of cannabis was legalized nationwide under conditions outlined in the Ma ...
has been legal for
medicinal Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
purposes since 2001 under conditions outlined in the ''
Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has been used as a drug for both rec ...
'', later superseded by the ''Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations'', issued by
Health Canada Health Canada (HC; )Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary units, department of the Gove ...
and seed, grain, and fibre production was permitted under licence by Health Canada. The federal
Cannabis Act Cannabis Act may refer to: * Cannabis Act (Canada), 2018 legislation * Cannabis Act (Germany), 2024 legislation {{disambig ...
, legalizing cannabis for recreational use, came into effect on 17 October 2018. Each province and territory set its own laws for various aspects, such as the legal age, whether householders can grow cannabis and the method of retail sales.


Legalization of recreational marijuana

During the planning stages, the
Société québécoise du cannabis The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC; Quebec Cannabis Corporation) is the Crown corporation which operates the legal monopoly on recreational cannabis sales in the Canadian province of Quebec. SQDC is incorporated as a subsidiary of the ...
was to be the only legal entity to transport or sell cannabis at the retail level. In contrast to the common age minimum of 19 in most provinces, in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
the age limit would be 18, later raised to 21. The new government justified increasing the age requirement out of concern for the effects cannabis has on the still-developing brain of young adults under 21. Critics however argue that the law change is unwarranted because those between the ages of 18 and 21 or even through age 25 are the biggest consumers of marijuana and if they are denied access to legal dispensaries they will turn to the unregulated black market. It is also incongruous with the age limit for other legal substances since one needs to be only 18 years of age to buy alcohol, tobacco, and vaping products in Quebec and is the age of majority. Under the newly elected
Coalition Avenir Québec The Coalition Avenir Québec (, , CAQ) is a Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist, Autonomism in Quebec, autonomist and conservatism, conservative
government, the Deputy Minister for Health in October 2018,
Lionel Carmant Lionel Carmant is a Canadian politician who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of Taillon as a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec. As Associate Minister ...
announced that the Government will tighten the rules on cannabis consumption, including increasing the legal age to consume to 21 from 18. Home-growing would additionally not be permitted. Twelve Société québécoise du cannabis stores opened on October17, 2018; by March 2022, this had increased to 87 retail locations throughout the province. A full 150 different products are sold, in dried, fresh or oil format, but not edibles, as well as accessories such as vaporizers. On-line sales from the SQDC web site also commenced on 17 October. Adults may possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis, the maximum allowed per purchase, but a full 150 grams may be kept in a household, regardless of the number of adult residents. Under Quebec's provincial law, it was originally prohibited to cultivate four cannabis plants for personal use, even though it was permitted by the federal law. However, Murray Hall challenged Quebec's law, and on September 3, 2019, Justice Manon Lavoie deemed that sections 5 and 10 of Quebec's Cannabis Regulation Act were unconstitutional. Quebec's Court of Appeal has sided with the Quebec government. The opposition says they plan to appeal, but as of March 2022 residents of Quebec may not grow cannabis at home. In her ruling, Judge France Thibault wrote that both sides in the case were motivated by the desire to combat the harms associated with consumption. The Quebec government argued they could ban growing cannabis at home in order to protect Quebecers, especially young people. The other side argued that the Quebec government could not overrule federal law that allows Canadians to grow up to four plants per household. This means that unless the law changes Quebec residents can be fined $750 per plant if found to be growing cannabis, unless they are doing so with a medical authorization through their physician and Health Canada. Maxime Guérin said he was surprised by the ruling, but that he and his team were prepared to appeal to the Supreme Court and intended on bringing in additional expert legal counsel. They had 60 days to file their appeal, and Guérin said he expected the high court to hear the appeal in about 12–18 months (update: se
''Murray Hall v. Quebec Public Prosecutor 2019 QCCS 3664''
at
CanLII The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII; ) is a non-profit organization created and funded by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada in 2001 on behalf of its 14 member societies. CanLII is a member of the Free Access to Law Movement, ...
). The consumption of cannabis is heavily restricted; it cannot be used wherever tobacco smoking is prohibited, as well as in a long list of other locations. Some municipalities have restricted smoking in some or all public spaces, but this does not include Montreal. Impairment under the influence of drugs is illegal as it is for drunk driving. The legal age for the purchase or possession of cannabis in the Province was raised to 21 effective January1, 2020. Edibles were expected to be sold later in the year, starting with liquids and later, products such as granola bars and muffins. However, on First Nations reserves in Quebec edibles such as gummies, chocolate and muffins can be purchased. The legal age to purchase on a First Nations reserves is still 18. Following the adoption of the Cannabis Act in 2018, which decriminalized the recreational use of cannabis nationally, the province of Quebec enacted its own law, called the Cannabis Regulation Act, prohibiting possession of a cannabis plant, with fines ranging from $250 to $750. Following the ruling, Janick Murray-Hall challenged the Quebec law, which was then declared unconstitutional in 2019 on the basis that it was a matter for federal jurisdiction, rather than provincial. In 2021, the decision was overturned by the Quebec Court of Appeal, causing Murray-Hall to pursue the Supreme Court. In April 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the provincial legislation, deeming Quebec's ban on homegrown cannabis plans to be constitutional.


Usage

In 2013, 11.5 percent of residents reported that they consumed cannabis in the past twelve months, the fifth lowest in the country. In 2017,
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
reported that the province had the sixth lowest per capita usage in the country of 18.49 grams per person.


See also

*
Bloc pot The Bloc Pot is a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada, that is dedicated to ending cannabis prohibition. It has contested four provincial elections but it has failed to win any seats in the National Assembly of Quebec. The party was laun ...


References


External links

{{Cannabis in Canada Quebec law