NDP considering government-run cannabis stores
Minister announces policy framework, says legal age to consume will be 18
CALGARY The NDP government is weighing whether to set up government-run stores to sell marijuana in Alberta or leave the market to private retailers once recreational cannabis is legalized next year.
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley unveiled the government’s proposed framework for legal weed Wednesday, with the province setting 18 as the legal age for consumption — matching the age for alcohol and tobacco use in Alberta.
The province will also mandate that legal weed be sold only in stand-alone stores, with no sales of alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals in the same facility.
But the government says it’s seeking further input on whether to set up government-owned and operated stores to sell legal marijuana, as is being planned in Ontario, or license and regulate private retailers.
“At the moment, we’re open to all options,” Ganley told a news conference at McDougall Centre.
Consultations will be open until Oct. 27, with the government planning to make a decision before introducing legislation in the fall sitting of the legislative assembly, which runs from the end of October to early December.
Government briefing materials say a public system could provide greater oversight over legal marijuana sales. While the upfront costs would be significant — and may not be recouped — a governmentowned retail system could bring more revenue to the province in the long run.
A private retail system would likely be more flexible in meeting consumer demand and provide more economic opportunities for business, said the government.
However, the province provided no estimates for either costs or revenue under each model.
Ganley said the government did not expect to generate revenue that will counteract the costs of legalization, at least initially.
Unlike Ontario, Alberta has had no system of government-owned liquor stores since privatization in the 1990s.
However, under the government’s plan, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission will serve as a central wholesaler for cannabis as it does for alcohol, ensuring uniform distribution costs and that only legally produced and federally regulated cannabis products are sold in the province. The federal Liberal government has set July 1, 2018, as the date for legalization of legal marijuana but has left many of the details to the provinces.
Alberta will not change the federal government’s public possession limit of 30 grams — the equivalent of about 40 joints — for adults. It will also maintain the federal limit of four plants per household.
The province will have a zerotolerance policy for youth possession.
The smoking and vaping of marijuana in public will face the same restrictions as tobacco, with additional bans on use on hospital grounds, school properties and areas frequented by children.
Those include playgrounds, child care facilities, sports fields, skateboard parks, pools, splash parks and public washrooms.
The Alberta government had faced calls from groups such as the Alberta Medical Association to set the legal age for cannabis consumption at 21 out of concerns about marijuana’s impact on young adults’ brain development.
Ganley said while there are health concerns, people aged between 18 and 25 are the largest users of marijuana in Alberta. Setting the age higher than 18 would simply enable the black market that legalization is supposed to eliminate, she said. Cannabis lounges will not be allowed immediately, pending a decision by Ottawa on edible products, but could be given the go-ahead in the future. Online sales may or may not be allowed initially, pending further review.
The NDP wants more discussions with the federal government on taxation.
At Tuesday’s meeting of first ministers, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested a 10 per cent excise tax with revenue to be split between Ottawa and the provinces.