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Ontario has set a legal age of 19 to buy pot when it’s made legal, but the neighbouring province of Quebec is still considering what rules to embrace.
If the two provinces end up with different legal ages for pot possession, it could create complications, especially for provincial border towns like Ottawa and Gatineau.
The disparity in the legal drinking age between Ontario and Quebec has already created the phenomenon of Ottawa teenagers travelling to Gatineau bars because the legal drinking age in Quebec is 18. In Ontario it’s 19.
However, there are big differences between alcohol and pot consumption. Even if Quebec sets a pot possession age of 18, Ottawa teenagers that age may be able to purchase pot, but finding a place to consume it is another matter. It’s unlikely that any province will allow marijuana to be smoked in bars and restaurants, although some may eventually allow vape lounges. Ontario, the first province to announce rules surrounding cannabis, plans to ban pot smoking in public places, similar to restrictions on smoking tobacco.
Ontario officials say they have been talking to Quebec about possibly co-ordinating the legal ages for pot possession, but it’s up to each province to decide.
It’s one of the many complicated issues surrounding the legalization of pot.
The federal government has laid out a framework for legalizing marijuana by July 1, 2018 but the nuts and bolts planning to the provinces.
Ontario outlined its plans on Sept. 8.
Quebec, which objects to Ottawa’s tight schedule, says pot will be one of the first orders of business during the National Assembly’s fall session, which begins Tuesday.
Here’s how Ontario is managing five key issues and how Quebec may handle them.
1. Legal age
The federal Cannabis Act, which is still being studied by a House of Commons committee, says only people who are at least 18 years old will be able to use, purchase and possess marijuana. However, provinces and territories can set their own minimum age.
Ontario
Ontario chose 19, the same minimum age as for alcohol in the province. Ontario said it decided to exceed the federal minimum in order to protect youth, but it ruled out raising it further so as not to drive young people to the illegal market.
Quebec
Premier Philippe Couillard’s government has not taken a public stand yet, but the opposition Coalition Avenir Québec is pushing for the minimum age to be 21. In Quebec, you have to 18 to buy alcohol. However, experts note that marijuana use can affect brain development, which continues until age 25. The Canadian Pediatric Society says 18 should be the legal age for pot, suggesting most development has already occurred by then and few begin abusing marijuana at that age. The federation representing Quebec medical specialists begs to differ. It wants the minimum to be 21, noting that there is not enough support for young people over 18 who abuse drugs.
2. Pot stores
Ottawa has left it up to provinces to license marijuana retail vendors and to decide whether private companies or the government will be in charge.
Ontario
A government-run body – the Liquor Control Board of Ontario – will oversee retail sales through stand-alone pot stores and an online service. Forty stores will open by July 2018. Within two years, the number will swell to 150. Ontario said the LCBO has the expertise to ensure careful control of cannabis.
Quebec
Couillard’s cabinet is reportedly divided on the issue. Some ministers want to go the Ontario route and set up stand-alone, government-run stores via the Société des alcools du Québec, which has expertise in distribution and in complying with age restrictions. Other ministers want private companies to sell pot because they would keep prices in check, which in turn would help eradicate the black market. Montreal’s public health department has advised the government not to use the SAQ as a model because it is under government pressure to increase profits.
3. Tax revenue
Governments could collect as much as $5 billion in tax revenues from the sale of legal marijuana, according to a CIBC World Markets report. But Ottawa and the provinces have not worked out details yet.
Ontario
Specifics were not provided but Ontario said tax revenues “will be reinvested to ensure we meet our priorities of protecting young people, focusing on public health and community safety, promoting prevention and harm reduction and eliminating the illegal market.”
Quebec
Lucie Charlebois, Quebec’s public-health minister, has said she doubts tax revenue will cover the cost of legalization, namely increased spending in health care, security and public education. The province has not hazarded a guess as to how much could be collected in taxes. The opposition CAQ has said all tax revenue should go to the provinces since they will assume “all additional costs associated with legalization.” Ottawa has already nixed that idea. Quebec’s federation of medical specialists wants the province to commit to spending the first profits – at least $100 million a year – on information campaigns about marijuana’s possible detrimental effects, with young people as the main target.
4. Where to smoke it
Under Ottawa’s proposal, it’s up to provinces to decide where cannabis can be consumed, including whether it will be allowed in cafés and bars or at music festivals.
Ontario
Under Ontario’s plan, pot will only be legally consumable in private residences. It will be banned in public places, workplaces and inside cars.
Quebec
The province has not taken a public stand on the issue. At public hearings this month, an entrepreneur compared the pot café he wants to open to cigar and pipe lounges. He also envisions pot-smoking tourists being escorted around Montreal in limousines. Quebec’s public-health minister reminded him that Quebec no longer gives out permits to smoking lounges, and that many are urging the government to adopt limits at least as strict as those already in effect for tobacco, which forbid smoking in many public places including restaurants and some parks.
5. Home-grown
Ottawa wants to allow the cultivation of up to four cannabis plants per residence, each of which must not exceed one metre in height. However, provinces can set further limits on personal cultivation.
Ontario
The issue was conspicuously absent from Ontario’s announcement. A spokesperson for Ontario’s attorney general said many questions remain unanswered and the province will be closely monitoring the issue as Ottawa’s cannabis bill moves through the federal parliamentary process.
Quebec
Suggesting it will be difficult to enforce Ottawa’s four-plant rule, Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette has indicated the province may ban home-grown pot. A four-plant limit would be unenforceable and would be a drain on law-enforcement resources, a union representing municipal police officers in Quebec says.
With files from Jacquie Miller
ariga@postmedia.com
twitter.com/andyriga
查看原文...
If the two provinces end up with different legal ages for pot possession, it could create complications, especially for provincial border towns like Ottawa and Gatineau.
The disparity in the legal drinking age between Ontario and Quebec has already created the phenomenon of Ottawa teenagers travelling to Gatineau bars because the legal drinking age in Quebec is 18. In Ontario it’s 19.
However, there are big differences between alcohol and pot consumption. Even if Quebec sets a pot possession age of 18, Ottawa teenagers that age may be able to purchase pot, but finding a place to consume it is another matter. It’s unlikely that any province will allow marijuana to be smoked in bars and restaurants, although some may eventually allow vape lounges. Ontario, the first province to announce rules surrounding cannabis, plans to ban pot smoking in public places, similar to restrictions on smoking tobacco.
Ontario officials say they have been talking to Quebec about possibly co-ordinating the legal ages for pot possession, but it’s up to each province to decide.
It’s one of the many complicated issues surrounding the legalization of pot.
The federal government has laid out a framework for legalizing marijuana by July 1, 2018 but the nuts and bolts planning to the provinces.
Ontario outlined its plans on Sept. 8.
Quebec, which objects to Ottawa’s tight schedule, says pot will be one of the first orders of business during the National Assembly’s fall session, which begins Tuesday.
Here’s how Ontario is managing five key issues and how Quebec may handle them.
1. Legal age
The federal Cannabis Act, which is still being studied by a House of Commons committee, says only people who are at least 18 years old will be able to use, purchase and possess marijuana. However, provinces and territories can set their own minimum age.
Ontario
Ontario chose 19, the same minimum age as for alcohol in the province. Ontario said it decided to exceed the federal minimum in order to protect youth, but it ruled out raising it further so as not to drive young people to the illegal market.
Quebec
Premier Philippe Couillard’s government has not taken a public stand yet, but the opposition Coalition Avenir Québec is pushing for the minimum age to be 21. In Quebec, you have to 18 to buy alcohol. However, experts note that marijuana use can affect brain development, which continues until age 25. The Canadian Pediatric Society says 18 should be the legal age for pot, suggesting most development has already occurred by then and few begin abusing marijuana at that age. The federation representing Quebec medical specialists begs to differ. It wants the minimum to be 21, noting that there is not enough support for young people over 18 who abuse drugs.
2. Pot stores
Ottawa has left it up to provinces to license marijuana retail vendors and to decide whether private companies or the government will be in charge.
Ontario
A government-run body – the Liquor Control Board of Ontario – will oversee retail sales through stand-alone pot stores and an online service. Forty stores will open by July 2018. Within two years, the number will swell to 150. Ontario said the LCBO has the expertise to ensure careful control of cannabis.
Quebec
Couillard’s cabinet is reportedly divided on the issue. Some ministers want to go the Ontario route and set up stand-alone, government-run stores via the Société des alcools du Québec, which has expertise in distribution and in complying with age restrictions. Other ministers want private companies to sell pot because they would keep prices in check, which in turn would help eradicate the black market. Montreal’s public health department has advised the government not to use the SAQ as a model because it is under government pressure to increase profits.
3. Tax revenue
Governments could collect as much as $5 billion in tax revenues from the sale of legal marijuana, according to a CIBC World Markets report. But Ottawa and the provinces have not worked out details yet.
Ontario
Specifics were not provided but Ontario said tax revenues “will be reinvested to ensure we meet our priorities of protecting young people, focusing on public health and community safety, promoting prevention and harm reduction and eliminating the illegal market.”
Quebec
Lucie Charlebois, Quebec’s public-health minister, has said she doubts tax revenue will cover the cost of legalization, namely increased spending in health care, security and public education. The province has not hazarded a guess as to how much could be collected in taxes. The opposition CAQ has said all tax revenue should go to the provinces since they will assume “all additional costs associated with legalization.” Ottawa has already nixed that idea. Quebec’s federation of medical specialists wants the province to commit to spending the first profits – at least $100 million a year – on information campaigns about marijuana’s possible detrimental effects, with young people as the main target.
4. Where to smoke it
Under Ottawa’s proposal, it’s up to provinces to decide where cannabis can be consumed, including whether it will be allowed in cafés and bars or at music festivals.
Ontario
Under Ontario’s plan, pot will only be legally consumable in private residences. It will be banned in public places, workplaces and inside cars.
Quebec
The province has not taken a public stand on the issue. At public hearings this month, an entrepreneur compared the pot café he wants to open to cigar and pipe lounges. He also envisions pot-smoking tourists being escorted around Montreal in limousines. Quebec’s public-health minister reminded him that Quebec no longer gives out permits to smoking lounges, and that many are urging the government to adopt limits at least as strict as those already in effect for tobacco, which forbid smoking in many public places including restaurants and some parks.
5. Home-grown
Ottawa wants to allow the cultivation of up to four cannabis plants per residence, each of which must not exceed one metre in height. However, provinces can set further limits on personal cultivation.
Ontario
The issue was conspicuously absent from Ontario’s announcement. A spokesperson for Ontario’s attorney general said many questions remain unanswered and the province will be closely monitoring the issue as Ottawa’s cannabis bill moves through the federal parliamentary process.
Quebec
Suggesting it will be difficult to enforce Ottawa’s four-plant rule, Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette has indicated the province may ban home-grown pot. A four-plant limit would be unenforceable and would be a drain on law-enforcement resources, a union representing municipal police officers in Quebec says.
With files from Jacquie Miller
ariga@postmedia.com
twitter.com/andyriga
查看原文...
