Quebec pot bill seeks ‘responsible consumption’

Liberal government to sell pot through SAQ subsidiary stores, price not set yet

Forced into the pot business by the federal government, the province of Quebec tabled a law Thursday that imposes a strict framework for the consumption, sale and distribution of marijuana.

Bill 157 — an act to constitute the Société québécoise du cannabis, or SQC — was formally presented in the legislature by the minister for rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, Lucie Charlebois.

As expected after almost a year of testing the water with the public, Quebec has opted for a focus on averting potential social, health and safety problems that it fears could follow the liberalization of the use of the drug for recreational purposes.

The bill thus stipulates there will be zero tolerance when it comes to motorists who decide to hit the road after lighting up or vaping marijuana. A monopoly will run bland, austere sales outlets staffed by prim and proper bureaucrats. And lots of money ($25 million a year for the next five) will be spent on prevention and research.

Despite the federal government’s vision of how things could work, Quebecers won’t be allowed to grow plants at home for personal consumption or light up just anywhere. The maximum the SQC will be able to sell to anyone at one time is 30 grams and people will have to be 18 to make the purchase in stores or online.

An initial 15 stores are to be open by July 1, 2018, the day possession and consumption of marijuana is supposed to become legal in Canada. In two years, there will be 150 sales outlets, which will be allowed to sell dried and fresh cannabis, cannabis oil and pot paraphernalia.

The expression used by Charlebois at a news conference to explain the bill was “responsible consumption.”

Her colleague, Finance Minister Carlos Leitão, was blunt, calling marijuana a “dangerous substance” that has only profited organized crime for years. Studies show the main buyers remain youth, age 18 to 22, despite research concluding marijuana can affect the development of the brain.

In fact, it has been very clear Quebec would rather not get involved with the pot business, with senior Couillard government ministers conceding nobody knows how this story will end.

“Do I like drugs? No,” Charlebois said. “Do we need to act? Yes. Unfortunately they are a reality we have to deal with and which we cannot ignore.”

“Frankly, we’ve tried the repressive model for the last 30 years, and obviously it has not worked,” Leitão added.

Charlebois insisted Quebec is not interested in expanding the consumption of cannabis or using sales to generate money for the government. The plan is to get people to buy it lawfully and under government supervision.

The bill did not include a sales price. The omission was deliberate, Leitão told the news conference, because Ottawa and the provinces have yet to agree on the level of excise taxes to impose on cannabis sales, which will affect the final retail price.

Ottawa recently estimated cannabis sales could generate about $1 billion a year in tax revenue for the whole country. The provinces say most of that should come to them because of the costs of implementing the policy, a federal Liberal election promise.

However, at a technical briefing after the bill was tabled, it was clear the financial side of the business is being examined by the government, with bureaucrats explaining the objective is to establish a price that will woo buyers off the black market and into the legal one.

They cited expert testimony at hearings into the plan a few months ago, and said the ideal price range would be $7 to $10 a gram.

Quebec believes about 140 tonnes of marijuana are on the market in any given year.

The objective is to seize control of half of that, which would represent about $500 million in sales for the SQC, which will be a subsidiary of the Société des alcools, a Crown corporation, officials said.

Based on those figures, Quebec estimates it could earn $30 million to $40 million a year in excise tax revenues off sales and another $60 million in provincial sales tax.

Leitão, however, later urged caution. With so much uncertainty on how high Quebec’s cannabis business will fly, he said, he could not endorse the figures.

Officials predict a temporary increase in consumption because of the novelty factor: Customers who might not want to be seen walking into a pot store will be able to purchase it online and have it delivered to their door by Canada Post.

There are no plans to advertise the product and, unlike the SAQ, there will be no in-store promotions or a client loyalty card modelled after the SAQ’s “inspire” card.

Ottawa has assured the province the necessary equipment to test for drug levels in motorists will be available by July 1. In the interim, Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said, police check by testing reflexes.