Yesterday afternoon the Canadian senate overwhelmingly passed The Cannabis Act 52-29. This action to makes Canada the second nation to federalize legalize cannabis and the first wealthy nation to do so.
Bill C-45, after much debate, controls how the plant will be grown, distributed, and sold. It did, however, come with some opposition from some conservative party leaders. Party Leader Andrew Scheer has fought the legislation citing that it was normalizing cannabis use among minors, despite his experiences with it. Senator Leo Housakos echoed some of his thoughts on Twitter after the vote.
“Hope we are wrong on this piece of legislation. I think it will be catastrophic for Canadian generations to come.”
Another senator, Denise Batters, felt the legislation was rushed to meet Prime Minister Trudeau’s promised deadline. She also took to Twitter to proudly oppose the bill citing that it was #JustNotReady.”
Much of the argument came from setting the legal age of consumption to 18 and not 25. Some provinces, however have opted to set the age to 19. Many recommended the high age limit would encourage others to buy cannabis for minors, resulting in possibly 14 years in jail. A punishment that some legislators feel is unbalanced in this situation.
The Canadian federal government has set guidelines for packaging baring strict health warnings and little branding. It’s placed restrictions on packaging targeting young people, promotions through sponsorships, depictions of celebrities, characters, and/or animals in advertisements.
With current legislation, of-age-adults are able to possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis in public. Edibles, or infused foods, will not be immediately available for purchase but will be within the year. This is in attempt to give the government time to set out regulations to those specific products. Some areas of the country are still working through the rest of the legislation until the official sale date.
The administration has given provinces and territories 6-weeks to prepare for the new industry; also allowing law enforcement to adjust accordingly.
As early as September, citizens will be able to buy, sell, and grow cannabis free from federal prosecution.
Written by: Joycelin Arnold
