Under pressure, Quebec tables strict pot laws

MONTREAL — Public pressure on the Quebec government was so strong it had little choice but to table a strict bill on marijuana legalization that will give the province full control over the industry, stakeholders and business officials said Thursday.

Bill 157 aims to push out the private sector and create a zerotolerance policy for driving under the influence of all drugs.

“This is an important change to our society,” said Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois. “The experts recommended we be prudent to start and then to see if we need to adjust. They asked us to be rigorous and to see how citizens evolve.”

Under the bill, all cannabis cultivated in Quebec must be sold by the government, through a subsidiary of the provincially run liquor board, although the legislation gives the province flexibility to make exceptions.

It will also be illegal to cultivate cannabis for personal or commercial use, unless authorized by the government.

People of legal age will be allowed to possess up to 150 grams of cannabis at home, and 30 grams on their person.

Yves-Thomas Dorval, president of Quebec’s main employers’ association, said he has no doubt the private sector would be able to sell marijuana effectively and responsibly if it were given the opportunity.

“That said, I also understand the state just couldn’t go there at the moment,” he said in an interview. “Given the enormous public pressure on this question.”

A public opinion poll last May of 2,536 Canadians, including 1,017 Quebecers, indicated Quebec stood alone on the issue.

While 54 per cent of respondents in Canada as a whole favoured legalization, 54 per cent of Quebec respondents were against it, with one-third of those saying they were extremely opposed.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised Canadians marijuana will be legal by next July 1, and has left it to the provinces to create their own legal framework on how to enforce the law on their territory.

Quebec was originally reticent to go along with the marijuana plan, citing concerns from citizens that legalizing pot would encourage young people to pick up the habit and would foment social problems. The province has also asked Ottawa several times to delay legalization by a year, but to no avail.

Ontario was the first province to announce its detailed marijuana plan, which includes the sale of the drug in up to 150 stores by 2020 run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.