The other day we took a look at the west coast of Canada, but what about over on the east coast? What is there plan for legalization. Let’s look and see.
The province of Ontario is currently only selling cannabis through a government run online channel but plans to have retail stores open for April 1st 2019. The stores will be regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and will have a private retail model that the Ontario Cannabis Store will be the exclusive wholesaler to. You are legally allowed to purchase cannabis at the age of 19 but only allowed to smoke on private residences. Each household is allowed to grow up to 4 plants, however landlords and councils can ban both smoking and growing on their properties. Citizens of Ontario are allowed up to 30 grams on their person in public. You are allowed to smoke in quite a few places in Ontario such as your private residence, outdoor places that allow tobacco smoke, certain rooms in hotels and certain areas of hospices and retirement homes. You are not allowed to smoke in apartments, University dorms, schools or places children gather or outdoor areas that prohibit smoking of any kind. Municipalities in Ontario will have a one time window in which they are allowed to ban cannabis store-fronts from opening.
All cannabis sales will be through a subsidiary of the provincially run liquor board called the Société québécoise du cannabis, they will also control online sales. Unless authorized by the government, growing cannabis is prohibited for personal or commercial use. There are currently six companies providing the government with 62,000kg of cannabis for the first year for the province. At the age of 18 you are legally allowed to possess cannabis and you are allowed 30 grams on your person in public and 150 grams in your possession at home. You are prohibited from possessing cannabis on school grounds, University and College campuses and on the grounds of daycare and childcare. Smoking will be permitted anywhere that tobacco is allowed to be smoked with exceptions to college-level institutions and universities and health and social service institutions.
In New Brunswick the legal age of consumption and possession is 19 and each person is permitted to have up to 30 grams on their person. Consumers can buy their product at one of 20 stores that are a subsidiary of the provinces liquor commission or product can be purchased online. Once the product is at home it must be locked away. You are not allowed to consume cannabis in any public place. You are allowed to grow 4 plants in your private residence, provided they are not visible. Any plant that is growing outdoors must be behind an enclosed fence that is 1.52 meters high.
Legal age to possess cannabis in Prince Edward Island is 19 and it will be sold in stand alone outlets run separately by the liquor commission. Consumption of cannabis will be restricted to your private homes and some designated public areas. Online sales of cannabis will be done through the government or one of four current government run store fronts in Charlottetown, Summerside, Montague and West Prince. Residents are allowed to grow up to four plants in their home, however these plants must not be accessible to minors. Cannabis production and processing will be regulated through federal licensing.
Cannabis will be sold by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation alongside alcohol in 9 provincial liquor stores as well as online and can be purchased by anyone 19 and over. You can smoke cannabis anywhere you can smoke cigarettes as well as your private residence, if you live in a rented space your landlord can restrict use. Adults are allowed to grow up to four plants per residence, however certain bylaws may restrict this. In Nova Scotia you are allowed to produce edibles at home for personal use, but they are still restricted by federal law. In your car cannabis must remain out of reach of anyone in the car and must be in a closed, sealed package.
Cannabis will be sold in private stores to anyone 19 years and over. The crown owned Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation will oversee the distribution of cannabis and smoking will be restricted to private residences. Not much information around laws is available.
And there we have it, a brief overview of how cannabis is being legalized and what the regulations are in each province. It’s a mixed bag of emotions for us, while there are certain regulations we agree with, there are more that we don’t. It will be an interesting year to see how this all plays out and how it changes. Some of these restrictions are crazy (mostly how many stores and producers are allowed) and will need to be taken back to the drawing board for sure. We promise to keep you up to date about what changes are happening and how to smoke safely in your province.
What about you? What are your thoughts on the regulations?