Quebec further restricts cannabis legalization

Last Monday's election in Quebec saw the emergence of the Coalition Avenir Québec, a center-right, nationalist, anti-immigration government. In making this choice, Quebecers also voted for a cannabis legalization even more constrained.

While Canada will legalize cannabis for adults on October 17, the province had already decided to do the same. to ban self-cultivation in Quebec. The only possibility of buying legal cannabis will therefore remain the state-run stores, under the banner of the Société Québécoise Du Cannabis (SQDC), or buying online on the provincial platform. On the marketing side, she also prohibits the representation of a hemp leaf in the province.

The immediate consequences of the Conservative vote on cannabis users were part of the CAQ's campaign elements:

• raise the legal purchase age of cannabis to 21
• prohibit cannabis consumption in public places

In all Canadian provinces, the legal age limit for buying cannabis was set at 18 or 19, depending on the province. It seemed odd to ban a less dangerous substance from people of legal age.

The smoking ban also goes against the growing trend for provinces to opt to allow cannabis consumption where tobacco consumption is permitted. Quebec City today announced ban cannabis consumption in all public places.

Canada's cannabis-regulation policy was ultimately aimed at undermining the black market and providing a robust, legal competitor to an underground industry. Not sure that 14 state-run stores for 8 million inhabitants, a ban on self-cultivation and a legal purchase age of 21 would be a serious competitor to the Hells Angels who monopolize cannabis smuggling in Quebec.