Canada now has a possible blueprint for its legal marijuana system.
The federal task force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation released a list of recommended guidelines today. If the government follows on the recommendations, Canadians will be able to buy and consume weed as soon as they turn 18.
Other recommended guidelines include allowing the sale of edibles, but prohibiting any product deemed to be “appealing to children,” including those which “resemble or mimic familiar food items.” Most weed-related advertising would also be banned unless it’s only seen by adults.
The new tasks force also says the more potent your pot, the pricier it will be. It’s calling for higher taxes on products with greater levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Medical cannabis isn’t included in this price scale, because its potency comes from cannabidiol (CBD). Distributors will have to display THC and CBD amounts on the product packaging.
The new laws would also allow for the public possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana and for Canadians to grow up to four of their own plants at home.
The task force—made up of nine Canadians—was formed by the ministers of Justice, Public Safety and Health at the end of June. It participated in public consultation and received feedback via online questionnaires before completing its research phase at the beginning of December.
The Trudeau government has said it’s working to legalize pot by the spring of 2017.
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This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2016.
Really? “Task force”? Why can’t we just call it what it is, a committee, like they do everything else? Noooooooo, because it’s weed we have to call it something to make it sound ominous. It seems to me, that with all the research and other anecdotal evidence pointing toward marijuana being, for the most part, a benign substance, we still can’t seem to relinquish the grip on the terms we used in the enforcement era. It’s a pity that this will end up another way to discriminate against legal users.