Five choices Quebec must make with new pot laws
Ottawa has laid out a framework for legalizing marijuana by July 1, 2018; it’s up to the provinces figure to out the nuts and bolts. On Sept. 8, Ontario outlined its plans. Here’s how Ontario is managing five issues and how Quebec may handle them, writes
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. 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 be 18 to buy alcohol. However, experts note that marijuana use can affect brain development, which continues until age 25. The Canadian Paediatric 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 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 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 publichealth 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. Homegrown
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.
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 homegrown pot. A four-plant limit would be unenforceable and would be a drain on lawenforcement resources, a union representing municipal police officers in Quebec says.