RE:Quebec pass new cannabis laws/sector to suffer tomorrowQuebec is so backwards thinking about cannabis. They must really like to support the blackmarket with their uneducated government and civic policies. These politicians do a horrible job, cannabis is the fastest growing industry Canada has you would think they would be fostering the industry and leveraging expansion on a multinational level. Bombardier a corporate wealth fair machine and soon to be Hexo.
Humanist wrote: I believe This will definitely affect hexo very negatively as well as any other cannbis company in quebec Quebec passes cannabis law that will raise legal age to 21 CBC News: oct 29. 2019/3:54 pm ET Also immediately bans sale of cannabis candies, desserts
People are seen lining up at a government-run cannabis store in Montreal. Under a new law passed Tuesday, people will need to be 21 to make a purchase
People in Quebec will need to wait until they are 21 to legally purchase cannabis under a new law passed by the Coalition Avenir Qubec government.
When the age limit is raised from 18 to 21 on Jan. 1, 2020, it will become the highest in the country.
Elsewhere in Canada, cannabis is permitted at age 19, except in Alberta, where the legal age is 18.
Lionel Carmant, the province's junior health minister, said the goal is to send a "clear message" about the government's priorities.
"We really want to protect our teenagers, which are most vulnerable to cannabis," he said, adding that the increased age limit has the support of the majority of Quebecers.
Lionel Carmant is the province's junior health minister. (Sylvain Roy Roussel/CBC)
The idea of raising the age limit has come under criticism from some Quebec health professionals, industry groups and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
When it was first proposed last year, Trudeau warned the cannabis rules would be a boon to organized crime and make teens turn "to the Hells Angels to buy it."
The legislation was approved Tuesday at the National Assembly. Members of the Coalition Avenir Qubec all voted in favour of the law, while all opposition parties voted against.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for the opposition Qubec Solidaire, said the law was discriminatory against young people and not supported by science.
"The CAQ is creating two classes of adults," he said, pointing out that 18-year-olds can vote but won't be able to decide whether they want to purchase cannabis.
The law also immediately bans the sale of cannabis candies and desserts, including chocolate. They will become legal in the rest of the country in mid-December.
The legislation also includes greater restrictions around the public consumption of cannabis, though municipalities will have leeway to determine their own rules.
It originally included a ban on growing cannabis at home. That aspect of the law is being challenged in court.